Word of Wizards - 28/2/09

There goes February.

For the final week of updates this month, it has generally been the routine stuff. Both magazines get compiled in conjunction with the release of their respective art and map galleries while the couple of excerpts from Player's Handbook 2 have rolled in.

Overall, it was a pretty lacking week in terms of the excerpts. None of them have been really surprising or shown anything new that we could expect to see from the PHB II. This week's podcast was fun and it gave a better look at the Avenger which yielded more information than both excerpts combined.

So let's wrap up February.

Monday (23/2/09)
Excerpts: Frenzied Berserker

Wednesday (25/2/09)
D&D Podcast: Penny Arcade/PvP Ep2
Dungeon 163 Art & Map Gallery

Friday (27/2/09)
Excerpts: Rituals
Dragon 372 Art Gallery
March Editorial Calendar

As always at the end of every month, we can always look forward to what is installed for us next month. The editorial calendar for March is already out so it's a good place to start.

It's going to be exciting month because the time has come for the long awaited Player's Handbook 2 to be finally released and March promises to tease us with more excerpts until it's launch date (mark your calendars, it's on the 17th).

For next week, we will begin with a preview of books and products all the way till May. Then we might get a spotlight interview and not forgetting the usual doses of PHB II excerpts.

So stay tuned!

Word of Wizards - March Editorial Calendar

March Editorial Calendar

March is a month choke full of excerpts and previews. Not only will the excerpts from the Player's Handbook 2 will continue to roll until its release date on the 17th, we then move on to seeing excerpts from Arcane Power.

The Penny Arcade/PvP podcast episodes will continue throughout the whole month and the usual monthly goodies of Vicious Venues, Steal This Hook and hopefully a couple of Spotlight Interviews, which there weren't any for February will be included for this month.

For subscribers it's a good month too. There is the Art of the Kill which is suppose to be the assassin equivalent of the Gladiator article we last saw in Dragon 368. Forgotten Realms fans may be excited to read about the Ecology of Sharn, which makes me curious about how well they have dealt with the Spellplague. Finally, subscribers will get a chance to playtest something from Martial Power 2!

Word of Wizards - Dragon 372 Art Gallery

Dragon 372 Art Gallery

This month's Dragon art gallery is stuffed with illustrations that are perfect for character portraits and even a couple of adventure parties. It's worth getting the pack if you are a subscriber, if not there's some pretty ones for rogues, rangers, warlocks and guardian fighters. This one is my favorite, (click to cast Enlarge Image)

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Rituals

Player's Handbook 2 Excerpts: Rituals

Another book, another list of new rituals to use. No surprise there. Today's excerpt gives a list of new rituals that will be available in the Player's Handbook 2 ranging from nifty ones like Create Campsite (level 1) to old school Control Weather (level 14). However, what's new is that the book will introduce rituals that can only be performed by bards.

Sadly the one being showcased today is not one of those bard rituals but they have reintroduced an old favorite; Animal Friendship, a level 5 ritual which keys on the Nature skill to allow an animal to perform a task for you. What's interesting is that the casting time of the ritual is only one minute and the animal stays with you for a duration of not less than an hour to a week depending on your Nature roll.

Word of Wizards - Dungeon 163 Art & Map Gallery

Dungeon 163 Art Gallery
Dungeon 163 Map Gallery

The art gallery has some illustrations of the githyanki and some bad-ass undead evil guys. The map gallery has both marked and unmarked maps for the encounters which is always welcomed.

Once again, I've taken the liberty of using the illustrations from the art gallery for your enjoyment. Hope you like them. (Click to cast Enlarge Image)

Word of Wizards - D&D Podcast: Penny Arcade/PvP Ep2

D&D Podcast: Penny Arcade/PvP Ep2

The episode starts out with combat where you get to listen the Avenger in action with some pretty neat powers. Some highlights of the combat is that Chris, the DM, clearly identifies which ones are minions beforehand to the players and that he didn't notice that Tide of Iron requires a shield.

Despite the combat taking the major portion of this podcast, it was still fun and it keeps the enjoyment of the game at a good pace. I particularly liked the part where Wil Wheaton sends his d20 to his 'fuck-off bag' after he failed his first roll.

After dispatching their enemies, the members of Acquisition Inc. searches the camp site pitched up near the tower and found a shaft leading down into an underground chamber. Before heading down with a rolled up rope ladder that they found, Wil Wheaton makes an impressive observation.

When he was using his divine powers during the combat, it was always followed by lightning and thunder. While the rest of the players dismissed this as flavor text, Wil suspected something was amiss and tested his theory by reciting a prayer. The result you can see for yourself.

That's a good job and he deserved the reward that was handed to him afterwards.

Now that they have identified who are their enemies, the Acquisition Inc. are ready to descend below the ground...

Pathfinder Beta Playtesting Closing

After almost 6 months of playtesting for the Pathfinder Beta, the final hours of inputing your feedback to the Paizo forums is coming to an end. Paizo is calling for final comments about Pathfinder in their forums on anything that you might have missed out during the playtesting period.

At the time of this posting, you have only about 10 hours left before the Beta playtesting will close, so if you have anything left to say, hurry over to the Paizo forum!

Once the playtesting period is over, the design forums will be locked but we can expect to see a preview before August when the official launch of Pathfinder RPG will be released.

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Frenzied Berseker

Player's Handbook 2 Excerpts: Frenzied Berserker

Today's excerpt looks at the new Frenzied Berserker paragon path.....new as in we've seen it before but it has been updated (somewhat). In case you don't remember, we've already seen the Frenzied Berserker in the barbarian playtest in October last year. At that time it was still in the playtesting stage

After 4 months, it seems as though there hasn't been alot of feedback that warranted any drastic changes to the Frenzied Berseker. The new Frenzied Berserker is still pretty much the same. All the path features and powers are exactly as when we last saw them except they have added some extra clauses to clarify on their function. This is the final version that we will see print.

Questing's Readings - 22/2/09

Looks like everyone is back and the flow of good and interesting reads has been abound for this week. Some bloggers have resumed their ongoing series and there are others who have started new and interesting ones too.

One main issue that seems to be going on in the bloggersphere this week has been about Wizards recent sending of a Cease & Desist letter to 4epowercards.com which has stirred the blogging community. This is also agitated by the fact that Wizards still does not have an established fan-site policy and no GSL to provide a guideline of what can posted online and what can not. The reactions towards this has been outrage, uncertainty or have completely given up on the matter.

Well, to those who were unaffected or could care less about this turn of events they still pump out materials that shows that Wizards would really do well with the bloggers than without us while I have been enjoying myself and occupying my time reading them.

Here's my list of readings that I hope you will also enjoy too!

6D6 Fireball
Dungeon & Discourse
Introducing a new web-comic that mixes RPG and philosophy. A very good read (and good art) if you get most of the terms, you Dire Postmodernist!

A Butterfly Dreaming
Adventure Design 101: Dungeons That Live
How to make your dungeon more lively with activity instead of finding monsters standing around in rooms.

Advanced Gaming & Theory
Guide to Halflings
The old school hobbi.....i mean, halfling.

At Will
How to Design a Skill Challenge #2: Branching
An interesting method of designing called branching. I like this approach of adding more than one benefit or consequence for each skill check.

Campaign Mastery
Distilled Cultural Essence - Part 4 of 4: Expressing a different society, Section 3
A very good list of cultural aspects to flesh out that makes a culture come alive.

Capturing Fantasy
Using Improvisation to Hammer Out the Details
A simple tip on how to improvise.

Dungeon Mastering
The Secret Lives of Closet Gamers
A few good reasons why gamers still keep the game to themselves.

ENWorld
Inspirational Images: Real World D&D Locations
There are really beautiful and usable images here if you are stumped for an idea of a location or how to describe it.

Drizzt Live Action Fan Fillm in HD
This is very very very cool. Even if you're not a Drizzt fan, this is how a D&D film should look like!

Exchange of Realities
What's Your Manipulation Style?
Individual Manipulation: Precision and Skill
Organizational Manipulation: Power and Subtlety
Propaganda: When You Just Want Damage

Rayvn does a very good series on exploring different types of manipulations. A very good introduction to manipulators.

Initiative or What?
Symbolizing 4E D&D Classes with Runes, Cont.
The series continue with classes from PHB II.

Living Dice
Prophecies Suck: When the Messiah Is A Moron
A twist for the prophecised hero.

Purple Pawn
Preserved for Future Generations
This is just so cool. A site that is collecting homebrew documents for the purpose of academic study about 'shared imaginative worlds'.

RPGCentric
You're so GM and you don't even know it
Some points on public speaking and GMing.

RPGnet
Young GM - Old GM
A thread of GMs reflecting on how they have grown in their years of experience and sharing some advice to the younger ones.

Stupid Ranger
The Morality of Adventuring
An interesting thought to remind us to look at our character's conscience.

TheLemming
The Underdark: Introduction
The Underdark: Underground Environment
The Lemming starts an interesting series on the Underdark which prepares GMs and players alike and a good list of pointers for an Underdark sandbox. Looking forward to more of this.

Uncle Bear
Toward a Better Evil Overlord
The perfect evil regime worthy of a campaign.

Whitehall ParaIndustries
Tactics & Strategy in Game Design- Part II: Tactics
Tactics & Strategy in Game Design- Part III: Strategy
Some very good thoughts of how games are designed tactically or strategically.

Moral Relativism in RPGs
A response to Stupid Ranger's post on morality.

Word of Wizards - 21/2/09

After a very slow show from last week, Wizards are back in full swing with lots of content posted on their website. This week is all about first time for everything.

Firstly, subscribers get to playtest the new options from Primal Power. The first batch of excerpts from Player's Handbook 2 have also rolled in and the first episode of the Penny Arcade/PvP actual play podcast has also been launched. Be sure to check out this one, the response has been quite positive and it is actually quite hilarious to listen to.

This week also announced the first update for the Character Builder since the release of the full version.

So don't miss out, here's the rundown.

Monday (16/2/09)
Excerpts: Racial Paragon Paths
Steal This Hook! Love for the Undead

Wednesday (18/2/09)
D&D Podcast: Penny Arcade/PvP Ep1

Thursday (19/2/09)
Character Builder Update (Feb 2009)

Friday (20/2/09)
Excerpts: Backgrounds
Design & Development: Ask R&D

Next week, you can expect another episode of the Penny Arcade/PvP podcast and more excerpts from the Player's Handbook 2. The Spotlight Interview that was suppose to appear this week has also been moved to next week so you can also look forward to it then.

AWESOME Drrizt Live Action Fan Film

Just found this in ENWorld and couldn't wait till tomorrow to show it to you guys!



You can check out the director's myspace where he said there will be weekly updates. If you are/have been into productions, you could really appreciate this. Just awesome!

Word of Wizards - Character Builder Update (Feb 2009)

Character Builder Update (Feb 2009)

Similar to the Compendium, the Character Builder will also be updated with new content and a face lift to some of their UI.

In this month's update, the Sorceror and the Warden previews (but not the Shanman) will be included as well as contents from Dragon 371 and Dungeon 162.

They have added and modified some features to make the Builder more compatible with RPGA standards and also some self customization functions for homebrew campaigns.

These updates are only available for Insider subscribers and can only be downloaded 5 times until the next batch of updates.

Word of Wizards - Design & Development: Ask R&D

Design & Development: Ask R&D

There was a Q&A seminar during the recent D&D XP with Chris Sims and Stephen Radney-MacFarland where they answered questions ranging from general philosophies, specific updates and specific rules questions and quandaries. In case you weren't there, you can see what kind of questions that were raised and their answers.

It's worth a quick read and it does provide some insight into certain things like the reason why Veteran's Armor got nerfed.

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Backgrounds

Player's Handbook 2 Excerpts: Backgrounds

Today's excerpts shows us the new system of backgrounds. I was looking forward to this actually as I wanted to see how 4E will try to implement backgrounds as part of the game mechanics.

One of the main reasons why my players are not motivated to come up with a good back story for their characters is because there is absolutely no mechanical benefit whatsoever by the rules as written and therefore not really worth the effort.

Although this is not something entirely new of course, there was the Characters of War article from (then still free) Dragon 366 which introduces a list of backgrounds and archetypes that provided mechanical benefits to certain skills.

This excerpts states that there will be 5 categories of backgrounds; geography, society, birth, occupation, and racial backgrounds. Players are encouraged to pick 3 elements out of these to create a decent background but it does not explicitly state that you cannot take more than that. Each background is associated with certain skills, language or has a regional benefit (like in the Forgotten Realms)

However, you are only allowed to benefit from only one of these backgrounds. It could either be adding an associated skill into a class skill, getting a +2 bonus to an associated skill check, learn to speak, listen and write a language or gain a regional benefit. So mechanically speaking, there isn't really a good reason to pick more than one background if you already have your eyes set on a particular benefit that you want your character to have. The examples given in the excerpt seems to confirm this fact with characters having 3 backgrounds but only has benefit to one skill.

Compared with the backgrounds from Characters of War, these benefits are streamlined but much more underpowered which makes it pretty disappointing for me. It seemed to had a pretty good concept behind the design but breaks down under the mechanical circumstances. I understand that backgrounds should not be a license for powergaming but even the backgrounds from Characters of War provided more than one benefit to a character and the designer warned powergamers that it would not unbalance the game.

At the end of the excerpt, there are samples of racial backgrounds for the Deva but my enthusiasm for them is already lost.

4E PHB vs. 3.5 PHB

Found this on ENWorld, some guy decided to create a word cloud out of the PHBs of 4E and 3.5 to see what major keywords would appear. Click on the images to cast Enlarge Image.


4E Player's Handbook


3.5 Player's Handbook

A very interesting comparison so I thought I should share. Any comments?

RPG As A Competitive Sport

I meant to post these thoughts during the December blog carnival on Transistion and Transformation but the idea struck me a little too late at the end of the month and it took a much longer time to organize my thoughts. However, I have decided to post this as a series of exploration into what RPGs can transcend into in the future if we take them and headed towards a certain direction.

Have you ever heard of a RPG Championship? The first time I heard it was when Joe Dever, author of the Lone Wolf series started to write the gamebooks after he won as the first British in the AD&D Championship of America in 1982.

However, as I searched and asked around the forums about how such a championship works, the replies have told me that the notion has been unheard of. After a while, I still think that RPGs can be a competitive sport.

Firstly, let's take a look at some of the characteristics of competitive sports. A competitive sport usually involves;

• a game that test ones skills
• a group of players
• a referee
• a goal
• a scoring system

RPGs seem to fit these criteria perfectly except for the last one (and arguably the second last one too). This how I think RPGs seem to fit.

Test of Skill
Playing RPGs does involve skills but the degree of dependency on a player's skill over his character's skill does vary according to the system. However, I think it would be more interesting to watch a player overcome obstacles rather than their characters by just a throw of the dice. So for this reason I think it should be agreed upon that competitive RPG games should focus more on providing challenges on the metagame level as well as the in-game level.

Metagame skills in a RPG that test a player's capability could be puzzle-solving, obstacles that required logical solutions, player knowledge (more on that later), tactics and the ability to think on their feet. 4E D&D's skill challenges can also seem to fit the bill here.

Team Play
Although not all competitive sports always require a group of players but RPGs are put in a natural spot where it is played as a team. A simple game can always become more dynamic when it involves more than one person working together towards the same goal. So a competitive RPG game becomes a team game and we all know that teamwork is vitally important to the success and survival of a RPG group whether competitively or casually.

Teams would also have to find the right balance of character builds that also suits their play style. Min/maxing is probably the way to go since character development is probably not going to be carried over in a competitive environment.

Referee
When it comes to team sports, referees are almost as vital as the players themselves. In RPGs, the GM is the referee but the problem comes down to being fair and neutral as a referee than someone who runs the game. What's important is that the GM places priority on running a fair game over creating a fun experience for the players.

Professional or qualified rules lawyers could also act as support to the GMs like how there are sideline referees in basketball and soccer/football. Their role is to provide solid answers to any rules arguments that players might have during the game. This could probably take a load off the GM's worries as he concentrates on setting up the encounters or react according to the player's actions.

Goal
RPGs don't usually have a well defined or material goal but a competitive sport has to have one in order to determine the victor and the loser. We can, however, try to determine certain wanted outcomes of a RPG as the goal.

For example, D&D 4E has a quest system which lays out a few objectives that the PCs should achieve in a certain adventure. The party which is able to complete these quests could earn some points that will decide who is the victor. Major quests must be completed in order to finish the game and they earn the most points while minor quests will grant the team extra points which could be an important deciding factor.

The goals should be clearly laid out during the pre-game or early in the game so that players can start planning their strategies on how to achieve them.

Scoring System
Lastly is the scoring system. Scores could be awarded based on what was mentioned above or scores could be measure by how many treasure and XP that the team is able to collect when they complete an adventure.

I'm open to alternatives and I think it will highly depend on the game system. I'm curious to see how the upcoming Dungeon Delve will introduce their scoring system but it should work along the lines of the players/PC achieving a certain coveted outcome in a RPG.

The Vision
With all these in mind, this is how I envision a competitive RPG sport to be like.

Team of players are formed numbering from 4-6 players depending on the optimum size of players for the game system. This number does not include a GM.

The game is probably played in a silent environment, very much like what you see in chess tournaments, billiards and tennis but more likely indoor.

Fixed or accessible modules are used such as convention-styled modules for shorter games or classical location-based modules (Tomb of Horrors, Castle Greyhawk, Undermountain, Temple of Elemental Evil etc.) for longer games. This allows the teams to train in these modules to understand and memorize the dungeon layout, finding the best tactics to overcome certain encounters and where the quest spots are located.

For the sake of variety and not allowing the game to be too predictable, some areas from the original module may be replaced by an encounter to test the players' skill designed by a panel or association of qualified GMs. As mentioned above, these changes could be as complex as a trap puzzle or simply answering a RPG-related question that only players can answer out-of-character rather than depending on a knowledge check.

GMs or rules lawyers must be qualified and will be tested on their understanding of the rules. Their job is to act more as referees and not someone who wants to have fun.

Tournament modules should be written with limitations as such so that adjudicating is cut down to its minimum but any necessity to adjudicate is the GM's call.

Depending on the scoring system, it will also determine if the game is run with a time limit or not which can also be a factor is determining who's the winner. I took the basis of this format mostly from convention gaming because it seems to fit pretty perfectly with what I had in mind except for a few minor changes.

The game has to be pretty fast paced because I know that spectators of a RPG session can be pretty bored by a slow moving game. So there's probably also a need to impose a time limit on decision making for players in combat. Call it a Action Clock or something.

These games are broadcast through televised/online RPG channels (hey, I'm thinking big) and there's a regular season of short convention-styled games before the classic module playoffs from teams all over the world. Another way of doing this could be that teams are qualified if they played and gathered a certain number of points in sanctioned conventions/tournaments or beat enough modules during certain qualifiers (like how Magic: The Gathering does it) to be enroll in the RPG League/ Grand Prix.

Spectators can be as tense as the players when they are watching one of their favorite player/character having to make a crucial dice roll to save or a critical hit. Commentators would certainly be needed to keep the tension moving.

Sponsors of the RPG League will be the game publishers themselves and brand endorsement will be rampant on the gaming table, the module publishers, the battlemats, the dices, the miniatures and other gaming accessories.

Another alternative of a RPG League could be a competitively structured campaign with teams of players playing in one same setting and they get whittled out as the season progresses (perhaps through PvP?). All aim on achieving a certain final goal like defeating a certain BBEG first or other overarching goal. This brings in character development and other long term character benefits into play but it would most definitely require a specialized system of moderation of its own.

So, do you think RPGs can become a competitive sport?

(As a side note, there is a fictional RPG tournament in the series, Gold)

Word of Wizards - D&D Podcast: Penny Arcade/PvP Ep1

D&D Podcast: Penny Arcade/PvP Ep1

The guys from Penny Arcade and PvP are back with a new member, Al (played by Will Wheaton), an Eladrin Avenger and Chris Perkins as their DM.

Listen to how their band, Acquisition Incorporated head out to the ruined tower of Golden Hawk on the Borderlands which has been plagued by cultists and the undead.


The game sounds in the early stage but they are ready to roll initiative.

RPG As An Academic Subject

I meant to post these thoughts during the December blog carnival on Transistion and Transformation but the idea struck me a little too late at the end of the month and it took a much longer time to organize my thoughts. However, I have decided to post this as a series of exploration into what RPGs can transcend into in the future if we take them and headed towards a certain direction.


Being a current graduate student and having to read various sorts of journals, my mind finds itself seeped into theories and bombastic words. While it can be a main cause of suffering and frustration at times but there also also times when you do find something that you do understand and it increases your knowledge and outlook on a particular field.

This happens to me when I'm reading RPG blogs and forums that occasionally produces such gems about RPGs, theories and gaming in general. So at times like these, the gamer in me sometimes asks the question, 'What if...'

What if learning to play and design RPGs can be learn from schools and tertiary education institutions? What would a RPG course look like? Are there any benefits of learning RPG theories in society and the workforce? What are the skills that needs to be accquired in order to be a qualified RPG player/designer?

Before we can answer these questions, let's start with one question first.

Will RPGs ever be an academic subject?

I certainly think so. RPGs can be a very complicated subject if you break it down over the course of its 30 years history and there are so many areas that can even be a study on its own. This is what I think an academic RPG course would have.

Theater
Theater lessons would play a major role in bringing out the best of our roleplaying skills. Not only would theatric lessons be invaluable in teaching us how to express our characters appropriate to the setting or era of the game like speech, thought and behavior but also give us some thoughts on how we want to develop our character's background and motives over the course of the game.

Roleplaying on stage is different than roleplaying in front of the GM screen. In theater, we have an audience but in RPGs, good roleplaying is a component of good gaming (and the only real audience are your fellow players and GM).

What makes RPG theater skills more interesting than normal theater skills is that our choice of actions is justified or confined by a RPG ruleset which might call for more improvisation as a result of a die roll than a predetermined and prewritten script.

Just look at LARPing.

Literature
Although I would say that literature as a whole does contribute to a roleplaying game but I would like to see a specific set of so called 'RPG literature'. These are the works that have a major influence or effect on game design and narrative structure.

An example would be like reading all of H.P Lovecraft's works to get a better understanding of how it was adapted into the form of a RPG in Call of Cthulu.

Then there is also the question of why Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series or George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire were made into a RPG from their work while Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar series was made from a RPG.

How Jack Vance's Dying Earth series was taken to form the basis of the Vancian spellcasting system in the early editions of D&D which could subsequently lead to the study of why it was replaced in the 4th edition

A theoretical question could be how literature authenticity does not lead to good or fun game design.

Of course, a RPG literature class would not be complete with the most dreaded study and debate of R.A Salvatore's Drizzt Do' Urden and whether it had a major influence on RPGs or the other way round and the discrepancy between his game stats and his abilities in the novels from a RPG prespective.

One differentiating aspect between ordinary literature and RPG literature could be the discussion of narrative control of authors and GMs. Normal literature authors didn't have to share with their readers normally but this works very differently on the gaming table. GMs have to concerned about railroading and sharing that control with his players.

GMs could learn a thing or two about themes, genres and literature techniques in writing and pacing their encounters in an adventure.

A major proponent of RPG literature would say that narrative power should trump over game stats and they would most likely argue which of the White Wolf RPGs is the best.

Psychology
The complexity of RPG does stir the mind into a different mindset of behavior. It would be interesting to study the psychology of different players types and how they are represented through their characters in a RPG. There could be fundamental theories such as identity that could well explain why a player type plays the game in a certain way.

There are so many areas and questions in RPGs that would probably be better understood through psychology.

The psychology of escapism that allows one person to assume a character role and step into a imaginary environment and it's effect on the human mind. The gap between the game and the metagame which draws attention to what is happening in game and in person.

The attitude of munchkinism and Min/maxing.

How does the human mind perceive in-game and out-of-game rewards, so on and so forth.

I think it would be very interesting to see further studies into these areas and possibly the development of fundamental psychological theories that will inform a GM or game designer's decision in their sessions or games.

Mathematics & Science
RPG most certainly has a specific set of RPG maths and science of their own. It is game that has a very solid foundation in probability (as a side note, I was able to ace that particular aspect of maths because I was a roleplayer at that time) and there is a great amount of number crunching involved in some RPGs (like D&D, GURPS).

We have already seen how complicated and complex Game Science can be and looking back at the 1st edition of the DMG (pg. 9), I was surprised to read about the Bell-Curve of the 3D6. There is most certainly an avenue that can be explored further with more detailed calculations about how numbers work in RPGs.

A class of RPG maths could also explore into how to make a balanced game system through development. Whether a certain amount of modifier should stack with another and how does it affect character development in terms of power gained over the course of a level range. How to create a complicated point-buy system that can be easily explained and translated into RPGs or are there any other mathematical alternatives to conflict resolution other than dices (Dread).

If this is taken one step further and we could end up calling it RPG Engineering.

Sociel Sciences
Although RPGs are becoming the subject of social studies nowadays but there are so many other humanitarian studies that could be part of the curiculum of a RPG course. Instead of learning about patterns for a better understanding of the human race and our surroundings, these are used for consistent and creative world-building classes in the RPG course.

We learn the history of a certain era which allows us to better replicate a setting of that particular era. We learn geography to better understand terrain and how it can affect combat or adventures in the wilderness. Geology for dungeon or underground adventures. Astronomy for the cosmology, theology for the gods and anthropology for creating cultures.

Economics could be used to explain why we can put a price tag on magic items and how inflation can be simulated in RPG setting while political science would motivate the prime movers of a setting where the players are currently playing in.

All these real life subjects become the tools to inform our imaginations.

The Vision
Overall, RPGs and RPG-related studies can be a very diverse and complex subject yet it could also make a very well-rounded set of learning in various areas of academic excellence.

A RPG graduate would be equipped with the skills and knowledge to pursue a large number of careers. Most obvious ones would be game designers and developers in the RPG industry. However, they could also choose to conduct research in areas such as mathematics or social sciences for the more academic inclined.

They are at least trained actors or they could be playwrights or writers in the entertainment business. They might be able to handle a management job if they take what they learn from managing a gaming group or become communicators with their skills in narrating and other social aspects of the game.

There seems to be a growing interest in RPGs for serious academic studies between scholars with the recent appearance of the International Journal of Role Playing and The Play Generated Map and Document Archive and gamers alike (e.g., Whitehall ParaIndustries & Mad Brew Labs) which I believe has a lot more potential of expanding in so many different directions that it can be take RPG as a serious and legitimate field of study than just a game.

So I have a vision that one day universities will be offering courses in RPG Design and our kids will be graduating with a Bachelor of Arts & Science in RPG Theory. While I'm going for my Masters in RPG Gamemastering.

As a final note, I would like to disclaim that I'm not a standing expert in the various fields above so some of them might sound ridiculous.

What do you think? Can RPGs be an academic subject?

Word of Wizards - Steal This Hook! Love for the Undead

Steal This Hook! Love for the Undead

3 new plot hooks and ideas with undead themes that plays up the creepiness factor.

The first one which is also my favorite is the PCs discovering a pile of bodies that form up into a dam which lowers the water level of a river. This is so sickeningly cool and I can imagine it like the scene right out of 300.

The second one is a literal scenario of 'A zombie walks into a bar...' with halfling necromancers and the last one is a cliche situation of something hiding in the citadel of some dwarves.

The Reaper lore is exhumed out from their entry in Open Grave but do check out the Vampire Thrall template which looks new.

Word of Wizards - Excerpts: Racial Paragon Paths

Player's Handbook 2 Excerpts: Racial Paragon Paths

The first excerpt from the PHB II has finally arrived and we are introduced a new form of paragon paths; the racial paragon path.

They work very similarly with the current class-based paragon paths but the only pre-requisite of picking them is based on your race. The PHB II will feature racial paragon paths for every race except for the half-elf who takes a feat instead.

This excerpt also showcases a sample racial paragon path for humans called the Adroit Explorer. They are the human epitome of curiousity in search of power and knowledge that are driven by their ambition, determination and action.

Their Ambitious Effort (11th level path feature) let's them gain any 7th level encounter attack power. If the Adroit Explorer picks an encounter power that he already has, that power can be used twice in an encounter. This power is re-pick at level 21 whereby the encounter attack power of choice can be all the way to 13th level.

That which does not kill him makes him stronger with his Bloody Determination (11th level path feature). If an Adroit Explorer is bloodied for the first time in an encounter, they gain a +5 power bonus to their attack roll against the opponent who bloodied him until the end of their next turn.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures and the Adroit Explorer responds with a Heroic Action (11th level path feature). Whenever he spends an action point to take another action, he gains a resistance 10 to all damage until the end of his next turn. This resistance increases to 20 when the Adroit Explorer is level 21.

The Adroit Explorer will eventually become the Champion of Humanity (16th level path feature) and wakes up from an extended rest with 2 action points instead of 1.

The powers of the Adroit Explorer are launchpads to greatness. Destined for Greatness (Level 12, Encounter) allows the Explorer to reroll a failed saving throw with a +4 power bonus and spend a healing surge. This power can only be used for saving throws that are not preventing him from dying.

Bloodied Greatness (Level 20, Daily) is triggered as an immediate reaction against any enemy that bloodies the explorer. The explorer can use any encounter attack power against that enemy even if it's already expended or does not expend that power if it's not.

This is quite a neat paragon path and it would match very well with the Bravura Warlord build (Martial Power).

Questing's Readings - 15/2/09

It's been pretty slow for this week. What with all the cons and Valentine's Day occupying both sides of the weekends, I guess the bloggers were busy expressing their love one way or another (for a game or for that special someone who doesn't live in a game).

Although there's hasn't been alot of hard-hitting and inspirational content for this week, it certainly didn't cut down the number of good reading material that I had enjoyed this week.

Another highlight for this week is that there has been some heavy discussions going on about various topics but what kept me most interested is the discussion on RPGs as intellectual properties. With the recent post about copyright in blogs a couple weeks back and the closing of Ema's Character Sheet website, this issue is making its way into the RPG bloggersphere that is going to catch quite an attention.

Anyway, on to the list!

Advanced Gaming & Theory
ELVES: CREATURES OF MYSTERY
A Guide to Gnomes
I really enjoy reading these detail old school look back at the races. It certainly makes me nostalgic. Looking forward to the other races.

At Will
Tools of the Trade: What Gaming Software do you use?
A good collection of softwares for making the GM's life easier followed up by good recommendations in the comments section. I wonder how many of them are free though.

Chad Perrin: SOB
RPGs and Intellectual Protectionism
A reaction to Mad Brew Labs' on RPGs as Intellectual Property (see below)

Critical Hits
Dungeons & Dragons at New York Comic Con '09
The guys at Critical Hits share their experience and some juicy news from the Wizards' booth at NYCC.

Pains of Campaigning VIII: What About the Bad Guys?
Fear of running the evil campaign? Well fear no more with some good advice on keeping it organised.

ENWorld
How have you used terrain to make combat more tactically interesting & exciting?
The thread title explains itself. Good ideas to mine from this thread.

Exchange of Realities
Role-Playing: What is it, why does it matter?
Ravyn sharing her thoughts on what is role-playing to her and how it affects her writing.

Geek's Dream Girl
An Adventurer's Guide to Valentine's Day Survival
The most deadliest classes.

Gnome Stew
Micro Sessions - Gaming in that ten minutes you weren't using anyway
Got 10 minutes to spare? Here's what you can do for your gaming.

Redirect The Critical Fail
Turning a fail into a win. Good advice on salvaging a failed skill check from destroying the plot and making it better.

Recapping With Style
I've always had problems with recappings to make my players remember what they should. Some very interesting advice on styles.

Traps As More Than Something To Disable
Very good ideas on making more out of your traps.

Initiative Or What?
Symbolizing 4E D&D Classes with Runes
This post is just too cool to pass up! Something that I might considering using at some point.

Mad Brew Labs
RPGs as Intellectual Property
A breakdown of American IP laws for easier understanding in relation to RPGs.

Roleplaying Pro
Character Hooks
A list of backgrounds, relationships and motivations for your PCs or NPCs to choose from. This could be quite useful for the first-time gamer as starting points.

The Art of the Near TPK
Race/Class Synergy in 4e: Racial Abilities
This week we take a look at the half-elf, halfling and tiefling racial features for classes.

The Free RPG Blog
Players will never forget their friends - or enemies...
Get annoyed when your players don't remember the NPCs? Give them a calling card!

The Gamer Dome
D&D Experience 2009
Didn't get to go to Fort Wayne? Have a feel of it here. Now I'm only complaining cause there were no pics.

The Keep on the Gaming Lands
I Hate Resistances
Mike Mearls making an interesting houserule and direction on how to work with resistance.

Unnatural20
Killer Enconter Combos #1, Level 6 Encounter
This is a well done pre-made 4E encounter that is sure to be very useful. I will be looking forward to more of these posts.

Whitehall ParaIndustries
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part VI: Elements of Design
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part VII: The Future?
Timeline of RPG Theory
The series on the history of RPG Theory comes to an end. I really learned alot from this series and the timeline really helps to put things in perspective.

Tactics & Strategy in Game Design
A new series. An interesting differntiation of tactics and strategy in gaming and the implications of it in game system design. Looking forward to it.

Word of Wizards - 14/2/09

Things are moving on slowly for this week over at Wizards. I guess it's the fatigue setting in after two consecutive cons last week.

Speaking of cons, this week's podcast had some of the designers who were at D&D XP talking about their experiences there so you can listen to those if you wanted to know what it was like there (and get some spoilers on PHB II).

This week also saw the last of the weekly Digital Insider and future news regarding the progress of the Insider will appear more sporadically (like the update on the Compendium on Friday for instance).

I would say that keeping up with these Digital Insider news during the early days of the Insider and 4E were pretty exciting since we were kept up to date on the latest happenings on the client applications and the direction of the Insider were a bit uncertain. When things started to settled down after the Character Builder, the news almost trickled to halt and it was sometimes pointless to cover them because they just had nothing to say.

Still, don't miss out the final Digital Insider for big announcements on the months to come for subscribers!

Here's the rundown for this week at Wizards.

Monday (9/2/09)
D&D Podcast: D&D XP/Open Grave

Wednesday (11/2/09)
Digital Insider: Where We Are

Friday (13/2/09)
Compendium Update

Next week, we'll start to see excerpts from the PHB II. Most likely on the races and other new options (feats, paragon paths, powers and magic items) that will be in the book. We'll also be tuning in to the new Penny Arcade actual play podcast which I have no idea on how to cover them. There's also going to be an interview, probably with the designers of PHB II.

Subscribers can look forward to next monday where they will catch a preview of Primal Power and Playing the Shadar-kai article from Dragon.

Before I forget, Wizards is also currently conducting a survey about D&D and the D&D Insider. This is your chance to voice out my grievances or suggestions on improving the Insider whether you are already a subscriber or you want them to make you one. You can take the survey here.

Last but not least, Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers.

See you all next week!

Word of Wizards - Compendium Update

Compendium Update

Didier Monin (a.k.a WOTC_DM in the Wizards forum), producer of the D&DI Client Applications revealed some improvements that will be made to the compendium on its next update at the end of this month (tentaively scheduled on the 24th).

Other than the usual data upload, they are also going to spruce up the interface (check out the screenshots at the link) and expand on some of the functionality of the compendium to be more user-friendly.

However after these changes, it will not be supported by the Opera browser. On the other hand, they are considering the possibilities of the compendium being able to be accessed via mobile devices.

Word of Wizards - Digital Insider: Where We Are

Digital Insider: Where We Are

This is the last weekly Digital Insider and future news will be released through other avenues of the website. But they didn't go out without a bang. At the end of this final issue, Bill Slavicsek reveals some big news in the future content for Insider subscribers.

In March, look for the assassin! In the tradition of the gladiator article we'll feature feats, backgrounds, and paragon paths devoted to the fine art of the assassin.

In April, we provide a bag of holding full of new familiars for arcane characters.

In May, come aboard to help playtest a class from Player’s Handbook 3… the monk!

Let the speculations begin!

Questing in Irrin; A Review of Introduction to Irrin

I was honored to be given the chance to review Zachary Houghton's 'Introduction to Irrin' a few weeks ago and this review is way overdue (Sorry again, Zach). Bear in mind that this review is based solely on personal opinions and expectations that has almost nothing to do with professional standards and measurements. Give and take what you will.

When I first heard about and read Introduction to Irrin, it is not one with entirely big ambitions (and presents itself as such) to be an original published campaign setting but more like a tribute to a well-loved and well-played campaign setting shared by a group of players over the years. If you ever wondered what would happen if you collected the notes of your homebrew setting and gaming notes for the past 6-7 years and published them into one book, Introduction to Irrin is what you get.

In the foreword of the book, it has said what it has set out to do and Zach has written it with that intention well firmed in mind which is to be a 'vanilla fantasy setting, one which would be easily adaptable to a wide range of fantastic styles, and one in which elements could be added or subtracted with minimal disruption to other parts of this setting'. So don't expect to be mislead or surprised either.

Introduction to Irrin is a 48 page campaign primer that should be very familiar to those who have read their DM's own campaign handbook in a homebrew game. The book contains descriptions on races, nations, languages, places of note, religions, organizations and other roleplaying essentials (coinage, calendar and timeline) for playing a character in the setting. The current era of the setting is about late Middle Ages to early Renaissance set in a continent about the size of the United States and the lower half of Canada.

The setting is intended to be systemless but proclaims itself to be used for Castles & Crusaders, Palladium Fantasy, Rolemaster, Dungeons & Dragons, D6 Fantasy, HackMaster, Risus, Epic Role Playing, HARP, Pathfinder and other various simulacrum games or any other system that you prefer (including rock, scissor, paper if you must!). In fact, most of the feel and elements of the setting comes imminently from the systems mentioned above (and also from Greyhawk and Dragonlance).

As a result, my first impression on the setting is best described with one word; diverse.

There is quite a high number of nations (29 in all!) for such a small book, considering also the fact that Zach's love for timelines takes up almost half of the page count so you can be sure that every word on this section counts. Each entry for each nation is a few short paragraphs but a few can run up to half a page at best (like the Elven Court) which relays some important event or cultural quirks that make each nation distinct but connected.

There are also quite a number of politics between certain nations that can get a little hard to keep track of if you're not really paying attention but really brings out the tenious relationship between them and ripe for exploiting into a political adventure or campaign.

This is coupled with the fact that the number of (playable) races is also slightly more than usual due to additional races of the non-common variety. Other than the standard humans, elves (and subraces thereof), dwarves, gnomes, goblins and orcs, Irrin also introduces a few anamorphs like the Spiney; small and 'unrepentant kleptomaniac' hedgehog humanoids and the Wolfen; artistic and scholarly but fearsome wolf-man warriors.

Not as many but still equally diverse is the places of note in Irrin that are well varied between different terrains and climates. Each with their own interesting plot hooks that makes for potential ground to create a wilderness adventure/dungeon crawl with their own set of dangers.

However, here's some of the things that I didn't like or wished could have improved further (the version being reviewed states that it's 1.5 so maybe a 2.0 will come along in the future?). On the nations section, the names of the capital is mentioned but not a single description of the city itself is ever given which is sad since I would have liked to see the capitals of some of the major nations or at least use them as a template for creating my own towns or villages.

Speaking of towns and cities, there's not a single map to be found in this primer. Although there is a free map of the setting that can be downloaded for free, I doubt that after years of gaming in the setting it has not produce a map for some of the major locations.

Lastly just a minor nitpick. I think the book could use a slightly better formatting. Interwining sections together sometimes on the same page can break the flow of reading the primer sometimes because the transistion can be a little abrupt. A few empty spaces to seperate the sections wouldn't hurt and it would have given the book a more organized flow.

Still, I'm not bashing this published product. It's solid in its own foundations and still has many space for going beyond to be a much more interesting setting which is probably where the readers come in. While sufficient to be playable, there are areas that can be lacking or could have benefitted more with a little more detail and flavoring even though it sticks to the fantasy 'vanila' setting.

As for using the setting itself based on primer, there's plenty of room for creativity and DMs to lay their own mark. Introduction to Irrin provides a really large framework to work with and you don't really feel any compelling underlying elements to stick to Zach's version of the setting despite having gone through its own evolution since the current timeline of the setting is a result of his players' tempering (and untempering) over the years.

For a first time product, I would say that Zach is still learning the ropes of self-publishing and also lack some resources to make the product better presented. However make no mistake, it has solid content and has all the foundations of a good setting planted. I would love to see future improvements of the product followed by an increase in content (and perhaps a few more maps or two).

Overall, this is quite an inspirational piece to anyone who is thinking of taking their homebrew world and venture into self-publishing. It even encourages the readers to do the same with theirn own homebrew which is something I really respect.

If you're interested to find out more about Introduction of Irrin or want to get yourself a copy (available in print and pdf), you can visit Zach's Lulu storefront (you can also download a couple of freebies like the aforementioned map and a heraldry set).

Word of Wizards - D&D Podcast: D&D XP/Open Grave

D&D Podcast: D&D XP/Open Grave

Today's podcast is seperated into 2 segements. The first segment is about D&D XP while the second segment is a discussion about Open Grave with its lead designer, Bruce Cordell.

Mike Mearls, Bart Carroll and Stephen Radney-MacFarland who has just returned from D&D XP in Fort Wayne, Indiana shares their experience about the event. D&D XP was the first time where classes from the PHB II went through an open public test run so the designers shared their thoughts on how did these classes do amongst the attendants during the event.

There's quite alot of talk going on about the Avenger since it was the only class from PHB II that was not previewed (yet). This podcast is definately worth a listen if you didn't attend D&D XP or get a chance to have a taste at the PHB II classes if you're not an Insider. There's quite alot of spoiler information to be heard in this podcast.

Other tidbit information that was revealed in D&D XP and in this podcast also includes,

• Rules for Familiars in Arcane Power
• Rules for Domains in Divine Power
• Rust Monster will return in the Monster Manual II
• The final book that will be released this year, The Plane Below, will be quite similar to Manual of the Planes which is rumored to be about the Elemental Chaos is being written at this moment
• There might be a future website column on rules clarification (whether its free or for subscribers only is unknown)

The second segment with Bruce Cordell on Open Grave was generally a breakdown of the content that will be found in the book (Monsters, Campaign Arcs etc.). Alot of spoilers too in this podcast for those who haven't or doesn't own the book.

There was also some tips provided on creating the right atmosphere for undead encounters which were pretty cool.

At the end of the podcast, Mike Mearls revealed that they will be talking about skill challenges in the podcast and they will be taking in questions.

Questing's Readings - 8/2/09

Another week of great readings. Although I have been disconnected from the net for almost a whole week, I took the time this morning to do some catch up and I'm glad that I did.

Despite being able to do some reading, time did not permit me to find everything that I've missed so this week's list might seem to be lacking. You could most definately recommend me any good reads in the comments section if you think I missed something that I should check out.

Right now, here's my list of what I'm so glad I didn't miss.

A Butterfly Dreaming
100 Medieval Careers
A handy list for fleshing out some details for random NPCs.

Bard of Valiant
Game Masters and Leadership Skills: Part 5
Game Masters and Leadership Skills: Part 6
Good suggestions to how to reduce the workload of the game master and why communication is key to make everyone enjoy the adventure.

Campaign Mastery
When Good Ideas Linger Too Long: Compacting plotlines
Even the best ideas can get old so here's some ways to keep it tight so that it won't lose its luster.

DND Corner
Understanding Probability and Why You Should Care
A good study of dice mathematics which is very insightful to make you choose between a dice pool or a higher die.

How to Introduce Diseases into Your Dungeons and Dragons Campaign
How not to use diseases and when.

You Went The Wrong Way Dummies!
How to plan for the unplanable.

Gaming Brouhaha
Episodic Games: An alternative campaign structure (Part 1)
Why episodic games can makes things much easier for the GM and the campaign. The series is starting to look good, so I'll be following future installments of it.

Geek's Dream Girl
Are You Working With the Undead? (Open Grave: D&D 4e Supplement)
Can't find use for Open Grave yet? How about comparing the undead with your co-workers? Full of laughs!

Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer
GM Pep Talk
Good advice on staying postive for your game for GMs.

Pen And Paper Portal
A Problem Conveying the Epic
The author looking for help with descriptions which is met with great advices and comments.

RPG Blog II
Using Winter in Gaming
Living in the tropics, these are very useful ideas to make winters scary as they should.

RoleplayingPro
Getting Players Emotionally Invested in the Campaign
Good solid advice on how to make your players get more into the game.

Stupid Ranger
Behind the Screen: Roleplaying the process of training...
Some good ideas and perspective for dealing with downtime for your characters.

The Art of the Near TPK
Race/Class Synergy in 4e: More Racial Abilities
This time we take a look at dwarves, eladrin and elves racial features and see how they add up to being optimized for certain class roles.

The Free RPG Blog
Fate- The system that might make you change the way you play
I've been curious about this system for a while now. This review and rundown of the character generation process is making it sound very good despite some flaws it might have.

TheLemming
Gamedesign: Rattled by riddles
Dos and Don'ts of using riddles in adventure design.

epic preparation - p9 - Conclusions
The end of Lemming's epic series. Be sure to check back the previous installments which makes for a comprehensive readinig.

UncleBear
Storywriting in an Immersive World
A great article on how to let go of your campaign progress to your players while still staying in control.

Whitehall Paraindustries
These series on RPG theory history serves as a great introduction to RPG theories. A very interesting read and would definately keep up to it.

Why RPG Theory has a Bad Rep- Part III: The Swine Wars
Why RPG Theory has a Bad Rep- Part IV: The Fading of GNS
Why RPG Theory has a Bad Rep- Part V: Conclusion
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part I: Blacow’s Four Aspects
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part II: Allston's Types
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part III: Bartle’s Player Suits
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part IV: Robin Laws
The Better Side of RPG Theory- Part V: GEN

Word of Wizards - Dungeon Delve Delayed

We interupt our usual schedule with news that Dungeon Delve which was bound to be released on 17 February has been delayed to 3 March.

Scott Rouse explains here,

We got a few copies in but the release date has indeed changed.

The board stock for the covers arrived to the printer with defects and more had to be ordered delaying the release.

Other releases for February such as the Dungeon Tiles DU3 Caves of Carnage will still be released on the 17th while it has no effect on the March releases as well.

Word of Wizards - 7/2/09

Good news always comes when I'm not around. It's as if there is some kind of conspiracy against me by Wizards not to release any juicy information or news while I'm around hogging their office fence in the cyber realm.

Well, I'm back anyways but I won't be writing about whatever that I have missed for this week in their seperate posts. So for this week, I will provide links that will point you directly to the source of the news themselves.

This week we have the preview of the new Shaman class from levels 1-3, a Primal Leader that has links with the spirit world where they find a companion, a healer and a source of spiritual guidance. They also introduced a new type of implements called totems.

Wizards has returned from their D&D Experience in Indiana and it was a great place to take a peek at some inside goods. There were pre-gen characters made using all the races and classes from the upcoming PHB II and it has been circulating like wildfire over the net.

Here are the full pdfs of the Warforged Warden, Half-Orc Avenger and the Deva Shaman. Snapshots of the other races and classes can be found here.

Wizards are already at the NY Comic Convention where these items are most likely to be showcased over this weekend. So now's your chance to get a glimpse at them over the east coast. You never know if Wizards has a few other surprises installed for us.

Speaking of previews, March and April looks like a very promising months. Other than the PHB II, we'll also be seeing the release of the end of the paragon tier adventure (P3 Assault in Nightwyrm Fortress) and the first epic tier adventure (E1 Death's Reach) back to back. Arcane Power will be arriving in April as well.

But enough with the previews, we also reviewed some old school flavoring of levels and naming them which carried more implications to the adventurers' career and how it was evidently dropped by the 2nd edition.

In other news, Wizards has recently upgraded their customer service to receiving calls 7 days a week with 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 10am to 4pm on weekends (Pacific time). They are still taking hits on their Character Builder but they are providing key informations here.

Here's the links for the week.

Monday (2/2/09)
The Shaman, Level 1-3
Previews for February and Beyond
Pics of DDXP PreGens circulating

Wednesday (4/2/09)
Digital Insider: D&D at NYC

Friday (6/2/09)
D&D Alumni: Name Level

Next week, I should be back on my regular schedule and the only thing we can look forward to so far is a new episode of the podcast.

Questing's Readings - 1/2/09

This week has been a very enriching week. Most of this week's readings comes from the RPG Bloggers Network which goes to show that there is a rich supply of content and food for thought from RPG bloggers.

To be honest, I was swamped over by this week's worth of readings and it was actually quite hard to keep up with blog posts on a daily basis throughout this week. Still, that didn't stop me from showcasing the best readings that I would heartily recommend!

So let's begin.

A Butterfly Dreaming
Adventure Design 101: The Plot-Problems
Adventure Design 101: The Plot-Story
A series that I've been keeping close eyes on because it gives very sound and basic design methods. The concept of interlocking problems is one that is interestingly explained and gives a perspective on weaving a plot together. Storyboarding is a method that I'm very familiar with but as pointed out in the article, the weaknesses are there for adventure design. Still, it's definately a good method to get things organised.

Advanced Gaming and Theory
An Adventurers Guide to Information Gathering
A great article that is useful in case you want to roleplay the information gathering and other non-cliche and realistic methods of finding a job/adventure.

A Guide to Dwarfen Society
A look back at the roots of the old school dwarves. He even spelled dwarven with a 'F' not a 'V'. This is very useful if you need a basic framework to work with for dwarves or just want to recall the memories of a dwarfen society. A very nice breakdown.

Bard of Valiant
Game Masters and Leadership Skills: Part 3
Game Masters and Leadership Skills: Part 4
Her ongoing series of Game Masters and Leadership Skills continues while touching on motivation for gaming and how to motivate your players.

Brent P. Newhalls' Home(page)
7 Tips For Writing A Better RPG Adventure
A newly published adventure writer shares a few tricks and sad-but-true observations about adventure writing for those who want to get published.

Campaign Mastery
The Undead Are Coming!! A reply to Johnn
A great list of suggestions to a problem being faced by Johnn Four of Roleplaying Tips fame (which can be found at a link in the post). What simply amazes me about this post is how he look at organizational reactions through an offensive, defensive, altruistic and corrupt perspective. This is certainly going to be a useful way of thinking.

Critical Hits
Dungeons and Dragons & Racism
This one made me laughed but it certainly has a valid point. It makes me rethink about the black and white or stereotype mentality in RPGs although it is just fun to ignore it sometimes.

Dungeon Mastering
Employing Dreams and Other Nocturnal Visions
A look at something that is quite cliche in fantasy RPGs but expands on its functions and further uses.

ENWorld
Dming 4e: What I've learned about encounter design
After much experience and observations, here are some ideas on how to prevent the grind of 4E combat.

d20 Math: AC, To Hit, and Diminishing Returns
Math heavy but very interesting and surprising discovery.

GM Control, Taking it Too Far?
It can happen but who's right to complain?

No one cares how long you worked
A forked thread from the one above that is very relevant to the ongoing debate. What draws the line between appreciation and railroading?

Gaming Brouhaha
Music for your RPG
A link to a free ambient music site, specially composed for RPGs. Keyword: FREE.

Gnome Stew
Introductory Games for New Roleplayers
Basic tips for new roleplayers. Not only new but all female. What should you do?

D&D Burgoo Adventuring for the Young'uns
Now it's for the young ones and how to make it simple for them and yourself.

Creating Simple, Deep Playlists for RPG Background Music
Good basic advice on selecting music and what to avoid.

Doubleheader: The Triple Constraint of A Campaign
Doubleheader: You Do Not Have Time for That
Two different perspective on campaign design and committment. Very insightful.

Life and Times of a Phillipine Gamer
Happy Chinese New Year! and 3 Kung Fu games to look at to celebrate!
For the Chinese RPG player or those who really love oriental theme RPGs. Haven't played or read any of the ones he mentioned but it certainly stirs an appeal to me.

GM Time Tricks
Simple time management tips to make the most out of for designing your campaigns.

The Plot Thickens...
A new method called plot layering.

Living Dice
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act - And Why All Gamers Should Fear Toxic Games
An Elegant Solution to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act
I'll admit that this cracked me up and it's very interesting to know about some gaming-related legislations.

RPG dumping ground
Music in play
More links to more RPG suitable music!

Roleplaying Pro
DM's Toolbox: Healing Surges
Some suggestions on how to use Healing Surges becomes a greater variable in resource management for 4E.

Injuries and Wounds in Dungeons and Dragons
A houserule to make 4E combat more gritty and deadly.

Stargazer's World
So you want to be a GM?
A very good article on becoming a first time GM from the wisdom of Gygax himself!

The Art of the Near TPK
Race/Class Synergy in 4e: Tertiary and Racial Abilities
A deeper look into determining whether racial benefits that suit a class makes and break the build.

The Core Mechanic
Blog Comments - who owns the copyrights to them?
A pretty serious discussion that is sure to be a big issue among RPG bloggers someday.

The Noob DM
Failure is the Spice of Life
If our favorite movies were like RPGs, there would be so many turning points that could have failed. Pay attention to how plots can change because of failure.

The Spirit of Eden
My Take on Dungeon Mastery
Wyatt giving one of the most golden advice in DMing.

You, as the DM, should be one of your own most memorable NPCs.

'Nuf said.

Uncle Bear
11 Ways to Learn New Games: Guest Post by Johnn Four
Very good suggestions for those wanting to break out for their gaming mold.

Points of Light: Guest Post by Thomas D
After reading this, I'm a bit eager to try this out in my pen and paper RPG-devoided hometown.

Unnatural20
Is our players learning? (The real price we're paying for 4E)
The end is nigh! Not really but I do share his sentiments that are quite worrying about the future of traditional pen & paper RPGs.


Phew!

All of these readings are taken up until 31 January because I won't be around on the 1 Feb until most likely 6 Feb. So don't forget to check out those too and let me know if you find anything interesting.

Till then, you can read all these stuff till I get back.