Dragonlance D&D Game Blog

Just a little reminder. If you are thinking about GenCon, the pre-reg deadline is fast approaching, this Saturday the 29th to be exact. One of the benefits of pre-reg is getting to save a few bucks on the cost of admission. This year, the cost savings is $10. And of course you need to register for a badge before you can book a hotel room, or sign up for any events. And this year there are plenty of events to check out, from a bunch of new D&D Next games, to the usual slate of board, card, and other rpg games. GenCon is one of the best places to try new games, or reconnect with classics that you might not have played in a while. Anyway, if you're interested, now is definitely the time to head over to the GenCon site and see what interests you. I'm sure you'll find plenty of somethings. See you at the con...

If you are using the new D&D Next rules in your game (like I currently am), there are a number of resources you should be aware of to keep up to date with the latest thinking of this still-evolving game. One resource that I seem to keep "rediscovering" is the The Tome Show . While I've been a fan of this podcast for a while for their D&D 4e coverage, I'm glad to see they are just as thorough in their coverage of D&D Next. This podcast covers a pretty wide swath in the D&D game space, with episodes covering the latest 4e book release, other episodes around their monthly book club, and some episodes featuring several DMs discussing their own ongoing games. For the D&D Next fan, The Tome Show is covering all the latest releases around the D&D Next rules, as well highlighting columns and online articles you may have missed. Their monthly news desk shows are a great way to make sure you aren't missing any details. The next few resources are ...

There seems to be a lot of Murder going on in Baldur's Gate, and it's a little confusing to this partial resident of the Realms. I mean, there's a GenCon event called Murder in Baldur's Gate , then there's the next D&D Encounters season to be called Murder in Baldur's Gate , and on top of that there's a listing on Amazon.com call, what else, Murder in Baldur's Gate . Are these all the same thing? If I play the GenCon game, is that going to be the same as the Encounters season, which is the same as what I can buy on Amazon? Or worse, is the GenCon game a teaser for Encounters? After the four hour GenCon event, I hope it doesn't end with a big... And is the Amazon product just a "for sale" version of the Encounters season? So unless you have a Delorean, with a working Flux Capacitor and Mr Fusion, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. In other news   GenCon 2013 is shaping up to look a lot different this year than ...

Recently, I've been having an issue running my weekly or even biweekly Dungeons and Dragons game. With five players, it's been difficult scheduling everyone for a convenient time. And even then, work or life was often rearing its head leaving us short at the game table. My general rule of thumb is that if I can get at least three players, then I'll run the others as NPCs for a given session, but even getting just three was problematic. Then one of my most consistent players had to drop out of the group, leaving us with 4 players and myself. It was definitely time to turn on the recruiting drive. There are a number of different things you can try. I'll list out what I did and what seemed to be the most successful for me. One of the things I did NOT do, was post a sign up at my local game store. It's 2013 folks, and since I do most of the session scheduling via email, I wanted someone at least tech-comfortable, if not tech-savvy. Other folks my have better re...

On Death of Pain This issue begins what would be the last TSR/DC Dragonlance arc. For the final 2 issues we have a new team, with writer Paul Kupperberg (brother of Alan Kupperberg who provided art for issues 29 ) and artist Grant Miehm. The story starts off with Riva and friends--we're back to the "Riva on Taladas" setting that had be the basis for about the last year's worth of stories, not counting issues 30-32--looking for shelter after a run-in with a minotaur patrol from the League of Minotaurs. Their companion, Griffin, is greatly hurt, and Riva sets off by herself to find help. In a nearby village, covered in the aftermath of a minotaur attack (seemingly separate from the attack that wounded Griffin). Riva comes across an old woman named Tykel who is a priestess of the cult of Mislaxa (the name for Mishakal the goddess of healing on Taladas) and who is willing to help her and her friends. After starting to tend to Griffin, Tykel begins to tell the stor...

If you're anything like me, then you probably have a bunch of games that you've purchased in the past, intending to run, but never quite getting around to. I have a bunch of games like this, and being the pack rat that I am, most (ok, all) are still in my possession. So, when I finalized my plans for GenCon this year, and realized that I would be in Indy with friends, some I haven't seen for awhile, I had an epiphany! I would dust off one of these never-played games and run a quick session during our time at the con. The game I selected? A lesser known game called Legacy: War of Ages . It was basically a riff on the Highlander movies, with all of the film's IP thinly disguised. There are a few unique concepts in the game, and it expands the world by including Vampires, Warlocks, and a few other nasties to challenge the immortal characters. Overall the original game never got great reviews, and while the few supplements that actually saw light of day were of dubi...

As I start getting ready for GenCon 2013 , I find myself thinking about last year's event, and since I didn't write a blog post about it at the time, here's... My Woefully Past Due Gen Con 2012 Report GenCon 2012 was probably my tenth GenCon overall, and my third in a row. While there's no point touching on any of the announcements or products available at the show, I do want to highlight a few things that really helped make this one of the most memorable visits ever. Trying New Things Every convention I typically sign up for a few D&D games, and 2012 was no different, playing in a few 4e events as well some D&D Next. In addition to this staple of the RPG field, I always try to sign up for something outside my comfort zone. In the past, it was trying new card games like 7th Sea or Death Angel, RPGs like Brave New World or Star Wars (back in the West End days), or board games like City of Thieves. In 2012, I was hoping to try out the new Marvel RPG game, bu...