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Random treasure tables built from wish lists

January 31, 2010 by newbiedm

I’ve never really liked the idea of wish lists, and much less the idea of treasure being included in the Player’s Handbook. Unfortunately, that’s now the way it is, and as a DM you’ve got to adjust to the fact that your players have full access to a list of treasures that are available in […]

Before your first game, know your party, and know them well.

January 26, 2010 by newbiedm

As a newbie DM, it’s easy to get caught up in the things that seem important right before you start your campaign. Your maps, your minis, and your epic Tolkien-esque storyline all take up your undivided attention right before your first game. You are so caught up with what’s happening on your side of the […]

NPC Tracker cards

December 29, 2009 by newbiedm

I was talking to one of my players today, and he casually mentioned that sometimes there were too many NPC’s to remember in my game, and note taking is not their thing… so I decided to come up with npc cards. These are simple to use. The Photoshop version has a “hole” where the portrait […]

Is the encounter worth it?

December 23, 2009 by newbiedm

We recently played our last game of the year, I can’t believe it’s been 1 1/2 years already with 4e. I feel I’m getting into a nice groove with my Dm’ing, both on the table and off. My prep time is going quicker than ever thanks to all the digital tools at my disposal, and […]

Improved Initiative: D&D 4e Combat Manager v.1.6.0

December 8, 2009 by newbiedm

This is the third article in Improved Initiative, my series highlighting various combat trackers made for 4e. I first tested out a program called Initracker, and I liked it very much. This program I will write about in this article was brought to my attention via twitter. (As an aside, if you aren’t on twitter […]

Just a newbie dm after all

November 20, 2009 by newbiedm

So this past week we had another session. We usually play every other Wednesday, which is really not a lot of gaming time a year if you think about it. 26 times a year, give or take, remove a few for those days that you just can’t make it and what? We’re looking at […]

NewbieDM Tutorial: The Battlemap Part III

November 17, 2009 by newbiedm

Here is the last part of the battlemap tutorials for NewbieDM.com, written by professional cartographer Jonathan Roberts. Click here for part 1, and here for part 2. At the end of the last tutorial we had a lovely map, though it’s a little bare. In this tutorial I’ll cover the little tweaks that will finish […]

NewbieDM Tutorial: The Battlemap Part II

November 11, 2009 by newbiedm

Here is the 2nd Part of Jonathan Roberts’ battlemap series for NewbieDM.com readers. Part 1 can be found here. In the following weeks, he’ll be providing us with mapping tutorials for regional maps and world maps as well. You can visit Jonathan’s site, Fantastic Maps, to find other great examples of his work. Designing and […]

NewbieDM Tutorial: The Battlemap, a guest post by Jonathan Roberts

November 9, 2009 by newbiedm

With this website, I’ve tried to give new DM’s out there tools, resources, and tips to run a better D&D game with. One of the things that I’ve never been able to offer before today, simply because I have no skills at it, is a robust mapping tutorial or series. So I reached out to […]

NewbieDM Review: Kobold Quarterly 11

October 24, 2009 by newbiedm

I had a chance to read Kobold Quarterly, a D&D magazine believed by many to be the spiritual successor to Dragon Magazine (in its print version pre-4th Ed.) and I can see why that is. It is a nicely put together mag with tons of D&D content, whether you’re playing 3.x, Pathfinder or my system […]