Running D&D: Engineering Player Buy-In, Part One

Ah, Dungeons & Dragons . . . what can I say that hasn't already been said? What's the best thing about it? Is it playing a character? Running a campaign? Roleplaying a quirky gnome illusionist? Creating an epic 20-level dungeon filled with ghastly horrors and deadly traps?

Well....that's no easy decision.

How does one gauge his response?

The Campaign: Players and Plots

I'm currently working on part two of a short series wherein I shall relay what I believe to be an incredibly useful tip for Dungeon Masters/Game Masters/Storytellers who want to personalize their campaigns and engineer player buy-in without making DMing a full-time job that pays in a roughly 5 to 1 ratio of smiles and frowns, but no actual cash. While that series is brewing, I thought I would introduce my currently fourteen readers to the characters and a bit of the storyline in my home campaign.

You'll find hints at my big tip in this post . . . if you pay attention, but don't frest, for I'll still do a full write-up. For now, though...

D&D: A Family Affair

You know how sometimes you stop doing something fun because you think it's stopping you from doing something important?

Like, maybe you used to sculpt scale models of, uh . . . models . . . like from America's Next Top Model, season 3, but then you somehow got it into your thick melon that you should instead be intently watching the night sky for any signs of an asteroid (or is it a meteor?), juuuuust in case your skills in late-night, naked-eye civilian astronomy might just be the deciding factor in whether or not humanity existed for another 10,000 years or went up in a fiery explosion so epic that even the coolest guys would be compelled to look at it, you know, if they weren't so busy being burned to a crisp by it.

6 Things Humanity Should Learn From Vampire Culture

If you’re anything like me then you no doubt ponder the condition and future of our race with frustration and a healthy dose of pessimistic dread. I do so on a regular basis, usually while on the freeway or in line at Starbucks. 

All it takes is a semi-frequent, accidental overhearing of the evening news while doing something else (because who watches the evening news, Jack?! I mean, reruns of Seinfeld run at the same time!) to know that our race is in a bad way.