Let's Game

Greetings! RPDM here, finally getting this blog kicked off.

As I said in my initial post, this blog will be for me to spill out and set structure to the D&D campaigns I'm DMing, along with general other thoughts and items D&D related. I am also launching another (hopefully) important item here, and that is the DM Pics Project. More on that later.

My Campaigns

I currently run two campaigns, and am in the process of creating a third. First campaign is 4E pre-Essentials, involving the official modules H1 Keep on the Shadowfell, H2 Thunderspire Labyrinth, and H3 Pyramid of Shadows. Players are currently about 75% of their way through the first level of the Pyramid of Shadows. These are all set in and around the Nentir Vale.

The second campaign is with Essentials characters, and has the players adventuring in the Chaos Scar setting. I have tweaked and modified a number of items in this setting to get players to a different end game than what is given in the official modules. I've also instituted a couple of house rules that were agreed upon by the players.

The campaign I'm creating from scratch is still without a name, but is best described as the D&D version of The Walking Dead, one of the many TV shows we are all huge fans of. This is being created with the solo player in mind. My group currently only has two players (both female), and we are not always able to coordinate days off to have a full game session. So, I am working on this campaign to be played by one player at a time, and in 3-4 hour chunks. I also want this campaign to be heavily geared toward survival horror, and solo play will help me create sessions that will better convey that, I do hope.

Lastly, I aim to share a lot about the art of roleplaying in D&D, as it is my most loved method of pen-n-paper gaming. I've been writing about the art in PC gaming (MMORPGs) for many years, and credit D&D and many other tabletop games with manifesting and honing that skill for me. So I figured it's about time I get to writing about it where it started for me. I hope to help my fellow DMs and players with some excellent ideas that they can work into their campaigns, as so many of them have helped me likewise.

Roll 'em!

Initiative Rolled

Greetings! I am the Roleplaying Dungeon Master, RPDM for short, or you may just call me Jim. This is where I place all the D&D and other RPG ideas I have to get them out of my head and into the open, where I can sort them out into hopefully some logical and useful order.

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D&D Setup

A couple weeks back, one of the D&D blogs I follow (Newbie DM) sent out a tweet asking for submissions from DMs about their DM binders. I answered quickly, and you can see my WonderFILE Portable Workstation entry on the DM Binder Project page, along with other entries.

I have my friends Chef and Mercy to thank for the WonderFILE. After we saw a TV commercial about it, we all had the same idea: wouldn't that make an excellent DM binder? So, the instant I saw it in a local store, Chef bought it for me, and it's been great.

So, to show my appreciation, I thought it would also be groovy to show their set ups for when we gather 'round the D&D table. They've been working on theirs since we started playing, fine tuning this and that, seeing what works for them best. Here's what our game table looks like now:

They use 3-ring binders for their character sheets and notes, plastic card sleeves for their character powers, cell phones for receiving secret messages from me, and decorative boxes they bought at Hobby Lobby to hold their stuff.  That's our dice arena in the middle of the table, hand-painted and crafted by Mercy. The most recent addition is the green felt table cover, which helps keep maps from sliding around during play.