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New DM Starter Kit now available!

May 15, 2009 by newbiedm

Continuing the theme of yesterday’s post, where I gave some tips for the new DM, today I’m making something available for download. If you are a new DM, and are planning on running (which I highly recommend) the Kobold Hall adventure in the back of the DMG then you should download this PDF I’ve put […]

Advice for new DM’s only!

May 14, 2009 by newbiedm

Experienced DM’s, this article is not for you, so move along. Nothing to see here… In July, it’ll be a year since I started DM’ing. Unfortunately, we don’t get to play as often as I’d like, so my time behind the screen doesn’t come about often enough. Nevertheless, the amount of time we do get […]

Creating character portraits with “Hero Machine”

May 7, 2009 by newbiedm

My post on SW d6 reminded me of an online tool I used to create character portraits for that game, it’s called Hero Machine, and it is extremely cool. It’s a flash based application that starts you off with a generic “empty” pose, and you go filling it with layers of clothing, eyes, hair, beards, […]

Change in attitude regarding ability scores throughout different editions…

May 5, 2009 by newbiedm

While I seem to be an unabashed fan of 4th Ed., the truth of the matter is that I am probably more of a fan of the game I happen to be playing at the time. Right now, it’s 4th Ed. I like it. I’m into it because it lets me roll dice with my […]

New DM’s: Introduce new PC’s through side stories in your campaign

May 2, 2009 by newbiedm

So your players got themselves a shiny new copy of the PHB2, and they are dying to try it out… great! But maybe the problem you are facing as a DM though, is that you’ve got your story on track, the PC’s involved are part of a greater tale within the world you’ve crafted, and […]

Masterplan – Software for the 4th Ed. DM

April 9, 2009 by newbiedm

I recently came across a nice piece of software for DM’s of 4th Ed. who need a little bit of help organizing and keeping their campaign stuff in order. The program includes flowcharts for your adventures that link to encounters, maps, and all sorts of stuff. You can even use Dungeon Tiles to plan and […]

Song lyrics and your campaign

March 24, 2009 by newbiedm

It was a wicked and wild wind Blew down the doors to let me in Shattered windows and the sound of drums People couldn’t believe what I’d become Revolutionaries wait For my head on a silver plate Just a puppet on a lonely string Oh, who would ever want to be king? I hear Jerusalem […]

Podcasts can be a newbie dm’s best tool

March 19, 2009 by newbiedm

If you’ve never played D&D or are looking to DM but aren’t sure how, you should probably listen to actual play podcasts to help you fine tune your skills. Actual play is just that, recordings of groups of people playing D&D. The Wizard’s website is currently hosting a series of actual play podcasts they did […]

Portable Dungeon Tile playing surface

March 12, 2009 by newbiedm

This weekend I was going to play somewhere other than my house, and I intended on using Dungeon Tiles. Now, these things are prone to sliding around a lot on table surfaces, so I came up with a little something I plan on using whenever I take my game to someone elses house. It’s a […]

Open Game Table

March 11, 2009 by newbiedm

A lot of people have written about this, but I feel I should jump in as well. The Core Mechanic, an RPG Blog way better than this one could ever hope to be, has been hard at work self-publishing a book composed entirely of articles written by RPG bloggers. Putting this book together has been a […]