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Reader Voicemail: Players Killing for XP

May 15, 2010 by newbiedm

This is an interesting question, and I invite readers to chime in as well with their own suggestions for the listener. I think the most important thing to do when you have a situation like this and are finding it hard to judge is to go back an re-read the Experience Points section in Chapter […]

NewbieDM.com Minicast Ep. 6

May 10, 2010 by newbiedm

Mike Shea from the Sly Flourish blog joins me in the latest minicast, and together we try to answer a listener’s voicemail about interesting houserules that can enhance the game. Both of us provide a couple of houserules, with Mike providing one of the neatest uses for music yet at a D&D table. Mike can […]

Warstories: Worst. Playing Environment. Ever.

May 10, 2010 by newbiedm

I’m a firm believer in that where you play, is as important as what you play, when you are looking to have a good time. I’ll be the first to admit that in the case of our gaming group, we have probably the worst playing environment ever. We play in my dining room, and off […]

Setting the mood in a galaxy far, far away…

April 21, 2010 by newbiedm

I blogged about this before, last year when I thought I was going to start a SW Saga campaign. it took a while to get it going, but finally tonight we are playing Star Wars. I’ll be running it, taking a small break from my 4e campaign for a few sessions, and then just run […]

Mapping For Me

April 20, 2010 by newbiedm

I’ve decided to not complicate my life with the mapping of my world. You see, ever since I started DM’ing I’ve wanted a kick ass map of my homebrew world, Elderyn. The graphic on my old header was a map I created using Autorealm and a Photoshop plugin that created the elevation and relief on […]

Warstories: The Unprepared Player

April 16, 2010 by newbiedm

I'll assume that at some point in our collective gaming careers, we've all been guilty of this. Heck, I know I have on more than one occasion. I'm talking about the player who shows up to his game with no pencils, 2 dice, a barely legible character sheet he scribbled on a napkin, and a few pages from a scanned copy of the rule book.

Reader Voicemail: Presenting Your Adventure

April 14, 2010 by newbiedm

I thought this voicemail would be better answered as a post, rather than on the minicast. So here goes… How a DM prepares or presents adventures is something that I am sure varies from table to table. In my particular case, and how I mentioned in our new “Dungeon Master Guys” podcast, I constantly seek […]

The Dungeon Master Guys Podcast

April 13, 2010 by newbiedm

I am pleased to announce that our new project launched today, “The Dungeon Master Guys” podcast. By we, I mean the guys from critical-hits.com (Phil the Chatty DM, and Dave “The Game” Chalker), and myself. This is a longer podcast than my minicast is, it’ll run about a 1/2 hour per episode, and will deal […]

How To Be An Effective Dungeon Master

March 29, 2010 by newbiedm

The following comes from the classic “Keep on the Borderlands” module, by Gary Gygax. It’s a very accurate description of Dm’ing, and one worth reading every so often. How To Be An Effective Dungeon Master As Dungeon Master, the beginner is faced with a difficult problem. The DM is the most important person in the […]

Mike Shea from slyflourish.com on the minicast

March 22, 2010 by newbiedm

Episode 3 of the NewbieDM minicast has been released. In this episode of the minicast, Mike Shea, who runs the wonderful DM blog Sly Flourish helps answer a voice-mail from a listener asking for tips on what to do when players loot an NPC carrying far too many magical items. You can find the minicast […]