May 31

RPG Blog Carnival May 2015 – Unusual Dungeons

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This month the subject of the carnival is Unusual Dungeons, hosted by Enderra.

I’ve never really done much dungeon delving as either player or gm, so I found this a bit of a tricky subject to write about.

I’m all for making a dungeon an interesting environment rather than another 1o’ by 10′ room with an Orc and a pie in it, although it is an interesting concept adventure by Monte Cook and I have the t-shirt to prove it πŸ™‚ .

The only real dungeon that appealed were those constructed within a tesseract, a strange construct that can defy logic and also cause insanity as everyone tries to get to grips with exactly how everything connects.

Given enough time, graph paper, inspiration and a book like Central Casting Dungeons I suppose I could create a believable excavated dungeon for the players to explore.Β  There are also other books which can help you stock a dungeon with monsters and treasures or even create an organic realm like How To Host A Dungeon does.

If you’re really stuck for time, use a crossword puzzle for a dungeon map, now that’s an interesting design as crosswords are designed with a degree of symmetry in them and if you throw in a teleport trap or two you could move them from corner to corner without them realising what’s been going on.

 

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May 22

30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 27

A Character You Want To Play In The Future

I’d love to play some sort of half-dragon, half ogre, Sorcerer, Fighter.Β  Nobody said it had to be a legal combination.

I would love to play a half-dragon though and I miss the old prestige class that was in the D&D 3.5 books, as that had awesome role-playing potential.

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May 21

30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 26

Favourite Nonmagic item.

Is the ten foot pole. I know it’s a bit of a clichΓ© but the pole has plenty of uses and deserves to be part of the humble adventures tool-kit; how could you not marvel at the versatility of this wonder of nature and it’s almost free to own.

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May 19

30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 24

Favourite Energy Type

Would have to be Fire. Yes you could blow things apart with sonic blasts but you can’t beat a good old-fashioned flaming conflagration of death. Hmmm what with me mentioned red dragons, I hope you don’t take me for some sort of arsonist πŸ™‚

This ones certainly from the newer 3e version of the game, as the earlier editions of the game never really defined engender types.

 

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May 17

30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 22

Favourite Monster Overall

As each edition of D&D has appeared, the overall number of monsters has increased and when D&D 3e was released the Open Gaming Licence gave game designers the chance to release bestiaries of their own making the task of trying to pick a favourite monster harder to do.

The one creature that does stand out and is my overall favourite is the bizzare Owlbear.Β  An unholy fusion of an owl and a bear which was probably created by an intoxicated wizard.

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May 16

30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 21

Favourite Dragon Colour / Type

Without a doubt the Red Dragon is my favourite, not just for the fire-breathing but the attitude to go with it.

It was a pity I never got to run the old adventure Dragon Mountain as it combines dragons and kobolds in one deadly combination.

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May 15

30 Day D&D Challenge – Day 20

Favourite Monster (HumanoidΒ  / Natural / Fey)

Is the humble Kobold.Β  Even though the cute little creatures have changed from being dog like to descendants of dragons, I have a soft spot for them.

I once created a kobold adversary who used darts as his principal weapon and was capable of doing quite a lot of damage in a short space of time.

I think my eyes were opened when I read all about Tucker’s kobolds in Dragon magazine 127.

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