I’ve just discovered a really cool combat tracker. I’ve very fond of iPlay4e, and use it for all my characters and players PCs.

Now today I found inCombat (http://laughterforever.com/inCombat/) a fine combat tracker that incorporates characters from iPlay4e nicely. As well as the ability to add monsters from the compendium or monster builder.

It just works to be frank, and it runs in a browser, as well as off-line through Adobe AIR.

Nothing bad to be said about it so far, can’t wait to start using it in anger.

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Tags: #DnD, 4e, Resource

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

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

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

At the weekend I was away with no access to computers or the internet, that didn’t stop me scribbling down stuff in a notebook to prepare for my first Mutant Future session this week.

Inspired by Jeff Rients and with the help of my six year old daughter I made a list of random items. This would be relevant to any post apocalyptic setting of course.

List after the jump… Continue reading…

Comments: 8 comments

Tags: Mutant Future, Random, Resource, Table

Here’s a quick handout I put together to help summarize the players actions from the preceding week. They picked this up just before leaving dock.

News-sheet handouts like this can be a used to immerse your players in the world. Getting your name or exploits in the press just makes the world feel more real. It’s a tip from John Fourr I’ve been using for years.

Getting your exploits in the paper is always fun

Photoshop work here was very minimal and went like so.

1. Find a scroll image on Google
2. Type some crap

The first story pertains to the PCs recent climactic end of level success in rescuing an Eladrin ship. Although until reading this they didn’t know the town guard had been onboard to check out their story about the captain. This little addition of something that happened when they weren’t there makes the players realise there’s more to the world than just their actions. This first story also lets the player’s know that the Sergeant made good on his promise to cover up the deaths of the attackers.

The second story is feeding a future plot line. The third, a murder investigation, is the result of the party’s over zealous interrogation techniques. The Mayor’s birthday is pure meaningless fluff, unless the players get hooked by it, in which case it could become future plot.

The final job posting is there because the players killed the last hold of that position!

How have you used news-sheet handouts successfully to drive your players? If you haven’t then why not?

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Tags: Handout, Photoshop Tips, Resource

Today I found a great post by Alric of The RPG Athenaeum, a list of one hundred street scenes that are the perfect thing for a fantasy DM to keep tucked away in the ideas file.

http://rpgathenaeum.wordpress.com

Not only are they great ways to add flavour to your towns and cities when players ask what they can see, but also if your players bite they can also serve as plot hooks.

One of my favourites:

A cart selling “roasted rat on a stick” is on the corner. The proprietor looks surprised as someone dressed in noble attire strolls up and orders one with honey sauce.

Thank you Mr.Dibbler.

The list is available as a nicely formatted PDF in the downloads section, where you’ll also find one hundred topics for tavern chatter!

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Tags: DMing, Fantasy, Ideas, Resource