Over the past few days I’ve been turning my young daughter’s magic item suggestions into usable Dungeons & Dragons items. Earlier we had a Wedding Dress of Resurrection and Earrings of the Sidhe. Today I’ve skipped over the troublesome Necklace of Death, which I’m considering using for a competition, and moved onto the Feather Boa of Beauty.

You know, even though I was at first doubtful what to do with this, I think I like this one the best so far. I’ve got a character that might literally kill for one of these.

I should really do a post on how to make character portraits such as the one above, with no artistic skill required! What do you reckon?

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Tags: #DnD, 4e, Ideas, Resource

As I mentioned in my last post my daughter wanted to help with D&D and so has invented some magic items. It falls to me to interpret her work into usable D&D stat blocks.

So today we present the some magical earrings. When I asked what they did she replied, “They turn you into a tiny fairy, with wings, and you can fly.”

The creator of today's item

After a bit of work, here’s the result.

Is it too weak or too powerful? Let us know in the comments.

Comments: 5 comments

Tags: #DnD, 4e, Resource

Ever since my six year old daughter helped me with 100 post apocalyptic junk items, she’s wanted to do more lists of things with me. So this weekend, as she lay in bed suffering with chickenpox, she decided to create a small list of magic items for Dungeons & Dragons.

It’s from that list that I’m taking inspiration for a short series. She came up with names for items and a brief description of their powers. I’m trying to make balanced game sense of them one by one, and today I’d like to present the first of them.

Wedding Dress of Resurrection

When I asked my daughter why this even existed she said a powerful mage was due to be married to the love of his life, but she died on the morning or their wedding, so he created this powerful arcane item to raise her from the dead. The only problem is she had to wear it for the rest of her life.

This can be worn by either male or female characters. Even if worn under your armour it should still show a little at the cuffs and the long trailing dress. Drawing strange looks should be part and parcel of not being dead!

More from Magical Minds later, if I can work out how to make some of the more mental ideas even close to playable!

Please let us know what you think in the comments and I’ll make sure that I pass them on to the young creator.

Comments: 6 comments

Tags: #DnD, 4e, Ideas, Resource

Thanks to Dustin Synder, who you may know as @WolfStar76 on Twitter, we have a nice summary of all the juicy Dark Sun info released at DDXP.

Whilst sitting in the audience Dustin created a Google Docs document live as the action unfolded.

Google Docs Dark Sun

There’s more info available on @geeksdreamgirl’s latest live blog where you can scroll back and catch up on all the info as it happened, with updates from Critical Hits, Matt James, and the WotC brand team @Wizards_DnD.

From all of us that couldn’t be there, thanks to all those that were and kept us updated!

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Tags: #DnD, 4e, Dark Sun

If you haven’t seen iPlay4e.com and you do play 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons then you must go and check out their latest offerings.

Screen shot of an online character sheet at iPlay4e.com

iPlay4e allows you to store as many characters as you’ll need, you simply upload the .dnd4e file that is saved by the DDI Character Builder. If you’re not using Character Builder then why not! Check that out as well!

I use iPlay4e during a game, both as a player and as a Dungeon Master. As DM I can have multiple characters open and keep and eye on all the PCs in my game. No longer do I have to ask, “What’s your AC” or “What’s your passive perception”. Often I can easily find information quicker than the players themselves and answer their own questions.

It can link into the DDI Compendium so that you can bring up full descriptions of powers, something that’s not printed on the Character Builder power cards, this is very useful as a DM for helping describe the effects of an exploit or spell.

iPlay4e can also save changes and keep track of a number of things, such as current hit points, encounter and daily powers used, and more. This helps me keep a track on my players as DM and as a player helps me not forget what’s be used and what has not.

So check out the latest at http://labs.iplay4e.com.

Comments: 3 comments

Tags: #DnD, 4e, Resource, Review

Okay, as everyone enjoyed the last video, and I didn’t mind the sound of my own voice too much, here’s another.

This time here’s a quick example of how I create modern plans with Flash and Illustrator.

If you’ve enjoyed this video then let me know in the comments and I’ll do more. Please forgive the spelling in the title, and let me know what you think of the new Buccaneer’s Guild “sting”.

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(This is an article that I recently wrote for Obsidian Portal.)

Should I use music in my game?

Can you imagine watching your favorite movies without a soundtrack? Film directors use music to control audience expectation and trigger emotional responses. As a GM, you too can make use of these techniques at your gaming table.

How do I add music and sound effects to my game?

The simplest plan is to put an album on to play. Slip in a CD, get your iPod out, and press play. I once ran a Sci-Fi campaign with just two soundtrack albums: The Matrix and Ghost in the Shell.

Keep the volume low and the music acts as a backdrop. During battles and other exciting moments pump up the volume and select a more upbeat track. At little more volume can wake up your players, make them fight a little to be heard, and raise their heart rates!

Take it further by using playlists, on your iPod or laptop. Playlists can be much longer than a album and less repetitive. Set up playlists for various situations, and leave them to run through on repeat. As the mood of the game changes, simply switch to another playlist.

To add sound effects such as explosions, spells, or battle sounds you could explore soundboards. Soundboards are simple online flash applications that trigger different sounds at the click of a button. A search online will turn up soundboards with effects that interest you.

For the deepest experience, there are applications available for GMs that combine music and sound effects. The best are RPG Soundmixerand Softrope, they both allow you to build complex soundscapes from small loops of sound. These combine into larger, less repetitive combinations. If you want complete control over sound effects and music at your table then both applications are worth exploring further.

Softrope in action

What music can I play?

Find a movie or game that matches the genre of your current RPG and buy the soundtrack. You can often lift soundtracks from a computer game’s install. Baldur’s Gate and all of its sequels, for example, are a great source of background music.

When selecting music, try to avoid anything too distracting. Usually it is best to stick to instrumental tracks, as vocals can be very off-putting. There are exceptions, the last time I used a vocal track was to add atmosphere to a seedy retro jazz bar on a backwater space station.

It is well worth choosing a theme tune for your campaign, it helps focus the player’s attention. Play your theme tune after the players have had their weekly catch up and it unconsciously signals that it is time to start. Signature themes also work well for your reoccurring villains.

One final tip: Keep your finger near the volume control. Volume is a key tool for reacting to your table. Read the table carefully and lower the volume when you can see it is detracting from the experience, then raise it again as the players are reacting positively and having fun!

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Tags: music, softrope, sound effects

Sorry for the lack of posting recently, Christmas has been a busy time with little access to the internet. Now in January it’s the run up to the biggest education show in the UK, so that will be keeping me extra busy, not to mention the effect the snow is having on the number of hours I’ll be able to spend in the office.

So apologies readers, I’ll be back to regular posting some time the week after next.

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Yesterday Michael Curtis posted about fontcapture.com, a easy online service for creating your own handwritten fonts.

As I’ve been working on factions for my Mutant Future Mutantbox campaign, I decided that to help flavour each faction I’d design them a custom handwritten font each.

For starters I penned in a nice superior feeling font for those ever present Knights of Genetic Purity.

Custom Knights of Genetic Purity font

That can be used for a handout or two, and it’s a style that all the Knights can use, as it’s the handwriting they are taught during their training. Here’s a handout I knocked up in five minutes. A simple subtle paper background and this font are all that are involved. No torn edges today, the Knights have decent pads of fresh paper!

Letter to the College

Other factions not stolen from GammaWorld, are pinched from Carl Nash and modified a bit. I also have warring ape tribes in my underground military base megadungeon. In this case the two tribes are the Cybonobos and the Gorillaborgs. They have been at war for decades, sectioning off parts of the base between each of them. They have reached a kind of cold-war status quo, and just execute small raids on each others territory.

The Cybonobo chimps scribble warnings on the walls with mixtures the nearest bodily fluids. Their style is somewhat childish and underdeveloped, apologies to my daughter but for this I’ve scanned her handwritting.

Cybonobo scrawlings

The Gorillaborgs on the other happen to be in a section of the base where the gaffa tape is stored so they write their warning signs by taping letters to the walls.

Gaffa tape, ever handy stuff.

If anyone wants a copy of the font files just leave me a comment.

Comments: 2 comments

Tags: Handout, Mutant Future, Photoshop Tips, Resource

Today I didn’t finish my map in my break. Firstly because I plan for it to be rather large, and secondly because I’m learning new techniques.

This is a map for a megadungeon in my Mutant Future game. I’m trying to simulate here the kind of visitor floorplan you see in hospitals or universities. I did search around on the net as Carl Nash suggested and didn’t find any plans online I liked, so I decided to go for it. Here’s the first three floors.

Mutant Future Megadungeon

Continue reading…

Comments: 1 comment

Tags: Cartography, Map, Mutant Future, World Building