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
- campaign ideas
- NPC's
- combat
- Miscellany
- encounters
- rants
- Ripper's Gaming Sessions
- monsters
- money and equipment
- Reviews
- pc classes
- magic
- Proficiencies
- Treasure
- Time and Movement
- Sunday Supplemental
- experience
- campaign add-ins
- Alignment
- races
- Mechanic Series
- vision and light
- Ability Scores
- wizard spells
- Supplemental
- priest spells
My Blog List
-
Session summaries from May's AD&D/OD&D games - (continuing from last month's OD&D and AD&D game recaps - 500 characters or less each!) Eastern Borders AD&D game: *4/8 session:* PCs regrouped after esc...2 days ago
-
On Overlooked Spells and Paths Not Taken - D&D spells can be divided into three camps. There are the *Favourites*, which everybody recognises to be not just useful but potentially game-changing in...3 days ago
-
The Legend of Drizzt with Mike Witwer – Episode 268 – 5/30/2023 - Shane Plays Geek Talk Episode #268 – 5/30/2023 Author and D&D historian Mike Witwer shares the details on his newest book The Legend of Drizzt Visual Dic...4 days ago
-
more cool skeletons - These cool party dudes are from a 19th century work by an artist named Kyosai.4 days ago
-
The Astral and Ethereal Went From Interchangable to Overcomplicated. How Can D&D Fix Them? - As introduced in the original Dungeons & Dragons supplements, the astral and the ethereal planes seemed like two names for the same place. D&D characters v...1 week ago
-
Is it Appendix N worthy material? The Sword Itself by Joe Abercrombie (Review & my Appendix N) - *This is part 2 of our book review series. "Our" meaning that Eric Diaz over at the wonderful blog Methods & Madmen and yours truly started readig books...3 weeks ago
-
Vecna Rebooted and Greyhawk - Having spent most of my life working as an archaeologist and now as a public historian, I suppose it is not surprising that I would be drawn to puzzles ...3 weeks ago
-
Magical Magic That Feels Magical - *14. Heart Of The Beast: Cast this spell on a slain monster’s heart (or reasonably equivalent organ or portion), then consume it. At any time, you may ...2 months ago
-
Kezmarok, Counting Houses, and Amazon Battle-Barges: Recent News from the Hill Cantons - And now the news from the Hill Cantons… The great half-ruined southern metropolis of Kezmarok is back in the shouted news of Cantonal town criers with...2 months ago
-
New Wotc D&D Survey - New Wotc D&D Survey I enjoy filling these out and telling them things they don't want to hear.2 months ago
-
Coming Fast! 50th Anniversary of OD&D January 2024 (OGL comments) (& how Wizbro is stupid) - The 50th Anniversary, the 50th Birthday of OD&D is approaching and will be here in January 2024. Wizards of the Coast, instead of preparing for something s...4 months ago
-
Original Dungeons & Dragons Has Its 50th Anniversary In January 2024 (Feb 2023) - The countdown to the 50th Anniversary of the Original Dungeons and Dragons in January 2024 continues. Give the drama with Wizards during January 2023, it...4 months ago
-
I'm In!! The monthly posting challenge leadup to the 50th Anniversary of OD&D in 2024 - I am inspired by this post found here, to be part of the monthly posting during 2023 and 2024 to highlight the 50th Anniversary of OD&D. We were challeng...5 months ago
-
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...9 months ago
-
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...10 months ago
-
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...1 year ago
-
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...1 year ago
-
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
-
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...2 years ago
-
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 ...2 years ago
-
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...2 years ago
-
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
-
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...3 years ago
-
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
-
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
-
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 ...4 years ago
Statcounter
Contact me at Ripx187@gmail.com
Search This Blog
Blog Archive
-
►
2018
(5)
- ► October 2018 (1)
- ► September 2018 (1)
- ► April 2018 (1)
- ► February 2018 (1)
- ► January 2018 (1)
-
►
2017
(39)
- ► November 2017 (1)
- ► September 2017 (3)
- ► August 2017 (2)
- ► April 2017 (6)
- ► March 2017 (5)
- ► February 2017 (5)
- ► January 2017 (4)
-
▼
2016
(58)
- ► December 2016 (4)
- ▼ November 2016 (6)
- ► October 2016 (5)
- ► September 2016 (4)
- ► August 2016 (4)
- ► April 2016 (4)
- ► March 2016 (4)
- ► February 2016 (4)
- ► January 2016 (7)
-
►
2015
(24)
- ► December 2015 (6)
- ► November 2015 (7)
- ► October 2015 (7)
- ► September 2015 (4)
-
►
2010
(14)
- ► March 2010 (5)
- ► February 2010 (5)
- ► January 2010 (4)
-
►
2009
(123)
- ► December 2009 (3)
- ► November 2009 (4)
- ► October 2009 (6)
- ► September 2009 (4)
- ► August 2009 (13)
- ► April 2009 (15)
- ► March 2009 (14)
- ► February 2009 (5)
- ► January 2009 (10)
-
►
2008
(73)
- ► December 2008 (3)
- ► November 2008 (4)
- ► October 2008 (5)
- ► September 2008 (4)
- ► August 2008 (4)
- ► April 2008 (18)
- ► March 2008 (5)