Player A: “Where did we leave off last session?” DM: “You guys just finished exploring the temple.” Player B: “That’s right! Let’s go shopping.” Player C: “Are we back in town yet?” Player B: “Yeah, we said we were going back.” DM: “You’re not back yet. You talked about going.” Player C: “Can we just … [Read more…]
A Three Act Opening: A Story Within a Story By Michael Garcia Originally written February 2022 More on George Lucas’ and Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)? Has Mike seen any other movies?, you ask. The film is admittedly one of my favorites, and, as I continue to discover, it seems to be … [Read more…]
After DMing for many years, I started watching videos online about creating campaigns and adventures. Many talented people have put out interesting content in recent years. Having a bit of experience, I find some online personalities more helpful than others (Guy Sclanders from Great GM is my favorite). I’m now trying to internalize some of … [Read more…]
Historical Context for the Hollywood FilmsKingdom of Heaven and Arn: Knight Templar Preface: I Initially wrote this article for my medievalist friends, who recreate an order of soldier-monks in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). They often show new recruits The Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and Arn: Knight Templar (2007). At some point, they asked … [Read more…]
When I started to DM with regularity, I began keeping bulleted summary notes on each gaming session. By my current standards, those first notes were barely adequate. In time, I made some improvements. I also began to incorporate into my summary notes some short lines of text that I used during the session itself. They … [Read more…]
On one hand, Dungeons & Dragons is so popular and well established that it seems silly to write about so fundamental a part of the game as character class. On the other hand, the game has evolved over four decades, and many players today are too young to recall much of the game in its … [Read more…]
Monotheism seems to be fairly uncommon in most campaign settings, but it is far more playable than one might think. I once thought that such a system would equate to boredom because it seemed to eliminate a few fantasy staples, such as friction between the gods, religious wars, and even non-violent religious rivalry—all of which … [Read more…]
No, this article isn’t about dungeons or caves. It’s about a design lesson that I only learned as an adult. As a kid, I skimmed through the Dungeon Masters Guide and the Monster Manuals countless times, planning adventures or just perusing all of the intriguing stuff within. Though this wasn’t playing, it was still magic. … [Read more…]
The following is a stand-alone holiday-themed 1st edition AD&D adventure for five to six characters level 5-6. Because this is an entire adventure module, it’s substantially longer than our usual fare. A small group of adventurers stumble through a portal and find themselves in a snow-blanketed land of forested mountains. They find shelter in a … [Read more…]
Many years ago, when we were just learning to play D&D Third Edition, our weekly gaming group spent over a year exploring the Temple of Elemental Evil. What started out as a brief tutorial in a new game system never ended, and a year later several players grew bored and frustrated. Though I joined the … [Read more…]