Dave

Learning From the Legend: 3 Lessons The Legend of Vox Machina Reveals About DMing Your Best D&D Game

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I’ve made no secret of the inspiration and enjoyment I get from being a fan of Critical Role, the D&D live-play stream that has taken the TTRPG world by storm. Now in its third season, the show’s creators unveiled the much-anticipated animated series on Amazon Prime, The Legend of Vox Machina, dramatizing (or comedyizing?) some of the adventures in their first season. There are things to learn about ways to improve our games from these types of creators.

The True CR20 Strahd: Powering Up Your BBEG for the Epic Big Battle

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5e’s Curse of Strahd contains a double entendre. While it seems as if the big bad Lord of Barovia is the curse that follows the players around, the deeper truth is that the curse is his own. He cannot leave. Barovia is his prison. Having just completed our run of this infamous adventure, I found an even deeper curse lying within the module: Strahd just isn’t powerful enough to handle the heat of the epic, final battle when the players are level appropriate and have recovered the artifacts.

Christmas in Barovia: A Complete Holiday One-Shot For Your Curse of Strahd Campaign

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How do you run a vampire-laden, gothic horror Christmas one-shot, you ask? Quite easily, actually. One has to look no further than the Joe Hill novel, and later television show, NOS4A2. Charlie Manx. Abducted children. Christmasland. A chance to run my Curse of Strahd party against a vampire almost as powerful as the published CR 15 Strahd. So, in its entirety, here is 3WD’s Christmas gift to all of you – a joyful, dread, merry and gothic one-shot that checks all the boxes for vampires and Christmas!

Dinner With the Devil: Horror Gaming in 5e’s Curse of Strahd

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discussion centered around the costume dinner party I threw when the players finally accepted the dinner invitation from the Master of Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich. With all of the players buying in and coming in costume, the table was set for what is, arguably, THE set piece for the entire adventure. What followed was a wonderful session full of tension, dread, laughs and a knock-down, drag-out Round 1 to the epic conclusion of our Curse of Strahd. Here are some points to consider when really playing up the immersion during your horror games.

D&D 5E Wrestling Rules – Homebrewed Fresh in 3WD’s Curse of Strahd Campaign

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What do you do when a player brings a character that begs for something far outside the normal scope of your game? As an example, let’s say you have a player that brings a barbarian into your Curse of Strahd campaign that is, in no uncertain terms, Hulk Hogan. As I see it, you have two options: Shut it down or lean into it. What follows are the wrestling mechanics we’ve been developing in our Curse of Strahd campaign as well as 3WD’s paean to the wrestling memories of our youth … “Whatcha gonna do when Hawkamania runs wild on you, brother?!”

4 Movie Franchises That Make Blockbuster RPG Campaigns

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Movies: They fire our imagination as storytellers and DMs. We want to help create the same level of tension, drama, hope, fear, love and hate that our favorite stories do. Here are 4 blockbuster movie franchises that could make epic RPG worlds.

The Cat’s Paw: Building RPG Villain Schemes That Confound Your Party

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A confounding villain scheme can be the thing that brings your campaign to life. It’s even better when you can make multiple villains crisscross and double-cross with the players in the middle trying to catch up. Here’s how to build a truly tangled web of intrigue starring the Kingpin and some of Marvel’s competing heavy hitters.

Ready for My Close-Up: 3 Tips for Improving Roleplaying at Your RPG Table

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In a recent episode, we discussed how to go about introducing new players to the hobby. During our discussion, we got around to the topic of roleplaying, specifically about ways to encourage people who are brand new to tabletop gaming to act and speak as their characters would act and speak. This would have been my response to the question, had my brain not decided that it was time to, I don’t know, catalog my grocery list for the coming week while going live!

RPG Session Prep Tips: 3 Ways to Set the Right Scene for Your Game

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So, you’re looking to set the right tone, the one that will begin your epic, world-shaking, heartbreaking, history-making, legendary campaign? To introduce the people seated around your dining room table to the fantastical world that they are about to enter? To begin, as our own Universe did, with a Big Bang? In our most recent episode, we delved into the tips and tricks we use to bring our campaigns to life: setting, descriptions, mechanics, etc. However, I thought it would be very helpful to revisit some of the nuts and bolts to my evolving method of Session Prep.

The Cannonball Run: 3 Ways to Handle Players Missing Sessions

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In our latest episode, we answered a listener’s question regarding how to handle players missing sessions. This led to a brainstorm about how to build a campaign that turns this apparent weakness into a strength. Starting from the basic idea of a West Marches-style campaign, I offer you “The Cannonball Run.”