Dungeons And Dragons Online Free To Play In Aug 2009

In a crowded MMORPG market, we always had trouble remember which one, exactly, Dungeons and Dragons Online was. As of August 6, it’ll be a little easier, and the game becomes Dungeons and Dragons Online: Unlimited, or "the one that used to be a paid one, but now is free."

It’s an interesting strategy, and we’re curious to see how it pans out. We’d issue a stern reminder though, that the true cost of MMORPGs (your immortal soul) is much pricier than a few more bucks on your Visa every month.

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Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Roleplaying Game Starter Set

For those of you that have been curious about Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition but have not had the opportunity to try it out or have been unwilling to fork over your hard earned cash for the core books, Wizards of the Coast has published a starter set to give the system a try before you commit to anything.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition has become a monster in its own right, with several supplements already out (and more being released all the time), so it’s no surprise that for someone new to the hobby, or to 4th Edition, it can be very intimidating.

So here’s a product that, for a few dollars, can give someone a really good idea if Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is the system for them.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Starter Set (D&D Introductory Game)

The set includes:

16 Page Quick Start Rules Booklet
64 Page Dungeon Masters Book
3 Sheets Of Double Sided Dungeon Tiles
50 Tokens (Representing Characters & Monsters)
6 Dice

The only thing that seems to be missing are some minis…

The D&D Roleplaying Game Starter Set introduces the complex world of D&D play to new fans in simple, easy-to-understand ways while retaining the fantastic inspiration of the full game experience.

This product includes an introductory version of the 4th Edition rules, dice, map tiles, and an adventure to get starting playing right away! Read more

D&D Links - 20 Free Random Generators

DungeonMastering.com has compiled a bunch a great random generators that will help any Dungeon Master in his or her campaign…

1. Dragon description generator - oh, yeah!
2. Government generator - because we’re all boring of adventuring in “The Kingdom” or “The Empire” and would rather explore the “Legendary and Perfected Federation” or some place with a funky name.
3. Whacky class generator - don’t you wan’t to play a Crocodile Kicker?
4. Detailed character generator - a short description and quick roleplaying notes will make bring any anonymous NPC to life.
5. Goblin namer - even though goblins can kill you, most of the time they die. Having a unique name gives them personality, which in turn increases their chances to be spared.  “Ktozs scared.  Pleeease don’t kill Ktozs…”
6. Fractal world generator - interesting and maybe even useful.
7. Dungeon generator - try the “labyrinth” setting to mees with your players’ mind.
8. Snake generator - what the hell?  Do we really need a snake generator? Well, it’s there just in case…
9. Pirate name generator - I could click that button all day!
10. NaNoWriMo motivator - maybe you’ve tried to write a book during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and maybe you failed (like me!) and maybe you could have used some motivation!
11. Martial arts move generator - ninja time!
12. Wrestler name generator - trust me, you’ll find a way to squeeze these names in your campaign.
13. Namator - probably the best looking random gen website
14. The Forge - you don’t know it yet but you like flash-based generators.
15. Lorem Ipsum - it’s made for print and web filler text, but you can use it to impress your players with scrolls filled with gibberish (I think it’s latin)
16. Candy generator - every inn cooks up something sweet, unique, and delicious.
17. Magic invocation generator - this one is especially fun!
18. Drink recipe generator - don’t try this at home…
19. Darth maker - it has nothing to do with D&D but I enjoyed it a lot!
20. Humorous fantasy class generator - a butler sorceress and footpad nanny walk into a bar…

And there’s so much more out there!  Seventh Sanctum has the most fun generators.  So have fun and click aways.

Source: DungeonMastering.com Read more

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition - My Final Verdict

I think I’ve made up my mind about the new 4th edition. I think that “out of the box” it’s completely playable but it doesn’t quite suit my needs for a gaming system so here’s what I did… Read more

Free Dungeons & Dragons Resources

Since getting the new 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, I did a search online for resources that would allow me to be creative without the usual headache that accompanies the process.

Well, the fine folks over at DungeonMastering.com have put together a couple of great posts that provide more than enough material to get the DM Juices flowing.

Here are the links to those posts:

387 Free D&D Maps

83 Free D&D Adventures

Thanks to DungeonMastering.com for researching this material.

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Getting Some Positive Initial Feedback

By guest blogger Michael Zenke

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition is going to change just about everything for the dice-rolling set.

With the new edition, released Friday, D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast is launching one of the most ambitious attempts the tabletop-games industry has seen at redefining what it means to play an RPG. The rules are different, the mind-set is different, even the delivery system is different. At essentially every level, Dungeons & Dragons is being streamlined and simplified with one goal in mind: To get players together to roll some dice and have fun.

“From the beginning of the 4th Edition design process, we knew we wanted to make a rules set that was accessible and easy to use,” said Bill Slavicsek, R&D director for role-playing games at Wizards. “We wanted to approach them in a friendlier manner, and not necessarily continue the ‘dense textbook’ style of past editions. I wouldn’t say we were thinking ‘mainstream gaming,’ whatever that really means. The D&D game will always be a specialized hobby. The trick is making sure that we can remove as many hurdles as possible so that it becomes the largest specialized hobby it can be.”

I had the opportunity to play D&D 4th Edition in a series of play tests run by a friend of mine last December. As gaming sessions go, they were quite grueling; we showed up at noon and played until well after 10 or 11 p.m. We had to, though: We were on a deadline. Wizards needed feedback on the adventure we were playing by the end of the month. Despite the long hours, despite our fumbling with the rules, despite sometimes rough notes for the dungeon master, it was a glorious experience.

At every level, mechanically, players and dungeon masters (a game’s storyteller and arbiter) are freed to experience the game in ways they never could before. Characters now have special powers that assist them in combat, giving them real moment-to-moment choices in the heat of battle.

“I hit it with my warhammer” gets pretty old; instead, why don’t you whack that monster upside its head so hard that it’s forced to stagger backward? Spellcasters have similarly colorful abilities in D&D 4th Edition; where once they had hundreds of thematically similar spells to choose from, they now only have to make a few important decisions as they gain in power. Warlocks, arcane casters that truck with mysterious powers, have particularly evocative abilities. What better way to deal with a troublesome orc than to teleport it away from you? If part of that trip involves burning in the fires of Hell, so much the better!

You can read the rest of the story HERE.

Thanks to Michael Zenke and Wired.com