Artificer's Intuition

"Gee, I like this season best of all!  The trees are like nature's own fireworks display!" - Hobbes Autumn is upon us, and I'm quite thrilled.  For me, autumn always means new releases (for some reason, the stuff that comes out in the fall is always my favorite), and the Michigan colors are getting ready to turn.  I couldn't ask for anything better. With all the new releases, there's plenty of inspiration for D&D campaigns and adventure hooks.  This weekend has been a plethora of new stuff, and the gears in my mind have been turning. First, this weekend marked the start of Clone Wars Season 5.  Darth Maul and Savage Opress came back in full force.  If you haven't seen Clone Wars, I highly recommend it for a couple of reasons.  One, it's Star Wars.  You can't get any better than that.  Secondly, Clone Wars is a great resource for how to create episodic stories.  Chris Perkins writes a lot about how he considers his camp...

"Gotta catch 'em all!"  - Pokemon Catchphrase, but I think it can be applied to miniatures too Despite being out for 2 months now, a lot of D&D players are still wondering whether or not Dungeon Command is a good investment.  I myself was skeptical a first, but the lure of getting a batch of miniatures drew me in, and now I'm hooked on the game.  My favorite part about Dungeon Command is that the strategy is a lot more complex than the game first appears to be.  This, to me, is a huge selling point.   My fellow D&D players aren't so sure.  They keep asking if the game is worth the money.  The short answer (in my opinon), is a resounding yes!  I've taken pictures of every miniature from every set, and will describe them below. Heart of Cormyr This set was released at the end of July with the Sting of Lolth set.  The miniatures would be used best for PC's, with a couple of solid miniatures to use as monsters/NPC's....

"Shall I lead you through this haunted wood?"  - Line I've Had in My Head for a Story for Years Now... Out of all the Dungeons and Dragons characters and story ideas that I've read, my favorite has to the be the Feywild.  A magical, fairy-tale like reflection of our world, the Feywild is home to all sorts of magical, wondrous beings such as elves, satyrs, nymphs and pixies.  The evils of fairy tales also exist within, such as hags, cyclopes, and witches.  Things are not always as they seem within the Feywild, as many of the creatures can change shape to that of a more pleasing form. About six months after I first got into the game, I subscribed to D&D's online magazine for the first time.  As I scrolled through articles and looked through all the new content, one of the articles caught my eye.  It was called Court of Stars: The Prince of Frost .  Written by Keith Baker, it opened my eyes to the Feywild and the potential of the villains t...

"Cowards die many times before their deaths."  - William Shakespeare September is here!  Well, technically it was here last week too, but it suddenly feels like autumn over here, so September seems even more real.  The school year is just beginning, I'll soon be watching my little little brother play football, and I'm getting ready for all the fun releases to come out (Dungeon Command: Tyranny of Goblins, I'm looking at you!). I was supposed to start my Winter campaign this Thursday, but due to some unforeseen circumstances with my host, it was not to be.  Hopefully this Thursday.  While preparing for the adventure though, I realized that I would need to create some encounters/enemies to battle (this was actually fairly obvious).  However, I've learned one thing about myself.   Creating combat encounters make me nervous.   Not nervous as in anxiety, just nervous as it is not my favorite part of the game.  The more I've read...

"The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!"  - Gary Gygax, AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide had an appendix in the back simply referred to as Appendix N.  From here, Gary Gygax talked about the works of fiction that inspired Dungeons and Dragons rules and game style. I did not play Dungeons & Dragons at the beginning.  I was introduced to the game during 4th Edition, and have been learning about the worlds and the lore while others have been studying it for decades.  However, I have spent my entire life creating characters, wondrous lands and exotic adventures.  Dungeons and Dragons became a...