The Blog - 2021
I’ve done a lot of articles on DMing, of course, and as I know that I have a lot of players that are Readers as well. As such, I’ve thought about this post for some time, and wanted to right it to address some things that many DMs have said that they wish their players knew were actually the player’s jobs in playing tabletop games. 1) Take Notes
Dear Readers, I want to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/ however you celebrate this time of year! I’ll see all of you next week! Sincerely, ~The Daily Dungeon Master
The Ingrates really have it rough in this continuation of the followup to the fallout with WAR. Enjoy!
Dear Readers, as you can tell it is coming up to Christmas!
When we last left the gang, they found themselves underneath the burned out ruins of Dr. Ford’s old home, in a room filled with purple crystals, and a large spinning contraption, all hooked to a table.
Dear Readers, I’ve made some good progress on this miniature this week.
The Ingrates’ battle with WAR is now over, but what about the rest of the kingdom? What are the consequences of this conflict? The Ingrates find out what’s in store for them!
Dear Readers, as previously stated, I am taking a break from the Ingrates for a bit to get a chance to play. Arkon’s player is running a modified Kids on Bicycles campaign, using “Tales From the Loop” rules. The Ingrates will continue soon. Additionally, the last week of the month will be the KoB (Kids on Bicycles) campaign to keep me from burnout and to enable me to keep writing. With no further ado, enjoy!
Recently, Dear Readers, it has come to my attention that some of you may not know this classic story. I will now recount it here, it having been retold countless times across the interwebs. This version comes from: http://www.experience-point.com/dnd-blog/2017/2/25/eric-and-the-dread-gazebo The Story In the early seventies, Ed Whitchurch ran “his game”, and one of the participants was Eric Sorenson. Eric plays something like a computer. When he games, he methodically considers each possibility before choosing his preferred option. If given time, he will invariably pick the optimal solution. It has been known to take weeks. He is otherwise, in all respects, a superior gamer. Eric was playing a Neutral Paladin in Ed’s game. He was on some lord’s lands when the following exchange occurred: ED: You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you see a gazebo. ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it? ED: [pause] It’s white, Eric. ERIC: How far away is it? ED: About 50 yards. ERIC: How big is it? ED: [pause] It’s about 30 ft across, 15 ft high, with a pointed top. ERIC: I use my sword to detect good on it. ED: It’s not good, Eric. It’s a gazebo. ERIC: [pause] I call out to it. ED: It won’t answer. It’s a gazebo. ERIC: [pause] I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it respond in any way? ED: No, Eric, it’s a gazebo! ERIC: I shoot it with my bow. [roll to hit] What happened? ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it. ERIC: [pause] Wasn’t it wounded? ED: OF COURSE NOT, ERIC! IT’S A GAZEBO! ERIC: [whimper] But that was a +3 arrow! ED: It’s a gazebo, Eric, a GAZEBO! If you really want to try to destroy it, you could try to chop it with an axe, I suppose, or you could try to burn it, but I don’t know why anybody would even try. It’s a @#$%!! gazebo! ERIC: [long pause. He has no axe or fire spells.] I run away. ED: [thoroughly frustrated] It’s too late. You’ve awakened the gazebo. It catches you and eats you. ERIC: [reaching for his dice] Maybe I’ll roll up a fire-using mage so I can avenge my Paladin. At this point, the increasingly amused fellow party members restored a modicum of order by explaining to Eric what a gazebo is. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. It could have been worse; at least the gazebo wasn’t on a grassy gnoll. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. A little vocabulary is a dangerous thing.
This is a summary of the second to last session for Waterdeep: Dragon Heist on my Sunday Group. It’s been a wonderful game to follow up after Icewindale. Tensions were high as the party chased after the Little orphan that they had already met who ran off with the Stone of Golorr.
Hey, Dear Readers, So sorry it’s been a few days since I’ve been around. It’s been a very busy last few days. Today, for example, I have run two games and am in the middle of my weekly Discord game. Thursday and Friday were busy with lots of errand running. You know how it goes: adulting. That said, I’ll have a great game summary for you tomorrow, and will have the Episode 9 preview up for our Premium Subscribers. Lastly, I’ve got a great commission I will be starting, and I know you’ll enjoy it. Two words: goliath barbarian. Until next time, Dear Readers…
One of the cool things about tabletop games, especially with D&D, is the idea that, during the course of adventures, the party can acquire (and sometimes “acquire” if you catch my meaning…) various things that aren’t traditionally considered treasure. What am I talking about? I’m talking about businesses and strongholds. Maybe the king granted the party lands and titles in service for their deeds. Maybe they cleared out a ghost ship and now want to run a passenger or merchant business. Maybe they got given the deed to a supposedly haunted tavern as a reward for returning a kidnapped companion. Or maybe, just maybe, their uncle died and left them his keep if they can just clear it of the hobgoblins that took it over (RIP Grinkle). However they got it, businesses and strongholds give the party a place to rest/run/play while in-between adventures. Oftentimes, they use it as a base of operations and it is a sweet thing for the DM to allow. Here’s why: 1) You never know how much things cost until you have to pay the bills. There is a table inside the Dungeon Master’s Guide that was some activities for downtime and one of those is running a business. So let’s use that example of the party who inherited a tavern. The first thing that they have to do is fix it up and get people to be employed to run the tavern. Sure, in the short term the party can man the tavern themselves, but they are adventurers! Eventually, they’re going to want to go out and adventure, leaving the need for somebody to pay the bills while they do their thing. Do you know how much upkeep a stronghold requires? You need somebody to run the household, you need somebody or some people to keep up with the cleaning, you need somebody to keep up with the stables, you need somebody to man the battlements while you are gone. Oh, and pay the taxes and tithe to the local ruler/government. And that’s assuming that you actually have a stronghold to start with! We’re not even considering the concept of having to build it from scratch. All of this is a great way to separate the party from their hard-won gold.
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