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Warstories: Player vs. Player at the table.

October 22, 2009 by newbiedm

This is the third installment of a series titled Warstories, which consists of short post meant to inspire discussion and dialogue amongst DM’s. Warstories deal with the many different issues that come up in a D&D game from time to time, and tend to affect Dungeon Masters in particular. I had an unfortunate situation to […]

Warstories: Large battle maps

October 16, 2009 by newbiedm

Warstories is the name I’m giving to a short series of articles meant to spark discussions and advice amongst DM’s and players. With the series, I hope to tackle common problems that crop up during the game, and see how other people deal with them at their table. This is the second of such articles. […]

Steal Smart: The Series

October 2, 2009 by newbiedm

The other day on Twitter I put a call out looking for reader written articles for the blog. I figured I’d let other gamers who may not have a blog of their own have a place to present their ideas and writings, and hopefully help all of us new DM’s in the process, by giving […]

Advice for Newbie DM’s: The Competitor DM vs. the Storyteller DM

August 29, 2009 by newbiedm

This is a story about two different types of DM’s. One loves to DM his players through really tough and deadly encounters, pumps his fists when a player goes down, and curses when his die rolls badly. The other DM is crafting a story, and together with the players, they are all telling a great […]

Gencon knick knacks for 4th Ed. D&D

August 22, 2009 by newbiedm

I wanted to share with you some of my purchases from Gencon for my 4th Ed. D&D game, with the hopes that it may help someone out there starting to play the game. 4th Ed., above all others, is in my opinion a game that lends itself very well to this type of thing, and […]

Updating DDI Compendium stat blocks the easy way

August 19, 2009 by newbiedm

I found a relatively easy way to level up your traps or monsters quickly directly from the compendium, without a need to copy and paste it over to Google Docs or anywhere else. It’s through a javascript that lets you edit web pages on the fly. First, visit this page: http://www.labnol.org/internet/design/edit-web-pages-like-wiki/3832/ Follow the instructions, it’ll […]

Improved Initiative: Initracker

August 6, 2009 by newbiedm

I have been searching far and wide for an initiative and condition tracker for fourth edition. For my condition, I’ve been using a modified version of the Alea Tools magnetic markers: For initiative, I’ve been using a sheet I created for my New DM Starter Kit. It’s just a run of the mill Excel spreadsheet, […]

Running your large D&D party

August 2, 2009 by newbiedm

I’ve been running a large party since I started DM’ing 4th Ed., and while I appreciate the fact that I’m able to play and have friends willing to play with me, running a large party has its ups and downs. In this article, I hope to give you several tips to manage the table filled […]

Monster Builder to be released tomorrow July 30th!

July 29, 2009 by newbiedm

Yes, it’s true. The long awaited DDI Monster Builder releases tomorrow, Thursday July 30th, as a beta download for DDI subscribers. It’s expected to be up around 12:00pm eastern time. I can’t wait. Link

Beginner tips for effective narration

July 26, 2009 by newbiedm

For a newbie DM, the scene can be a daunting one: you’ve got your binder open in front of you, minis or counters ready to go, your players are sitting at the table, the battle map is laying there, and all eyes are focused on you. All that’s left is for you to begin narrating. […]