Gygax's Seven Principals of the DM's Function
There has been some online complaints made by dungeon
masters who feel that they had already played their best game. This thought is
one that I do not find acceptable; in fact, by entertaining thoughts like that
we are allowing ourselves to become complacent. If this happens, than it is
probably time to sit on the other side of the screen for a while. The DM has
many many functions, and it is his duty to never stop working on improving his
ability to become better; true mastery, I feel, is unattainable. If we lose the
ability to critique our work, we cannot grow. We must be critical of ourselves,
but what is it exactly that we actually do? According to the games co-creator,
Gary Gygax, he identified seven principal functions which we are responsiblefor; while it is very easy to become good at each, a true level of mastery is
not actually possible, we can always improve our skills.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016 | Labels: Miscellany, rants | 1 Comments
2121 Tome of Magic review
*EDIT: The Tome of Magic introduces the Wild Mage as a playable character, the concept of Wild Magic was introduced in Forgotten Realms Adventures
Wednesday, November 23, 2016 | Labels: priest spells, Reviews, Treasure, wizard spells | 2 Comments
Gothic Earth Episode 3, The Playthings of the Devil
SPOILER WARNING: If you are playing or plan to play Bleak House, don't read this. This is my tables play-notes for events which took place during last game session.
Wednesday, November 16, 2016 | Labels: Ripper's Gaming Sessions | 0 Comments
1060 Ruins of Undermountain review
* Google+ user Mike Wilson told me that Ruins of Undermountain is no longer the largest dungeon ever printed, that honor goes to "The World's Largest Dungeon" which he doesn't recommend buying, but it is technically larger! Thanks Mike, and you do have a point about Bigger isn't always better.
Also, our good friend Jens D. of The Disoriented Ranger fame suggests that we check out this awesome blog post at DM David called Megadungeons in Print and On The Web. DM David quickly reviews other Megadungeons out there, and offers an excellent read!
Tuesday, November 15, 2016 | Labels: Reviews | 4 Comments
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My Blog List
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Something different - thoughts on the Mass Effect games - Having never played Mass Effect before, I just finished my binge of #1 - 3 today. I'm having similar to feels to how I do when I finish a great series of...2 hours ago
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Gli Sproloqui del Grognardo: il Cacciatore di Regolamenti - Ciao, capita anche a voi quando passate vicino alla libreria dove rimangono – ordinatamente e in bella mostra - i manuali con i quali avete giocato negli...3 days ago
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6 Things to Include in a 1st-Level D&D Adventure - The best 1st-level adventures make a great first impression. To start a campaign, we want 1st-level adventures that excite players and leave them eager for...4 days ago
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Early Development Sketches for the Great North - 'The Great North' is the working title of what I have previously referred to as, amongst other things, 'Northumberland Yoon-Suin' and 'The Meeting of the...5 days ago
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An Easy and Fair way to handle XP - Here is a quick post to tide you over till I get back from vacation. Upcoming we are going to look at the age of ID in Blackmoor, the oddities in Garbag...1 week ago
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Grindhouse Cinema with Levi Combs of Planet X Games – Episode 259 – 7/18/2022 - Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #259 – 7/18/2022 Grindhouse Cinema with RPG publisher and cinephile Levi Combs. What is Grindhouse, and why is it called th...3 weeks ago
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Three hours, fifty eight minutes, and twenty seconds of Zak and friends - 0:2:36 - "Couldn't take care of himself" (Mandy) 0:9:51 - "Intentionally exposed Mandy to death threats" (Mandy) 0:16:42 "Chin Up" (Hannah) 0:21:28 -...4 weeks ago
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The Cultist, The Torturer, and the Slaver classes for OSR Sword & Sorcery Games. - Why these three classes? Honestly because I'm bored in my medical retirement and I want a few classes besides my Barbarian, Brute, etc builds to run my Swo...5 weeks ago
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That's where my mind's at ... (what's new and what's to come!) - *I've been busy ... and slow about it. Wanted to write and publish more in June, turns out it wasn't to be. It is what it is, but now I have great news t...5 weeks ago
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John Arneson - David's Father passed on April 18, 2022 at 98 - John Arneson - The Greatest Person Who Ever Lived at Secrets of Blackmoor Blog John Robert "Bob" Arneson Obituary Picture linked from the Obituary What ...3 months ago
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It's been a decade, now... - This is a tough time of year for me. So, with your indulgence, here's this link to a post I did a decade ago... EDIT: I have no idea why it didn't take. S...4 months ago
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Vox Machina: Good for a Few Laughs - TL;DR: it’s ok. How’s that for brief? Ok, seriously, it’s got some fun moments, but isn’t nearly as clever as it thinks it is. Better? Dig...6 months ago
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This Blog is now on Indefinite Hiatus - Greetings, I haven’t been able to post except sporadically for a while. I just found out I will need to find a new place to live within the next few months...10 months ago
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Alignment and Lawful Clerics - This is the third in a series of web log posts where I describe what “alignment” must mean in the Perilous Realms, based upon our group’s tone and play-s...1 year ago
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Ind of the Year - The Colors of Magic - On December 1st, there will be a nice bundle of small, indie itch RPGs from around the world called the *Ind of the Year Bundle 2020* that includes *The Co...1 year ago
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Be The DM, 1 - OK, I've run plenty of games and I've talked with and read the thoughts of many other DM's. One thing is certain; No two DM's are the same. I have seen ...1 year ago
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The Crowning of King Harold - Here is a spooky story that comes from my latest novel, Lions Red and Gold, available now in digital and dead tree only on Amazon. I post it here in ho...1 year ago
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MIDLANDS CHARACTER GENERATION - Character development (of Player via imagined formative experiences) in my dog in DMing. Placyer character development is a huge part of my sandbox. I use ...2 years ago
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The Mauve Plague, Gravy Urns, and Batlace Frills: News from the Hill Cantons - And now the News... In a statement beamed from the Oracular Society today *Morafans the Rickmaster*, the Psychosocial Health Minister of the Overking, ha...2 years ago
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Lake Geneva Original RPG Campaign: Merlynd the Magician: A Remembrance of Don Kaye, ... - Lake Geneva Original RPG Campaign: Merlynd the Magician: A Remembrance of Don Kaye, ...: LINK to Description and Ordering: https://www.tlbgames.com/colle...2 years ago
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Blackmoor Week 2019 (9/24/19) - Blackmoor Week and Dave Arneson Game Day running from September 24th through October 1st. This year 2019 is the 45th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons and ...2 years ago
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Dave Arneson Blackmoor Week and Game Day 2019 - Blackmoor Week begins today Sept 24, 2019. What are you doing this week to celebrate Dave Arneson's Birthday and his foundational game setting Blackmoor ak...2 years ago
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Blackmoor Week Day I 2019 - *Blackmoor Week* kicks off today and concludes on October 1st with *Dave Arneson Game Day*. [image: Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor - B-Ware - Sphärenmeisters Spi...2 years ago
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Character Concepts: Planescape pt 3 - Part 1 Part 2 Continuing my series on oddball Planescape Faction Personalities... Harmonium Sidby the Stick (LG/halfling/fighter) - Sidby's a good enough b...3 years ago
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D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets - In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants and...3 years ago
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Announcing the Contest Winner! (Plus Some Interesting US Coin Facts) - The third semi-annual Save Versus All Wands contest - What is the Value of this Coin Hoard - is over. $1,000 was the winning guess, only a bit below the ...3 years ago
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