Player’s Handbook 3 Class Reviews: The Ardent

March 9th, 2010 by Ed Grabianowski

Player’s Handbook 3 introduces the psionic power source, with several new psionic classes (along with one divine and one primal class). I’ll be reviewing the new classes one at a time over the next week or so. To start things off, we’ve got a good exemplar of the new psionics system — the Ardent.

DDI Monster Builder In-Depth Report

March 3rd, 2010 by Ryk Perry

Contributing author Ryk Perry takes us on a tour of the vastly improved D&D Insider Monster Builder. Create enemies from scratch, or customize any creature in the entire pantheon of 4E monsters. Plus, an updated version of Ryk’s home-brew Famine Spirit.

RPG Crossover — Mixing White Wolf’s Changeling with 4E D&D

February 17th, 2010 by Ed Grabianowski

For the last year, whenever I’ve reviewed one of White Wolf’s World of Darkness books, I’ve raved about how the books were full of amazing background stories, fantastic characters and fascinating plot hooks, and how you could easily transmute them into another RPG. I’m finally putting my money where my mouth is (or my fluff, [...]

Martial Power 2: More Powers (and Yes, They’re Martial)

February 16th, 2010 by Ed Grabianowski

If your Fourth Edition character is a fighter, ranger, warlord or rogue, you’ll find plenty of new options, variant builds and an endless supply of Paragon Paths in Martial Power 2. If you’re not? I’m sure Arcane Power 2 will be along any week now.

Making 4E Damage Feats Less Useless

February 16th, 2010 by Ed Grabianowski

Am I the only one who skims past any feats that provide a damage bonus? +2 to damage? Why bother? Here’s a quick idea to make those damage feats more appealing.

4E Underdark — Sometimes You Have to Take the Good with the Darkbad

February 10th, 2010 by Ed Grabianowski

Every adventurer journeys to the Underdark at some point in her career. It’s a rite of passage. Now your 4E characters can make the trip. Just don’t go to any of the silly places.

A Right Jolly Old Elf? It’s the Sinterklaas Paragon Path!

December 24th, 2009 by Gavin O'Brien

To get your D&D game in the holiday spirit, you could tie jingle bells to your horse, hang mistletoe on your helm, or wrap your greataxe in garland. Or, you could just be Sinterklaas (the old Dutch version of Saint Nicholas upon which certain Christmas traditions are based). Ho Ho Hoooooooooooooooooooooo!

Crash Test Magic — Hail of Arrows

December 14th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

Crash Test Magic (where we design and test new spells, cards or features for our favorite games) has been away too long. Don’t call it a comeback — this new 4E monster power will make even low-level minions into a serious threat.

The Plane Below is Your Handy Guide to All Things Chaos and Abyssal

December 11th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

Having trouble finding enough adventure in the mortal world? Does the Feywild feel tame? The Shadowfell not double-dark enough for you? Then I guess it’s time to go sailing through the Elemental Chaos, where any old random nonsense can happen.

Heavy Metal Dragons Rock the Draconomicon

December 7th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

The first edition of the Draconomicon gave us all the inside info on chromatic dragons for D&D fourth edition. What about the good guys? The latest Draconomicon fleshes out the gold, silver, brass, bronze, copper, orium, iron, steel, mercury and other metallic dragons. Beware: they’re not as noble as you might remember them.

Using Positive Reinforcement to Make 4E Combat Faster

December 3rd, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

Fourth Edition D&D is a cool system, and combat is usually a lot of fun (and more interactive and interesting than 3rd edition combat), but it has one flaw: it sometimes takes forever. Our gaming group has been experimenting with different ways to speed things along, and I think we’ve hit on something that works.

Enter: the Drow Barbarian

November 20th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

One of the common complaints about D&D 4th edition is that it’s too hard to differentiate one character from another; that the game’s design leads to cookie-cutter clerics and factory floor fighters. To put this to the test, I’ve decided to closely examine my current character to see if oddball choices, player vision and unique [...]

Five Reasons Why the Best Setting for Your Fantasy RPG is Earth

November 12th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

One thing all DMs (and plenty of players) enjoy about homebrew RPG settings is the process of worldbuilding. Several years ago, I hammered together the initial idea for a fantasy world based on our own world. The geography is the same; the populace, flora and fauna? Not so much. Here’s why this might be the [...]

Prince of Undeath Brings a Chaotic End to Your PC’s Career

October 30th, 2009 by Ed Grabianowski

If your D&D 4E chgaracters have been following along the original set of adventures (starting with H1), the grand finale has finally arrived. Prince of Undeath is the final battle, the ultimate adventure that will bring your characters up to 30th level. At this point, the PCs are basically little gods themselves, so you might [...]