Miniatures, Scenarios, Wargames, and Rules

I (personally) like miniatures, and I am sad that the D&D Miniatures range is at an end.

My love of miniatures harkens back to when I was a kid. I always liked Toy Soldiers - when ever I built a model kit (such as the Aurora Spindrift from Land of the Giants) I NEVER glued the crew in - that way I could use the model in my wild and wacky games I played on the back-garden rockery.

I spent HOURS out there, it was an alien planet - a fantasy land - or prehistoric times, depending on what game I was playing.

Mum would bring me out biscuits and a drink - or call me in if something was on I wanted to watch on TV.

What does all this have to do with Dungeons and Dragons I hear you asking (seriously, I do LoL) - a lot actually.

Imagination, whether it be with miniature gaming or role-playing is all about imagination. Something I had in spades as a kid, and I am (luckily) "well endowed" with as an adult.

Don't be afraid to "think outside the box" - using props found here and there, taking your players outside (even to a quarry as I did once, or out into the Woods at Portmerion) for a session!

If at home, even if you don't normally use miniatures, try using miniatures for chase scenes - its a great change of pace, and can revitalize your group.

I've even used costumes - and yes, I do feel silly when I do that - but its never stopped me if I want to achieve an effect "in game"!

Also, don't think JUST because D&D is in print in some form - that its your only option -

Try Googling the subject - there are LOADS of different free versions of the rules, Runequest based rulesets, even World of Darkness rules out there on the net for your D&D style campaigns.

If you are a fan as I am, Gary Gygax's creation lives firmly in your imagination - don't limit what you do with yours.

Difference in D&D Editions

I came across this somewhere (if anyone can remind me I would be most grateful) and saved it because it amused me.

BUT - the more I ponder this, the more true it becomes - anyone who's run games/played games of every edition of D&D/AD&D (as I have) will love this!

Difference in D&D Editions

Original Edition D&D -
 “That fight was really hard.” -> The party was wiped out.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition -
“That fight was really hard.” -> Half the party is dead.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition -

“That fight was really hard.” -> One member of the party is dead.

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition/3.5 -
“That fight was really hard.” -> One member of the party was close to 0 hit points.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition -

“That fight was really hard.” -> I can’t believe we were down to using At Will powers.

It's Like The Entrance To The Underdark . . . . . . .

Explorers discover spectacular caves in Vietnam

It's Like The Entrance To The Underdark . . . . . . .

'Nuff Sed!

Castles & Crusades - Conan Style!

I was asked recently, would it be possible to run a Conan (as in set in Hyboria) style game using the Castles & Crusades rules, rather than the "mish mash" that Mongoose produced.

Although I actually quite like the 2nd Edition of the Conan rules from Mongoose, I really cannot see why not.

The BIGGEST obstacle is the lack of any Healing Magics available to a party, thus rendering all Characters really vulnerable to an untimely end.

In the Conan RPG, they circumvent this with Fate points - but in the SEIGE system I would probably use a "Luck" Attribute in stead, and give it the same 3-18 range (and option to make Primary or not, after all some people are luckier than others) as other C&C Attributes.

Races are another point of contention, as the 3.5 based rules give racial bonuses in the +2/-2 range - whereas in C&C all bonuses are in the +1/-1 range. Its easy enough to correct, dropping +2/-2 to +1/-1 and (should the occur) reducing +1/-1 racial adjustments to zero's across the board. Don't forget there are NO Demi-Humans really running around in the Conan Universe, those "sub-humans" that do exist (like the Black Giants of the Western Seas from Savage Sword of Conan #22) are not really suitable for use as Player Characters.

Classes are (kinda) the easiest to accomodate, so here are some "rough" thoughts.

Barbarians

Quite simply use the C&C Barbarian Class, nice and easy - no changes or messing about needed.

Borderers & Nomads
The quite happily come under the heading of Rangers, they are similar (but not the same) in many respects, I would "tweak" the Ranger class on a character by character basis if variations are required.

Nobles & Knights
I would recommend using the Noble Class from the C&C Freeport Companion. Knights (in the Core Conan Rulebook) come under the heading of "Noble" but luckily in C&C there is a seperate Knight Character Class.

Pirates

Once again the C&C Freeport Companion has a fantastic Pirate Class, alternatively there are a couple of variant Pirate Classes to be found if you trawl the C&C forums.

Scholars

There are no Scholar classes for C&C, I shall be attempting a conversion of the Scholar to C&C at some point.

Soldiers & Sell-Swords

Are Fighters, again you can "tweak" the Fighter class on a case by case basis if you want.

The Temptress

I shall be also doing a conversion of the Temptress class at some point, taking inspiration from the old White Dwarf Magazine "Houri" class as well.

Thief

Take the C&C Rogue class, rename it "Thief" and you're done!

As I have pointed out, Hit Points and Healing could potentially be a problem. In addition to having either Fate Points or a Luck Stat, there are a couple of other things you can do to make things easier.

First Level Hit Point "Kicker".

At First Level, give your PC's Starting Hit Points equal to -

A Dice Roll (or Maximum) + Con Bonus + Constitution Score. It might seem a lot, but there is a rationale to it.

The People of Hyboria are a tough bunch, much tougher than the average FRP "Joe" - plus it increases their "durability" in an environment with limited Healing.

Better Healing Skills.

Rather than 1D3 Hit Points regained during the use of a characters Healing Skill, give them a Higher Dice Roll - or (which I prefer personally) give them 1D3+ the number the task was beaten by.

E.G. If the difficulty was 17 (the number of Hit Points lost in this case) and the character performing the healing rolled a 12 (after modifiers) the person receiving the aid would be healed 1D3+5 Hit Points of Damage. HOWEVER it would take 2 minutes of "tending" per Hit Point healed, and the injured character would then need to rest for a number of minutes equal to the number of Hit Points healed multiplied by 5 (so 6 points of damage healed would require 30 minutes of rest), if the healed character becomes active during that time, he would only receive half the number of Hit Points restored.

Next - The Scholar

Villains, Demons, & Devils

I've been party to a lot of discussion on Villains for our games of late, whether it be AD&D/D&D ( or my my own case Castles & Crusades) - and their prospective power levels and types.

See, I'm in the camp where sometimes Villains (and even some encounters) should be insurmountable - that the Characters should have the common sense to "run away to fight another day" whereas some DM's believe that ALL encounters should be defeatable (is that even a word LoL) including Major Villains.

But, in my opinion at least - that's not very realistic, now is it.

There are plenty of heroic tales where the main protagonist(s) flee or have to return to complete a quest/defeat some evil (the Hobbits in the Lord of the Rings don't confront the Ring Wraiths for example, not until the have Aragorn with them - and the company flees into mines of Moria to escape the watcher in the water ) - if not at the very least the Hero in question prepares himself in some way to vanquish the evil (as in the legend of the Lambton Worm).

Unfortunately, the modern "trend" is balance over story telling - something I've never found particularly palatable when running (or even playing in) games.

A common thread in my own Games are the "Three Tiers of Villainy" as I like to call them, the different sorts of encounter a Party of Player Characters might encounter.

The Three Tiers of Villainy

Tier One - The most basic villain types, Minions, Monsters, and Morons. Those Low-Level (total number of levels/hit dice generally within two levels of the total Part Level) encounters that form the meat and potatoes of any game. These can be represented by a "spread" - as in 1 monster/minion/npc per party level, or as a "combined" encounter - eg 5 1st level PCs could encounter a 5 hit dice monster.

At the end of the day, even when designed to be a challenge to your players, they should be well-within your party's capability to deal with them.

Tier Two - The Bosses. This is the most challenging "encounter" a DM can put it, tough enough to (at least in theory) perform a total Party Wipe Out (if they are stupid enough to take such an encounter on) when initially encountered, but not unbeatable IN THE LONG RUN. These are the Baddies the PCs return to kill/exact revenge upon. The Long Term Villains that can make a campaign truly memorable. Of course, such "Bosses" CAN be taken on, and on rare occasions the PCs will get lucky (or the NPC unlucky with his saves etc) and defeat such a Tier Two Villain early on, if that's the case - let them gloat etc. Just have him (or her) replaced, and make sure the new Villain has an entourage with them this time!

To sum up, Tier Two Villains should be ALMOST unbeatable - but at the end of the Day they are there to entertain your Players, so don't be surprised when they do (eventually) get killed!

Tier Three - The Gods, Demon Princes, & Arch-Devils. Though such encounters will have attributes/statistics - they aren't in place for the PCs to fight. They are there rather for flavour, and to scare the "bejesus" out of your Players.

Evil Deities turning up to gloat (and tell the Party their plans of course), Demon Princes there to "slap them around" a bit, before you let them "find" a powerful magic item or two. Or an Arch-Devil, there to tempt them into "making a deal" (if you get me) - Tier Three encounters are there for one reason, and one reason only - the scare the crap out of your players.

DO NOT put such Villains/Monsters in as an standard encounter, at least some of your Players characters WILL die - and that's a fact.

So, even though I am not a fan of "balance" in the rule set (I find it a little too constraining myself) - I do believe in balance when it comes to telling a tale.

And telling a good story is what its all about for me as a DM.

D&D, Lies, and Dungeon Mastery

In Dungeon Magazine 183, there was an article about being a DM "Save My Game"
- which basically went on about (the authors) three tennants for running a successful D&D Game.

The overall topics were "Lie, Cheat, and Steal" - something I vehementy disagree with to be frank

As a relatively successful DM of many MANY years, here are my thoughts on what was written.

LIE, LIE, LIE - "so-called truths of the world are fluid" - Sorry, BOLLOCKS. The Minute your players find out you are lying to them, you lose their trust, you minute you lose their trust, thats when campaigns start to go down hill (and rapidly).

I have a reputation for running difficult, but fair games - I never lie to my players (thats not to say my NPC's don't, but thats for another time) about anything in my worlds or games. HOWEVER I also don't tell them everything about a game mileu, thats for the Characters to find out.


The world should be consisten, and never change - unless politically or because something has happened because of a scenario.

CHEATING - CHEATING, FFS - NEVER DO THAT! How can you be the "master of the game" if you cheat. You are taking away the very soul of sportsmanship and story telling.



A lot of DM's (like the late great Don Turnbull of TSR UK) liked rolling dice behind their screens, if the rolls weren't what they wanted as a DM - they "fudged" around them. Something I simply don't subscribe too personally, I roll ALL my "Public" (Combat/Initiative/Monster Saves) Dice Rolls in front of my Players. I am firm with them too, if a Dice Roll isn't witnessed by myself or the rest of the group - it never happened.


My games have deaths from time to time, but my Players know they aren't deliberate - and in the same way, they know all their rewards and achievements were earned!

STEALING - Now I don't call it stealing, its more a case of borrowing ideas IMHO. Whether its an entire scenario, converted over to your system of choice - or borrowing plot threads from a TV show or Movie - doing such things is more about homage than it is stealing.

Plagiarizing or Paying Tribute to a great idea isn't stealing - thats why its got specific terminology to describe what it is (seriously Dude, learn the English Language) - whilst plagiarism can be considered theft under certain circumstances, when writing a scenario or creating a new non-player character for a game I personally don't think its the case.

"There are no new stories. It all depends on how you handle them" - Jude Deveraux.

Its borrowing, or taking inspiration - not stealing.

To sum up, Honesty is the best policy - in everything - and its especially important to a Dungeon Master who wants to be DM'ing for a long time.

I kinda resent this idea, (well, the whole article to be frank) the writer had a VERY jaded view of being a good Dungeon Master - Gary and Dave will be spinning in their graves over this!

Dramatic Structure in Your Dungeon Crawls

There were some interesting thoughts this month over at D&D Insider, a Dungeon Editorial (from Dungeon # 185) about "Dramatic Structure".

Now I've never really thought about this personally, I just sort of "do it" without any bells and whistles or fuss.

You know, theres a beginning, a middle, and an end to every adventure - but it was REALLY interesting seeing it laid out and discussed like that.

Of course an RPG is different to other Mediums, but a lot of elements are the same - Protagonists (PC's & NPC's), Antagonists (NPC's & Monsters), the Setup (Act 1 if it were a Play - in RPG terms the PC's meet an NPC in a Tavern who "hires" or "Quests" them with a task), a steady build of conflic/tension through Confrontation & Encounters (Act 2), and sorts it all out for Better (Comedy/Resolution - funny moments in a game are very important, as is your Players achieving their goals, should they repeatedly fail - you WILL lose some or possibly all, of your group) or Worse (Tragedy/Resolution/Failiure - SOMETIMES your PC's HAVE to fail, for the sake of the plot - so you HAVE a "place" for them to go in your Game World) in the Final Part of a Scenario or Story (Act 3).

I've ALWAYS found Players enjoy "Dungeon Crawls" more than any other type of Scenario, now thats not to say that I DON'T run "non" Dungeon games - I do, its just that when I hear my Players chatting/reminiscing about games - the Dungeon "elements" always seem to stick in their minds. So I like to stick to whats fun, for both my players and myself.

One of the "pitfalls" DM's find when running extensive or repeated Dungeon based Scenarios is blandness, things always seem "the same" with no real variation in plot. Now THATS where following the rules of dramatic structure REALLY come in handy.

ALWAYS (and I mean always too LoL) follow the Dramatic Structure and you really cannot go wrong, by having a fairly "rigid" structure - you actually "free" your imagination up - giving you the ability to insert more "flavour" into your Dungeon based Scenarios.


ACT I - The Setup


Whether you actually run the Setup as part of the Scenario, or its just there as "fluff" for the players so they know why their characters are intering the Dungeon - it should be rich and fully realized. Don't skimp of detail, don't skimp on information. There SHOULDN'T be a Villain in every game, but by the same token don't have endless streams of "lost artifacts" for the PC's to retrieve.


Other options could be - rescue a Kidnap Victim, a Lost Child, Deliver a Message, Bury an NPC's Remains, or even (as I did in one scenario) rescue a lost Cat.


ACT II - The "Meat" of the Story


Keep things fresh, don't be afraid to "roll" with the punches your players throw at you. I remember one game I ran, the Party were storming through my carefully planned Dungeon - Kicking in EVERY wooden door. It was boring for me, so when they moved onto Level II - SUDDENLY all the Doors were stone, and very heavy (there was one moment in a Pit room with a sliding stone door, the Players spent nearly an HOUR trying to get out of that room. Searching for Secret Panels, JUMPING up and down to activate pressure plates etc - it didn't occur to them to check if it slid LoL).


ACT III - The Resolution


Again, keep things fresh and exciting - Don't "force" the ending. If someone Dies (a PC or beloved NPC) roll with it, play up the Pathos - ONLY ON VERY RARE OCCASIONS should you Plan to kill even an NPC. It just pisses of your Players when you do. By the same token, if your "Main Villain" (if you have one) fails to die, or manages to Escape - go with that too, then you have a Plot for later on (Revenge or Track him Down) - and never EVER get pissed off when your Players kill off a Carefully Crafted Major Villain or Monster! Thats what they are there for!!!


So, there you go - just some thoughts that I find useful and might help.

Kinda the Point . . . . .

Those who know me personally, know that I am one of the "old guard" - that I've been playing games of Dungeons & Dragons since I was 15 (I started in 1977) and have run games (and sometimes played) every edition of the "beautiful" game. When 4th came out, I reacted badly - much more so than when 3rd came out (though I now prefer 4e).

A good friend of mine was suprised at my recent blogs, wondering why I was SUDDENLY warming to WizBro!

HOWEVER I'm not really Warming to Wizards per-se, mainly because they've made some serious "errors" with their business model. OK, they have shareholders etc - but they have to remember the fan base for an RPG is a LOT different to the fan base of say a Card Game (and a lot more vocal).

I didn't (and still don't) like their original marketing approach to D&D. Whilst the system itself is playable, they didn't really explain (and therefore justify) their "approach" to the new edition.

There was lots of "babbling" about the "sweet spot" when it comes to playing D&D, but no real explanation (that I could find) as to the reasoning behind their sweeping changes.

All that was further compounded with their "dismissive" attitude to thier fan-base, resulted in the "knee jerk" reaction that I myself was guilty of.

HOWEVER, if you read through the rules (especially the "essentials" range - its very apparent what they intended).

Here are my own thoughts on the whole debacle -

Choice and Playability - Although the familiar character types are present. They didn't want everybody to be the same. So there are a LOT of choices, that in itself alienated the 1st/2nd Ed crowd. HOWEVER the choices in 4e are more "class driven" (though you can "cross class" Traits/Powers/Skills - its their way of multi-classing), this class-driven choice system with no real multi-classing in turn alienated the 3.X crowd. It is less complex to create a character than in 3.X D&D - and the 4e "Archetypes" are stronger.

They increased starting Hit Points, a lot of DM's/Players out there started games/campaigns at higher than first level. The increased HP at first level negates the need for this (although I prefer a Die Roll + Con Bonus at each level rather than a static amount myself, ad that is easily house ruled).

They also introduced "healing surges", an abstract concept that allows PC's to regain Hit Points "X" amounts of times a day - receiving healing magic also "burns off" a healing surge. This concept PI**ED OFF so many Fans its untrue, but I get the feeling these "fans" didn't understand the concept of Hit Points in the first place.
You don't suddenly get physically "tougher" as you rise in level, but rather Hit Points represent Training and Fighting Stamina - so Warriors get more and Wizards get less (see, logical). A "healing surge" would have been better described as a "second wind" pretty much representing an individuals ability to regain their composure, tapping into their hidden reserves.

In reality all it means is that you can throw more interesting challenges/monsters at a party.

The "fans" are missing that . . . . . .

Another "bone of contention" was the focus on Combat Powers -

Now even though in a LOT of D&D Stories - people ramble on about in stores and conventions are about killing a particular monster - combat in ANY edition of D&D can be drawn out and sometimes kinda boring.
By focusing on Combat and Damage, what they have done with the 4e Combat is make it more dynamic - allowing all party members to take part on some level during play. Of course, it still gets "bogged down" at higher levels - but thats generally a problem in all games with high-powered characters.

This, combined with some magics being turned into Rituals that can be cast as many times as you have components - really opens up game play

They Proved they Listen - Thanks to fan pressure, they have been releasing the "Essentials" range - a set of products that really show the system off, the Three that are THE MOST useful to players are - Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, and the Rules Compendium.

The Rules Compendium is a quick and handy rules reference and guide for the Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Game. A REALLY handy and comprehensive book, it is basically a quick rules reference. It contains the complete core rules for the 4th Edition. In addition to providing an overview of the game and how it’s played, this book presents the core rules in a format that is easily referenced during a game. It includes information on level advancement, combat, experience points, treasure, skills, equipment, etc.

The Heroes of the Fallen Lands, presents builds for the most iconic classes: the cleric, the fighter, the rogue, and the mage. Loads of new powers, class features, paragon paths, epic destinies, and more that players can use to build the characters they want to play and experienced players can plunder for existing characters. In addition to the new builds, this book has expanded information and racial traits for some of the game’s most popular races, including dwarves, eladrin (sort of true Elves), elves, halflings, and humans.

Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, has builds for some of the game’s most popular classes: the druid, the paladin, the ranger, and the warlock. Again loads of new powers, class features, paragon paths, epic destinies, etc. There is also expanded information and racial traits for dragonborn, drow, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings.

As a Player, you need nothing more than these three - OBVIOUSLY the Players Handbooks contain more evocative classes, powers, and races. But the two "Heroes" books, have MORE than enough information for any player.

A lot of fans didn't like the more exotic races/classes from 4e, WizBro ACTUALLY listened. Games Workshop (for example) HAVE NEVER listened to the fans (they just keep flogging away with the now DREADFUL 40k ruleset, making it weaker and weaker with each edition) - EVER! Whereas WizBro have, and have taken a slight "back peddle" with the essentials, whilst keeping it all fully usuable with the initial 4e releases.

The range of DM essentials is amazing, a DM's Kit, Monster Vault (with new monsters and LOADS of Tokens), and even High Quality Card-Stock Dungeon Tiles! (Which are lovely btw).

Digital Rights Management Issues - The original approach to the 4e release - REALLY did alienate a lot of potential players; by changing the "Open Games License", and revoking PDF sales of ALL earlier editions - this really REALLY pissed people off (the withdrawn PDF sales is what pissed me off initially, it felt like they were trying to FORCE people to buy the new Edition - WizBro claimed it was to stop pirating of their products, but a lot of people came up with the same reasoning as I did) - hence my own personal rebellion, and not really giving 4e the chance and try-out it deserved.

The Character Builder for 4e, was a stand alone application - with Downloads/Updates available via a subscription. They have now changed it to an online Character Builder - people are now up in arms about this. BUT its interesting to note, the ones who are moaning don't seem to like or want to pay subscriptions - they obviously think their D&D Fix should be for free. By doing it as a browser only application, they can't get a hold of pirated software - so they have to buy a subscription. HOWEVER, there is a monthly subscription charge - for which you get Digital Issues of Dragon and Dungeon Magazines and access to Downloads and Updates. Considering Dragon Magazine used to sell in the UK for £3.99 last time it was available a couple of years ago, £6.38 a month isnt a lot to ask for the equvallent of two £4 magazines and use of all their online tools (it drops to £3.81 if you take a years subscription).

Like I said, the people who are moaning are the ones who seem to want something for nothing, and Wizards can do without them tbh.

Maintaining servers and developing software isn't cheap (as anyone involved in computers knows), and yet the "Fans" I mentioned earlier - seem to want it all for nothing. I say Bo***cks to them - they aren't really fans.

My Closing Thoughts - Its taken me a LONG time to come around, something I never really did with 3.X D&D (don't get me wrong I've run D&D 3.X and had fun with it, I've just never felt comfortable with the system as a whole) - and though I am still not 100% happy with WizBro (as a company they still have a lot to do to earn my respect), I am MUCH happier with the way they are treating D&D's History - and MUCH happier with the direction 4e is taking, and even somewhat happier with the pre-painted stuff (I STILL think it should be sold in sets rather than in "blind" packaging - but thats me) - but thats more to do with finding time to paint and the price of metal miniatures these days to be frank.

4e ISN'T D&D as the "old guard" remember it, and to be frank I wouldn't expect it to be. THACO was clumsy and outdated, the Saving Throw Tables were arbitrary, the "Vancian" Magic System is kinda outmoded and arkward (and actually makes little or no sense with Clerics, if their Spells are granted by their Deity - why do they actually need to memorize them), the Feats from 3.X were WAY too much for ANY DM to remember - but what they have done with 4e is taken the parts that worked, updating them where applicable - and changed/re-invented areas that needed attention.

I'm NOT saying 4e is perfect, such a game doesn't exist (even my beloved Castles and Crusades has its issues/problems) but its a game thats worth CONSIDERING looking at. I went back and looked at it again because I had the sense to "back peddle" and check things out again - plus I am mature enough to admit when I was wrong (as I WAS wrong in this case).
What this has taught me is that their shouldn't really be "edition wars" anymore - that the game OVERALL needs to be kept alive - no matter what the edition.
By bickering and fighting all we are doing is hurting Dungeons & Dragons on the whole, not promoting any edition of the game - but (more likely) putting people off taking up the hobby in the long run.

I am now in the position to run /play ANY edition of Dungeons and Dragons now, both from knowledge of the rules and love for D&D and Fantasy Role Playing in general -
And running/playing games is Kinda the Point . . . . .

Snobbery & Pre-Painted Miniatures

I have quite a few WizBro D&D miniatures, you know - the pre-painted bits of rubber.

The reason why is simple really, when I travel to run games or am running games for Kids - NO WAY am I carting my Metal Miniatures around with me.

If they got stolen It would quite simple kill me (some are VERY rare indeed), plus you have to worry about damage (chipping, broken arms etc) - so the PP Minis fulfill a specific role as far as I am concerned.

Then there is the fact they have produced monsters you can't find elsewhere, I really REALLY don't like the "collectable" aspect tbh - thats the one thing that puts me off.

But, for the most part they are a LOT cheaper than their metal counterparts too.

FOR EXAMPLE -

WizBro Purple Worm - around £10 plus Shipping.

Reaper Purple Worm - around £20 plus Shipping.

Otherworld Purple Worm - around £30 plus Shipping.

I FINALLY aquired an Aboleth the other day, more than likely to the upset of my players LoL!

Then, there is the "snobbery" angle with PP minis, that they are "collectable" (something I mentioned earlier I'm not 100% a fan of), and for the most part the paint jobs are pants - OCCASIONALLY they are "OK".

I have (as part of painting commisions) re-painted some, and I have to say once stripped the detailing on the Vinyl is excellent and they paint up well.

The "miniature" snobs have to remember not everyone has the time or the skill to spend hours and days painting hordes of Miniatures, so these are a BOON in those circumstances.

So don't discard the idea of using PP WizBro stuff, its got its uses after all . . . . . . 

D&D Cat

I've been going through the 4th Edition D&D Books recently, as I'm going to be ACTUALLY PLAYING rather than being the DM soon - and found Frankie wanting to join in!

I wonder what sort of Character he would prefer . . . . . . 

Games, Rulesets, Genres, and Collections

Does every other DM out there stick to one system, one world, or one genre?

In my youth as a DM/GM I ran a LOT of different games (heavy on the D&D of course) -

Dungeons & Dragons - White Box Edition
Basic Dungeons & Dragons (Basic thru to Immortals Rules & Rules Cyclopedia)
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition
Dungeons & Dragons - Third Edition
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5
Castles & Crusades (which counts as D&D for me at least)
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition
Hackmaster (up to 4th, I don't really rate the new Hackmaster Basic)

Call of Cthulhu (I stopped running it around 5th Edition, though I do have the excellent D20 rules)
Chill (Pacesetter)
Dark Conspiracy (AWESOME Fluff, OK system)

Star Trek (Fasa)
Star Trek (LUG)
Star Trek (Decipher)

Traveller
Traveller 2300
Twilight 2000

Mythus - Dangerous Journeys
Lejendary Adventures

Metascape - Guild Space

Mechwarrior - The Battletech RPG

Shadowrun (1st thru 3rd Edition, not keen of 4th Edition)

Marvel Super Heroes
DC Super Heroes
Silver Age Sentinels (my personal favourite Supers game)
Golden Heroes (a FANTASTIC Supers Game IMHO - despite its flaws)

Star Wars (West End Games - still one of the BEST RPG's ever written)
Star Wars D20 (NOT the Saga edition, I really don't rate it at all)

I own a lot of RPG's besides - but the above are the ones I have actually run games for. But these days, I don't know why the "song" of Fantasy RPG's is calling me more and more.

I don't know whether its my inherrant romantic nature, or my Love of all things fantastical (in part thanks to my Mum) - but its there.

My RPG Book Shelves looks like a D&D Library, but (not unusual for me - as I like to write my own) very few Scenarios. I find bought Scenarios very "constricting" - they aren't written with your players (or their characters and any relevant backstories) in mind.

I wonder if any other "Veteran" DM/GM's feel the same, are they narrowing their focus - or is it the other way around, are they spreading their wings?

The "Realm" of Dungeons and Dragons has always been "Home" to me, and I imagine it always will . . . .

DM's Respect , Balance, and Moving Forward

One of the things I have encountered over the years is lack of respect, on behalf of the DM/GM with regards to his players.

I've run games in co-operation with and under many GMs over the years and though they are rare there are those that are totally reprehensible in their attitudes to their players.

From the guy who made Scenario's/Dungeons so impossibly difficult you were always (and I mean ALWAYS) guaranteed at least a couple of dead party members (and often total wipeouts) - and this guys doesn't even DM anymore, no one with even allow him in their group as a player.

To the DM who treats his players quite literally as play-things for his own amusement, don't get me wrong this guy had some great (if sometimes derivative from Movies and Comics) ideas - but everything was for HIS amusement, and he was totally regardless of his players feelings or needs.

Now, I have only encountered a few such "rogue" GM's/DM's - but thinking about it has led me to wonder if such arrant GM/DM behaviour is the reason for the total OBSESSION with RPG balance?!!?

Apart from the "everyone is equal" (and totally unrealistic) approach, the core systems of 4th Edition DnD ISN'T that bad, I kinda resent the oversimplification of potions and suchlike - and don't like the fact that almost all (if not all) of the powers/abilities/feats are so combat orientated (I have a batch of the newer books coming soon, so I shall be able to clarify that more in my own mind) - there need to be more "passive" powers/abilities/feats I reckon, that could be used outside of combat.

4th Ed is shiney and very pretty, and could benefit and be really strengthened by the addition of  more flavoursome "non-combat" elements IMHO. It would certainly redeem the ruleset in my (and a lot of others) eyes.