Ten Cool D&D Things #1-10
This list was emailed on March 26, 2001.
Wizards of the Coast have declared this to be the Summer of Drizzt and released an animated short to kick things off. Narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch and written by R.A. Salvatore, "Sleep Sound" reintroduces the origin story of the iconic Dungeons & Dragons hero, Drizzt Do’Urden.
And while we are on the subject of Drizzt, WOTC strongly hinted to Polygon that the new live-action D&D TV show would feature the famous drow.
Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft is now available and seems to have garnered near-universal praise. EnWorld has helpfully collated a whole bunch of reviews.
Back in the 80s, there was a moral panic around Dungeons & Dragons. GeekNative has put up a famous 60 Minutes report on the game that aired about this time.
The always insightful DM David gives us an entertaining game design history of the dump stat.
Grognardia shares a retrospective of Dungeon of Dread, the first Endless Quest book TSR published in the 80s. I have fond memories of this book, though I found it a bit disappointing when I re-read it a couple of years ago.
Need a playful and mischievous tiny elemental? Have a look at the Embercat.
Wondering what to do with those alchemist's supplies your character bought? This two-page ruleset is tight, flavorful, and playable.
Mike Shea has created a level 1-20 campaign outline called Demogorgon Must Die! It is full of cool ideas.
Monte Cook has started up a game design newsletter. Here is the first entry, describing the three motivations players bring to the game table.
This list was emailed on June 9, 2001.
After the now-obligatory Amazon leak, Wizards of the Coast have announced the next two official Fifth Edition hardcover books. The first is a carnival-themed adventure called The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, set in the Feywild. It is due to release on September 21st. The second is a setting guide called Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos. It is based on a recently-released Magic the Gathering expansion which takes place in a magic school featuring five competing colleges. It is due to release on November 16th.
To coincide with the Strixhaven announcement, Wizards of the Coast released a new Unearthed Arcana called Mages of Strixhaven. It features five subclasses, corresponding to the five Strixhaven colleges. The innovative thing here is that the individual subclasses are each available to more than one class.
The long-awaited Dungeons & Dragons movie is finally in production. They are currently shooting in Alnwick Castle in the UK, and the local newspaper has published a number of sneaky shots from the set.
Hasbro just released the Dungeons & Dragons Monopoly game. In addition, Wizards of the Coast has announced a new Dungeon Master's Screen, which includes 36 dungeon geomorphs alongside condition and initiative cards.
Dicebreaker published a thoroughly intriguing article showing that roleplaying-style games have actually been around for hundreds of years.
Adam Lee and Max Dunbar from Wizards of the Coast have created a bunch of NPCs from the Shadowfell. These are cool and worth considering for your campaign.
I thought I'd seen just above everything you could do with dice, but Blaster Light is kickstarting a complete set of polyhedral dice that are all spherical. Are they still called polyhedral dice..?
Is your D&D game scary? Wizards of the Coast designer F. Wesley Schneider describes how to introduce horror elements into your game.
The nicest guy in D&D, Teos Abadia, has a great article explaining why so many DMs have trouble challenging their players.
MonkeyDM has released a free level 2 adventure called Scales of Justice. It is nicely done and includes battle maps and VTT tokens.
This list was emailed on July 7, 2021.
Many people have fond memories of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon, which was broadcast back in the 1980s. Wizards of the Coast is streaming the entire series on Twitch, starting this Friday! This is being done in anticipation of a new set of Magic the Gathering cards that will feature the characters from the series.
Continuing on with MtG and D&D crossovers, Wizards of the Coast has released a new, free D&D adventure called In Scarlet Flames. It's a tie-in for the upcoming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms card set. More free adventures are in the works.
Hugo award-winning author Lou Anders and Travis Vengross of the Dark Dice podcast have joined forces to share eight useful world building tips.
No-one hits a home run with every swing (or "hits a six" as we would say in Oz). Doorway to Darkness is one of my lowest-rated adventures. In this blog post, I explore what went wrong and how to fix it.
Need a tiny monstrosity for your D&D campaign? Check out the very fierce and very cute minitaur! I love how it bounces off the target when it charges...
Mike Shea has long argued that "secrets" are the special sauce that brings a D&D session to life. In this excellent blog post, Mike breaks down the types of secrets you can include in your sessions and gives lots of great examples.
Wizards of the Coast has released issue 38 of Dragon+ magazine. It includes a bunch of art previews from the upcoming Adventures in the Forgotten Realms card set, as well as a nice profile of concept artist, Shawn Wood. Shawn drew one of my favorite monsters, the boggle.
Back in 1981, TSR released a book of D&D monsters called the Fiend Folio. It got a lot of criticism at the time because the monsters in it were so very weird, but many folk now look back on it as a true classic. The cover featured a githyanki wielding a sword, and WizKids are turning this iconic illustration into a premium statue. The price tag is steep at $250, but oh so very tempting...
Wizards of the Coast have announced a new D&D-themed kids game called Dungeon Scrawlers - Heroes of Undermountain. You use a marker pen to find your way through the maze of Undermountain and then defeat the boss monster, all while racing against the clock. It looks like a lot of fun!
Do you need a super-cool mount for your Big Bad Evil Guy? Check out the mighty Behir Stormstrider!
This list was emailed on January 25, 2022.
Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn has just been released by Darrington Press. This is the official sourcebook for the smash hit Critical Role D&D live stream. I know many of the folks who worked on this book and they are stellar creators. Here is a first look through the book from BOLS.
Mystara is one of the earliest settings published for Dungeons & Dragons. It started life in the late 70s as the home campaign of game designers Tom Moldvay and Lawrence Schick, but was then picked up by TSR and incorporated into several of their books. The original campaign notes have been scanned and made available online.
I've been collecting D&D tips and house rules for years, and I probably have hundreds of them by now. A few weeks ago, I compiled my Top 50 D&D Tips for Dungeon Masters. I'm sure you'll find something useful there.
The ever-prolific Mike Shea occasionally puts together outlines for level 1-20 D&D campaigns. These are always full of great ideas. A few weeks ago he shared an outline called A World Without Heroes which takes a unique approach to things. It's very cool.
Some of you will be familiar with the D&D campaign style known as "West Marches." My compatriot, Merric Blackman, has devised a new style of D&D campaign called "Weekend Adventurers." It looks like the sort of game I'd enjoy!
Ever thought about commissioning a gorgeous piece of art for your home game? Or perhaps you are an indie publisher looking for something special for your next book. Here are five amazing D&D artists and information on how to commission them.
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything had a lengthy section on group patrons, but not everyone was clear on how to apply it to their home games. Teos shows you how to make the most out of this material.
Is playing D&D just a fun leisure activity? A growing number of people think it is something more. Anthony Joyce-Rivera explains why roleplaying games can be good for you.
DM David loves to ask strange and interesting questions about the world of D&D. This time he wants to know why the local authorities don't loot the dungeons themseleves. Some of his answers may surprise you.
Friends of mine have started a fantasy zine called Tales from Netherün, which will eventually form the basis of a D&D live stream. Each issue of the zine contains three or four stories and they are really good! Best news? It is completely free. You can sign-up here and get the first issue.
This list was emailed on February 16, 2022.
The Dark Arts Players Companion was created a couple of years ago and given a big update recently. It contains new races, subclasses, spells, and creatures, and all focused on necromancy, blood magic, and shadow magic. It is very nicely produced and completely free!
Conventional practice says you roll up a character and keep playing that character until it dies or the campaign ends. However, Lori Caskey-Sigety puts forward the case for switching characters during a long-running campaign.
The always-astute ThinkDM explains why the new D&D spell, silvery barbs, is getting so much attention--and why he decided to ban it.
Justin Alexander has written more good DM advice than just about anyone else on the internet. This helpful little article explains why you sometimes want to split the party.
The cast of Critical Role has finally released The Legend of Vox Machina, the cartoon version of their smash-hit D&D game. I've been watching, and it is highly entertaining--though pretty crude! Here you can find a lengthy review from Bleeding Cool.
I don't play many computer games, but even I have heard of the Dark Souls series. Steamforged Games is producing a tabletop roleplaying game based on the franchise. They are using the D&D Fifth Edition engine--and not everyone is happy about that!
Wizards of the Coast is updating some of the D&D monster lore. The goblinoid creatures are getting an extensive makeover, and EnWorld just published a good summary of their revised history. Lots of fun new ways to use goblinoids!
Shannon Appelcline is one of the top RPG historians. Every January, he writes a summary of the previous year in the roleplaying game industry, and they are always great reading. Here is his review of 2021!
Kobold Press releases a ton of great, free content on their blog. This random encounter table for forest settings caught my eye.
Google tells me that an infodump is "a very large amount of information supplied all at once, especially as background information in a narrative." We've all experienced that in D&D, and it is usually the pits. Mike Bourke proposes 15 ways to fix the infodump.
This list was emailed on February 24th, 2022.
Sly Flourish is creating fun little D&D tools on an almost weekly basis. For example, he recently shared a Lazy DM Cheat Sheet, which you can laminate and keep near at hand when playing.
Raging Swan produces a superb range of DM supplements, and they also publish plenty of free material on their blog. This wilderness dressing table would be super helpful for your next overland trip.
Some of you have been watching Arcane on Netflix. Trekiros has created stat blocks for all the main characters, which would make fantastic high-level NPCs in any campaign.
Nerdarchy suggests you should spice up your D&D combat with critical stunts.
Loot the Room thinks D&D magic is a bit tame, so they created a magical miscasting table to make it dangerous again.
Over on Reddit, I found this simple method to create fun class variants. My favorite was the Crusader, a paladin that uses the warlock spell list.
Also on Reddit, I found a very cool warlock patron--the ice queen!
Veteran game designer Andrew Peregrine is thinking about religion and offers seven aspects to consider when creating a theological system for your campaign.
The RPG historian, Jon Peterson, released a book last year called The Elusive Shift, which explains the origins of roleplaying games. The book is fascinating but a bit of a heavy read. The other RPG historian, Shannon Appelcline, has helpfully reviewed and summarised it for us.
I recently published the Book of Wondrous Magic Volume 2. I've just shared one of my favourite items from that book for free on my blog--let me know if you like the Sword of Convenient Sanctuary.
This list was emailed on March 3rd, 2022.
Sly Flourish has been pumping out some great articles recently. This one shows you a straightforward technique to make your D&D scenarios more interesting through quest layering.
Over on Hipsters & Dragons, Duncan explains the 9 D&D quest types.
Deborah Ann Woll is a well-known actress who has pretty well established her D&D credentials by now! She shares 7 tips for incorporating puzzles into your game in this article.
One of my readers, Nick, shared this rather intricate system for taming wild animals in Fifth Edition. If you see good articles on D&D, please feel free to send them to me. My readers especially like random tables and other stuff they can directly use in their game.
Sometimes, discretion is the greater part of valor, and Bell of Lost Souls has 5 places you can hide next time you have to make a stealth check.
Brandes Stoddard is a name you should know, as he's a veteran game designer who thinks deeply about D&D. In this article, he talks about short rests and how they are changing in the game.
I keep linking to the Kobold Press blog because they keep putting out great content! Here are 8 new magic items related to mimics.
A few issues ago, I mentioned Tales from Netherün, a free fantasy fiction zine that is going to form the basis of a D&D live-play. The publishers have just released their second issue, and the stories are outstanding! Sign-up here to get your free copy.
You say you like random tables? Ok, here are 100 interesting background events for a major city, brought to you by D&D Speak.
Finally, here's another of my magic items. This one has proven popular--the bag of foul wind!
This list was emailed on March 9th, 2022.
We have some big news first up! WOTC just released some playtest material entitled Heroes of Krynn, so it looks like Dragonlance is finally coming to Fifth Edition! I read many Dragonlance books as a teen, so I look forward to seeing what they produce. I expect the Dragonlance book will be scheduled for a November release.
Arcane Eye has created a bunch of class guides over the years. Some think these are only good for power gamers, but there are always some good tips for regular gamers. They have recently updated their Cleric Guide to include all the latest spells and subclasses, and it is well worth a read.
J.R. Zambrano loves putting together lists! This time around, he gives us Matt Mercer's Top 5 Player Tips.
The Dungeon Master's Guide has an optional rule called Gritty Realism, which forces characters to spend lots of time resting outside the dungeon. Jack the DM has designed a less punishing alternative called "Gritty Adventurism", and I think it's good!
Over at EnWorld, Mike Myler has created stats for a monster from Spanish mythology. All fear the mighty escornai!
It sucks when a character dies. To make things a little easier, Johnn Four has come up with 10 things you can do with a dead character.
My compatriot, Alex Caton, has started a new series called Running a Dark Fantasy Campaign. Alex is a terrific gamer and writer, and she is worth listening to.
The diminutive folks at Gnome Stew have an interview with game designer Spenser Stark, who explains why you should try low-prep games in addition to D&D.
Teos Abadia shares 3 free D&D adventures that he wrote for the terrain maker, Dwarven Forge. Teos is one of the most thoughtful adventure designers I know, so you should check these out.
Back in the 1980s, TSR UK published a gaming magazine called Imagine, and I've been writing a retrospective review. My article on issue #2 is now up.
This list was emailed on March 15th, 2022.
Over at the DM Academy, there is an excellent tip for those about to run a disturbing session of D&D.
DM David has been handing out a lot of helpful advice lately. In this post, he explores the problem of monsters that run or surrender and offers some terrific guidance.
Are you looking to spice up your campaign with an unusual adventuring environment? Flutes Loot is posting a well-executed series on the inner planes.
J.R. Zambrano has another list for us. This time around, it is the five best cantrips for beginners.
Back in the 80s and 90s, they released a whole slew of classic D&D computer games, such as Pool of Radiance, Eye of the Beholder, and Curse of the Azure Bonds. All of these and more are coming to Steam in late March!
I've run out of superlatives for the Sly Flourish website, so I'll just say go and read this article about how to better track combat in D&D.
Someone told me you folks like free adventures. How about a 4-hour scenario for tier 2 characters by veteran designer Fred Love? It's called Lost in the High Forest, and it's completely free!
Steve Hood shares a truly evocative description of a Black Dragon's Lair, done as a series of lists. You'll be able to crib elements of this for your home game, I guarantee.
Are you wondering what to give that special spellsinger in your life? D&D Beyond lists the ten best magic items for bards.
The Book of Superior Spells is a project I've been working on for a couple of months. Follow this link to see a collection of cantrips from the book, as well as an extended explanation of what I'm trying to achieve. I'd love your feedback!
This list was emailed on March 22nd, 2022.
Last week my most popular item was an evocative description of a Black Dragon's Lair by Steve Hood--but I got the link wrong! Grrr. Here is the correct link.
The Alexandrian has some great advice on keeping players involved when their characters die.
This item is pretty cool. Eldritch Fields demonstrates how to use a tarot deck to generate fun NPCs. Check it out, and please click through to the original article by Captain Ahab's Leg.
Blades in the Dark is an indie RPG that raised some serious cash on Kickstarter a few years ago. Dump Stat Adventures has three simple ideas you should steal from it and include in your D&D game.
The good people at the DM Academy propose a new way to deal with traps, and it's good.
The Lazy Dungeon Master is back and explains why you should end your game session before a big battle.
The gentle folks at Sterling Vermin have a new podcast. It is called Dispel Magic, and in each episode, they look at one spell, magic item, or monster and explore how it might impact the setting in unexpected ways.
The Kobolds have conjured up a nice little collection of pestilent cleric spells.
Yes, we have another free adventure! Check out The Great Jigow Scavenger Hunt by Michael Galvis.
About six years ago, I challenged myself to record all the essential D&D 5E rules on a single sheet of paper. I published the result on the DMs Guild, and thousands of people have downloaded it since. The best news? It is entirely free!