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A blog covering all things D&D. DM and Player advice, original contents, creatures, templates, etc.
Recent Posts Tagged With '4e dnd'
[4E] Magic Halloween Candy
This post originally appeared Oct 31, 2008. Halloween is finally here, and so I give you 19 new types of consumables for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons - Halloweeny Candy! You can mix these candies with any of your usual, non-magical candies ...
Around the blogs... Villains in RPGs
Over the last few weeks we've seen a number of excellent posts about villains and other general badasses. From articles about how to run villains, to developing back stories, to actually playable NPCs to drop into your game, there's been a ton of wri...
REVIEW - Monster Manual 2
So, I've had about a week or so to look over the new Monster Manual 2. Let me first get it out of the way that 1) I absolutely love this book; and 2) see point #1. I have only minor complaints (see below), but anyone running a homebrew 4th Edition D...
Portrait of a Villain - Cerdic Elesing, High Chieftain of the Saxons
"Our time has come! My countrymen, you have traveled far to join me, and now I will follow through on the oaths made by our forefathers before me. The earth will drink the blood of the Britons today and we will make these Isles our own. We will make ...
Triggering Combat Powers in 4E D&D
This post over at tenletter prompted inspired me to make a suggestion - one which I'm sure someone else in the blogosphere has made before (but I can't find the reference): what if you removed the names of the combat powers in 4E? Instead, just have ...
Interview with Robert Daneri of HeroForge Software
I was fortunate to be included in the closed-beta test of the latest version of HeroForge, a character building application designed for maximum flexibility and customization for 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Recently, I was also fortunate to g...
Portraits of a Villain - Morgan Le Fay
" A veil has been lifted from our eyes, and now I see the horrifying truth and know now what we are meant to protect. I could heal the sick and mend the broken, but now all my icy hands will deliver is death to those who seek to lift this veil from t...
4Etopia - Returning to Forumland
In general, I hate Forumland... But 4Etopia might change all that. It was one of the main reasons why I started blogging about games. In looking for an outlet to discuss games and gaming in an increasing busy life; forums just always came up shor...
REVIEW - Scarrport
Scarrpot, City of Secrets is the first 4th Edition campaign setting produced by Reality Deviant Productions; the same group that brought us so many excellent d20/OGL and True20 PDF supplements already. This time, however, RDP really outdoes itself wi...
Portraits of a Villain - Sir Mordred
"There was a time when my heart was in a different place, a pure place. My tutor opened my shuttered eyes and now I see through the veil on the world. My blood burns with the strength of the ancients; now and forever I shall lay claim to the throne t...
Portraits of a Villain - A Preview
Over the course of the next three weeks, each Friday, I will be presenting a Portrait of a Villain. These "portraits" will include a fully developed villain inspired from historical or literary sources, and guidelines to drop them into any D&...
Review of 4th Edition D&D Arcane Power
I picked up two RPG books today: the new 4E Arcane Power Supplement and Savage Worlds: Explorer Edition. I'll review SW later on; but today I wanted to share my first impressions of Arcane Power. First of all, I feel this book is superior to the Mar...
Top 5 Campaign Settings I Want for 4E D&D
This is a list of the top five campaign settings I want to play 4E D&D with. Roman Britain (circa. 410 AD) - The year the Roman Legions left Britannia was the year the Dark Ages began and also marked the beginning of several major migrations of n...
PHB2 Character Backgrounds - A Modular System for Emerging Complexity
The recently released Player's Handbook 2 offers 4E Dungeons & Dragons players and DMs a new game option: player backgrounds. These are a set of simple rules that allow you to apply in game bonuses to certain skills based on the character backgro...
The Half-Empty Glass (part 2) - Campaign Settings in 4E D&D
The first part of this series, "The Half-Empty Glass: What is missing in 4E D&D", asked this basic question: In terms of crunch... what, if anything, is missing for you? Now let's look at 4E D&D campaign settings. Is the default D&D camp...
The Farchives: Why have classes at all?
Here's the second in a new series on The Core Mechanic: The Farchives. Every Friday I will re-post a popular TCM post from the previous year. I've included a post that was one of the first "popular" ones I had the first month the blog was in... [[ V...
The Half-Empty Glass: What is missing in 4E D&D
The second part of the title of this post could be a statement or a question. Hopefully we can look at it as both. This is the first post in a series that will explore what might be missing in 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons; in terms of cr...
4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Needs Blue Bolts from Heaven
A little retrospective: Back in the day (1E AD&D), there was this notion of the "DM's Blue Bolts from Heaven". The idea was simple - some PC is too annoying to deal with, too powerful compared to their peers, or just plain ignored the warning ...
10 House Rules to Make Grognards Like 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons
Have you ever wondered why the D&D community was so fragmented?Have you ever thought "Hey, 4E is the new Old School D&D!"?Have you ever wanted a grognard at your 4E game table?Well, I have. Some say its impossible though. Grognards are, by de...
Catching on Fire - and other improvised rules
Has an improvised rule ever stopped your game table cold? Sometimes players and DM's alike can be easily frustrated when the rules-as-written don't include specific rulings on some unexpected condition, effect, or situation in the game. At times lik...
New 4E Ritual Feats
Inspired by this post over at A Hero Twice A Month, I've decided to offer up something that might help DMs who are looking for a fix to rituals in 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. First off, to use these new homebrew feats - you need make two changes....
DRAGON Magazine In Print
Have you ever wished that you could get the latest copies of DRAGON or DUNGEON in print? Well, I have. There's just something special about the tactile feel of reading RPG fanzines and not having to stare at our computer screens yet again - don't......
Bullywugs & Battletoads - Reinventing Minutiae
When is something truly new and novel going to come along and really blow the socks of the fan base? If you follow Turbulent Thoughts at all, you likely read Wyatt Salazar's recent review of Alluria Publishing's Remarkable Races series. In short,......
The Skill Challenges of War - Part 14, Summary
"The Skill Challenges of War" was quite easily the longest running series here at The Core Mechanic, the second longest was my 5-part series "The New Cleric is the Old Cleric". I couldn't have done it without the help of my two comrades in blogging:....
The Skill Challenges of War - Part 13: Routing the Enemy
The Skill Challenges of War is an ongoing series here at The Core Mechanic written by me, and two excellent guest bloggers: MadBrew and Gamefiend. Please check out the previous posts in the series and let us know what you think or if you are... ......
The Skill Challenges of War - Part 12: Forcing a Surrender
The Skill Challenges of War is an ongoing series here at The Core Mechanic written by me, and two excellent guest bloggers: MadBrew and Gamefiend. Please check out the previous posts in the series and let us know what you think or if you are... ......
The Skill Challenges of War - Part 11: Find and Ambush the Supply Train
The Skill Challenges of War is an ongoing series here at The Core Mechanic written by me, and two excellent guest bloggers: MadBrew and Gamefiend. Please check out the previous posts in the series and let us know what you think or if you are... ......
The Skill Challenges of War - Part 8: Holding the Line
The Skill Challenges of War is an ongoing series here at The Core Mechanic written by me, and two excellent guest bloggers: MadBrew and Gamefiend. Please check out the previous posts in the series and let us know what you think or if you are... ......
The Skill Challenges of War in 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons (Part 7)
Mad Brew escapes to The Core Mechanic for one last post since the Labs were besieged by angry villagers last night. For some odd reason, they do not appreciate his work or the fact that he provides an important service: cutting the costs of... .....
The Skill Challenges of War in 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons (Part 6)
Mad Brew returns to The Core Mechanic from a weekend of scavenging body parts for the creation of his new pet, George. While waits for a brain donor to make a voluntary donation, Mad Brew wants to share another Skill Challenge of War. Perhaps that......
