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Tag Archives: Steve Winter
The D&D Adventures That Stumble by Missing the Hook
Every adventure starts with a hook that (1) entices the characters to follow some goal and (2) reveals ways to reach that goal. Appealing to rogues, paladins, and players A good adventure hook appeals to both the party’s rogues and … Continue reading →
The 10 Greatest Dungeons & Dragons Adventures Since 1985
This list of the 10 greatest Dungeons & Dragons adventures since 1985, draws from ratings, reviews, and appraisals from D&D fans, and then uses my completely unscientific aggregation of opinions to rank the 10 entries. The list only includes adventures … Continue reading →
Posted in Role-playing game history
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Tagged Adam Lee, Bruce Cordell, Chris Perkins, Creighton Broadhurst, Curse of Strahd, Dead Gods, Gates of Firestorm Keep, Graeme Morris, James Jacobs, James Wyatt, Jeremy Crawford, Jim Bambra, Lost Mine of Phandelver, Madness at Gardmore Abbey, Mike Shea, Monte Cook, Night's Dark Terror, Phil Gallagher, Ravenloft, Red Hand of Doom, Richard Baker, Richard Whitters, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Steve Townshend, Steve Winter, Sunless Citadel, Teos Abadia, Tomb of Annihilation, Vault of the Dracolich, Will Doyle
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24 Comments
Tomb of Annihilation (2017): Greatest D&D Adventures Since 1985—Number 9
Tomb of Annihilation (2017) is a fifth-edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure by Chris Perkins, Will Doyle, and Steve Winter for levels 1-11. Chris Perkins approach to adventure design seems to start with a collision of classic influences. Out of the … Continue reading →
Why Dungeon & Dragons Dropped Assassins and Renamed Thieves
Why did D&D’s second edition drop assassins and its third edition change thieves to rogues? Continue reading →
Posted in Role-playing game history
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Tagged assassin, barbarian, D&D Encounters, David Zeb Cook, Gary Gygax, rogue, Steve Winter, thief
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78 Comments
Why Fourth Edition Never Saved Dungeons & Dragons
“Fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons is all about taking that things that work in D&D, keeping them in the game, and fixing everything else,” designer Mike Mearls wrote after the edition’s announcement in 2007. “That’s the goal, and I think … Continue reading →
Are the Authors of the Dungeon & Dragons Hardcover Adventures Blind to the Plight of DMs?
Adventure paths reveal their linear design in the name: They follow a path. In a linear adventure every play group follows the same plot thread, through the same scenes, to the same conclusion. For adventure creators, linear adventures bring advantages. … Continue reading →
Posted in D&D fifth edition, Role-playing game design
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Tagged adventure design, adventure paths, Bryce Lynch, Chris Perkins, Curse of Strahd, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, Jeremy Crawford, linear adventures, Mike Shea, Out of the Abyss, Pathfinder, Princes of the Apocalypse, Sean McGovern, Steve Winter, Tim Bannock, Will Doyle
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24 Comments
The Dungeons & Dragons Books that Secretly Previewed Each New Edition
Dungeons & Dragons players have seen five editions plus a few versions that fall outside the count. We tend to see the release of a new Player’s Handbook as a clean break from the last, but each new edition received … Continue reading →
Posted in Role-playing game history
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Tagged D&D Essentials, David Zeb Cook, Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, Gamma World, Mike Donais, Mike Mearls, Oriental Adventures, Player's Option: Combat & Tactics, Rich Baker, Rob Heinsoo, Skip Williams, Steve Winter, Tome of Battle: Book of the Nine Swords
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6 Comments
If you want to write games for everyone, game with everyone
In the 80s into the 90s, I would see convention panels or magazine interviews where game professionals said that their game writing left them no time for game playing. Those writers might admit to an occasional session of Call of … Continue reading →
Posted in Role-playing game design
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Tagged Call of Cthulhu, Hoard of the Dragon Queen, role playing, Shawn Merwin, Steve Winter, Teos Abadia, Wolfgang Baur
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6 Comments
5 role-playing products that shaped how I play Dungeons & Dragons 1978-2000
Tomb of Horrors (1978) In the early days, I enjoyed plenty of time to create my own adventures, so I had little interest in playing the published ones. But I still drew inspiration from them. Nothing inspired like Tomb of … Continue reading →
Why second-edition Dungeons & Dragons dropped thieves and assassins
I have only run an evil-themed D&D campaign once, and only because Wizards of the Coast cornered me. They released the Drow Treachery cards and the Menzoberranzan campaign book and promoted the products with the Council of Spiders season of … Continue reading →
Posted in Advice, Role-playing game history
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Tagged assassin, barbarian, D&D Encounters, evil characters, Gary Gygax, Greyhawk, Paranoia, simulation, social contract, Steve Winter, thief, Unearthed Arcana
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22 Comments
