Category: Gaming

  • Local Nerdery to Keep You Warm

    Yes, I know. Winter has come to the Prairies and your first instinct is to hibernate until it goes away. Mine too. But I’ve also learned that getting out and gaming can help speed the winter away. So here are a few local (Edmonton) gaming events happening in the next while, to help drive away…

  • Mapping your World, Part 1: Getting Started

    Along with my renewed interest in campaign creation has come an interest in making good maps. My map-making skills are okay, at least when it comes to dungeon mapping. But I’ve always felt my terrain mapping skills were a bit…well, bad, if I’m being honest. Since I’m in the process of creating a new campaign…

  • The Ordinary Life of the Players: Feeling Happy?

    [R.G.: The third of my RPG Blog Carnival posts; the first two are here and here. This is a little less put together than some other posts. I had a number of thoughts on the subject and as disjointed as they seem to me I wanted to get them down. After all, I can always follow…

  • It’s Time to Pick Up Childish Things!

    There are many reasons to get kids in to the role-playing games hobby. Table-top gaming has been shown to have positive benefits for its participants, like improved problem solving and social skills. But it’s also a healthy thing for the hobby itself to encourage. If table-top gaming is to continue to flourish we need young…

  • DnDtober the 31st: Tarrasque

    The tarrasque is meant to be a legendary destructive force in any campaign, a monster so terrible that it can’t be destroyed by mere mortal ability, even mortals as powerful as the adventurers. The characters must acquire something special to deal with this impending threat, whether divine (or infernal) intervention, artifact-level magic items, or simply…

  • DnDtober the 22nd: Rust Monster

    One of the things I love about the early days of D&D are the stories about how creatures like the rust monster and the bulette were created. As the story goes, the early TSR crew had a bag of odd plastic toys, and they would snag one of these creatures and make up a monster…

  • DnDtober the 21st: Demons

    In my home-brew campaign setting of Cotterell, the barrier between it and the other planes and dimensions is severely weakened due to a magical cataclysm. In addition to the explosive influx of magic causing a sharp increase in aberrant monsters, there are now weak points scattered across the land which allow easier travel between the…

  • DNDtober the 18th: Mimics

    There’s a gaming joke making the rounds right now that goes something like this: The tavern keeper asked why we always wore our weapons and armour in the tavern. “Mimics”, I told him. He laughed, we laughed, the table laughed. We killed the table and it was a good night. Funny, right? But it also…

  • DnDtober the 17th: Dragon

    There is a plethora of dragon lore in D&D. I mean, dragon is in the name of the game, so you have to expect there would be plenty written about them over the years. Rather than try to add to that lore, I’m going to talk about how I’m currently using dragons in my campaigns.…

  • DnDtober the Ninth: Undead

    I’m always careful with how much I use the undead in my campaigns. Don’t get me wrong, I love using them. But I believe that things like the undead should be used in such a way that it enhances the creep and/or terror factor of your campaign. Just dumping a bunch of skeletons or zombies…