Robot Viking » RPG

This is What Playing D&D Looked Like in 1981

Ed Grabianowski — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:48:47 +0000

In the 1980s, there wasn’t a video camera in every phone, or a hi-def pocket camera in every household. That makes this Super 8 footage of some kids playing D&D in New Hampshire in 1981 pretty rare. The film was shot by Ethan Gilsdorf, and he posted it at Wired’s Geekdad earlier this week. There’s [...] Related posts:

Brazer Bulletin: Some Things I Wish Every Artist Did

Dale McCoy — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:04:39 +0000

As an RPG publisher, I tend to be constantly on the lookout for new artists. I troll deviantart’s service forums and DriveThruRPG’s stock art section at least once a week. I look at every gallery emailed to me by artists. Heck, I even go to RPG.net’s artist section from time to time. I’ve seen some [...] Related posts:

Grab an Issue of Kobold Quarterly for Free

Ed Grabianowski — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:56:48 +0000

You have to love it when two things you really enjoy mesh together perfectly. In this case, those two things are”D&D” and “getting stuff for free.” Until Feb. 14, Open Design is giving away pdf copies of Kobold Quarterly #14. Totally free. Just follow that link and enter the coupon code KoboldWelcome at checkout and [...] Related posts:

What if Dungeons & Dragons was a Metal Band?

Ed Grabianowski — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:20:33 +0000

What would the world be like if D&D was a metal band instead of a game? Over at Jeff’s Gameblog, Jeff spends some time talking about Dungeons & Dragons, how he discovered it, what it meant to him and his friends as a kid, and how he feels about the changes through the years. Except [...] Related posts:

A Treatise on Active Defenses in RPG Combat

Ryk Perry — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:11:49 +0000

Sometimes you want to do more than just stand around and let your armor take the hits in combat. Can the newest edition of D&D accommodate active defenses? 4E created an elegant mechanic that allowed active defenses to be used easily, and that’s something I don’t want to see lost. So what are active defenses? [...] Related posts:

Critical!: Go Westerly is a Light (and Lighthearted) Fantasy RPG

Ed Grabianowski — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:24:51 +0000

If your gaming group is more interested in getting together once a week to drink beer and tell off-color jokes than going on deadly serious plane-altering missions, Critical!: Go Westerly just might be the perfect RPG for you. The GM is called the Bartender, and all characters have an AC score: Alcohol Content. Add a [...] Related posts:

D&D Experience Seminars Look Ahead to the Next Edition

Ed Grabianowski — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:12:03 +0000

D&D Experience, a D&D-centric game con held in Indiana, happened this past weekend. In a series of seminars, an assortment of Wizards of the Coast creative people illuminated the future of D&D for those of us who have been eagerly hanging on every word they’ve released about the secretive project. Here’s a brief analysis. My [...] Related posts:

A Table of 100 Random Weather Conditions for Your RPG

Ed Grabianowski — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:53:10 +0000

Your players and NPCs won’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows with this handy table of 100 random weather conditions. I think weather is overlooked very often in RPGs, and that’s a big mistake. Consider how much of an effect the day’s weather has on your mood and your actions in [...] Related posts:

Robot Viking’s (Failed) Entry for RPG Superstar 2012

Ed Grabianowski — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:19:41 +0000

I decided to enter Paizo’s RPG Superstar for the first time this year, adapting an old artifact used in my 3.5 campaign into a wondrous item. It didn’t go all that well. Here’s the item I entered: Lich’s Heart Amulet Aura strong necromancy; CL 13th Slot neck; Price 90,000 gp; Weight – Description This filigreed [...] Related posts:

Which is Better, Damage Resistance or “+1 or Better To Hit”?

Ryk Perry — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:34:36 +0000

There’s a lot of back and forth on the question of damage resistance and the role of magic weapons in D&D. Many players are opposed to the antiquated +1 or better to hit mechanic. How can the damage rules provide an underlying mechanical skeleton that describes the physics of the game world without bogging the [...] Related posts:

Old Homemade D&D Modules Find a Home at Plagmada Archive

Ed Grabianowski — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:24:27 +0000

Part of why we love gaming is nostalgia. You can indulge your yearning for the days of graph paper dungeons and self-illustrated adventures at Plagmada.org, an archive of, “manuscripts and drawings created to communicate a shared imaginative space.” I’d somehow managed to know nothing at all about Plagmada until earlier today, when Hal Weaver pointed [...] Related posts:

PHB2 Class Review: Barbarian Lets You Find Your Inner Conan

Why Wizards Needs PDFs Instead of a Virtual Table

Ed Grabianowski — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:20:14 +0000

It’s been almost three years since Wizards of the Coast pulled all ebook versions of their RPG products from virtual shelves, and there’s no sign that they’re coming back. In the meantime, they’ve developed the Virtual Table, a way to play 4E D&D online. They’re heading in the wrong direction. Here’s why. Predicting the Future [...] Related posts:

Premium 1st Edition D&D Hardcover Reprints to Support Gygax Memorial

Ed Grabianowski — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:34:00 +0000

A limited print run of premium hardcover reprints of the 1st Edition D&D books will be published by Wizards of the Coast in April. Some portion of the profits will assist the fund to create a statue in honor of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax. News of the limited edition books appears to have been a [...] Related posts:

D&D Online Links Eberron to Forgotten Realms Via Underdark

Ed Grabianowski — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:34:47 +0000

Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) has been free to play for more than two years now. Rather than a death knell, the end of monthly subscriber fees in 2009 turned out to be a brilliant decision that boosted the number of users and increased profits. How well are things going for DDO? They just announced [...] Related posts: