Dungeons and Dragons Online Resources

Living in Decatur presents a bit of a problem for the Dungeons and Dragons player. The only store in the city that carries D&D related material is our local Books-A-Million. Frankly, their D&D selection is not very expansive, being mostly comprised of fourth edition hardcover rulebooks and a few modules.

For a greater selection of D&D materials, Huntsville is the closest place to go, with it's numerous bookstores, hobby shops, and specialty stores. Yet, it's not always convenient to drive the thirty or so miles from Decatur to Huntsville. With current gas prices as they are, it's also not very economical for the most part.

Thankfully, a better solution can be found by using the Interwebs. Following are three great websites for fourth edition D&D resources, through which can be found character sheets, modules, maps and tiles, and even fully detailed campaigns, everything D&D players and Dungeon Masters will need for their own games. Oh, and much of it is free!

What You Need:

A working computer

A working Internet connection

A working printer

Dungeons and Dragons / Wizards of the Coast

This is the official D&D website, the go to site for current D&D news and info. The bulk of resource material here comes through having a subscription to the Dungeons and Dragons Insider, the ultimate online D&D toolbox. A DDI subscription grants access to both Dragon and Dungeon Magazines, where you can find articles, full adventures, new player characters and non-player characters, new races, magic items and spells, and a host of other stuff.

With subscription plans from about $6 to $10 a month, having access to these online mags alone is worth the price. However, a DDI subscription also comes with use of the D&D Character Builder, the D&D Compendium, the D&D Adventure Tools, and the vast Art and Map Galleries. The cost of a DDI subscription is easily the better choice compared to going through the hustle of a drive to Huntsville.

DriveThruRPG

DriveThruRPG is a wonderful resource for D&D players to have. Many hours can be spent perusing all the D&D and other RPG material available here, and it's a good bet you'll find something for yourself. Click on the By Price menu option on the left-hand side, then click on the Show Only Free Products option, and be amazed at all that's there. Bookmark DriveThruRPG, as you may be returning often.

Printable Graph Paper

Fourth edition D&D makes standard use of one inch squares for tactical encounters, and this site is a must have for when you need print outs quickly and easily. Print directly from the site, or save the graph page or pages you want on your computer and print from there.

These three top online D&D resources should do well for Decatur D&D players, or players in any other city. No need to spend a lot of time looking for gaming materials when you have them already at your fingertips, and that means more time for gaming.

Jim H. Moreno has been a freelance writer since 2003, but he's been a gamer long before that. His gaming articles have been published on the Armchair General website since it first went live online. He's also written for The Wargamer, The WarCry Network, Epinions, and Demand Studios. When he's not writing, he's gaming, and when he's not gaming, he's wishing he was. Find out more about him at http://about.me/jimmoreno.

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Dungeons and Dragons: Homebrew: The Called Shot

In a lot of games I have ran, there is always a circumstance where a player would like to make a called shot at an enemy. Within the Pathfinder RPG, and even DnD, there are no rules or substantial charts for making a called shot against an enemy and what the results are. So my play group and I have devised a simple system that is both player and DM friendly. (Mind you this rule can have devastating effects on your monsters so use with caution.)

So, for starters you need to establish what it is the player is trying to strike that way you can decide the difficulty of the attack. Called shot should be incremented based on the size of the location being attacked, but before you do so you need to understand the difference in what is or isn't a called shot. To make a called shot first the player needs to specify the location on the enemy he/she wishes to attack. (Declaring you want to attack the left flank of a large creature such as a dragon is not a called shot, that is called an attack.) The area should be a very specific location such as between the ribs directly under the armpit of the enemy/creature, or the eye would be an acceptable declaration.

Now you as the DM need to decide just how difficult that specified location is to hit based on a few simple questions. How large is the area being attacked. To help out here is a simple chart based on size location.

Fine: (this is 6 inches or less) +8 added to the base Armor class to hit the area.

Diminutive: ( 7 inches to 1 ft) +4 added to the base Armor class to hit the area

Tiny: (1ft 1inches to 2-1/2ft) +2 added to the base Armor class to hit the area

Small**: (3ft to 5ft) +1 added to the base Armor class to hit the area

**(These area's should only be incorporated or approved by the DM if the creature is Huge or above)

Now that you have determined the difficulty of striking the area you need to decide if the are any additional factors to add to the difficulty before the attack is made, such as is the targeted area armored? if so the penalties for sundering armor should apply as normal. (an alternate option is to add an additional AC bonus to the targeted area based on what material the armor is made out of.)

Padded: +1/Leather/Hide/Studded: +2/ Metal: +3**

**(Special metals such as Adamantine should still apply their damage reduction rating if the area is struck.)

Now the attack is made against the targeted location. As the DM you need to determine if the called shot will be a fatal blow if the attack is landed. If the attack has the potential to kill the target if successful I have devised a ruling to determine wither or not the target survives the blow. If the attack is successful the target must make a fortitude save DC 10 +damage dealt or die. (as i said earlier this can be used to mow down monsters in single hits and forces the DM to run his villains with care, but remember DM's monsters can aim as well, and not all called shots are fatal.)

Alright, let me toss out an example so that this muddy water can clear up a bit.

"Crow the barbarian has engaged Thwak the Orc warlord in single combat! In the beginnings of the fight Thwak delivered some devastating blows to Crow and the outcome for our hero looks grim. Crow decides that he has to win this fight in one hit or be slain by the monstrous Orc. So Crow declares that he wants to make a called shot using his greatsword and cleave it into the throat of the mighty Orc. Thwak has an initial armor class of 20 but striking him in the throat is far more difficult than just striking him outright and the throat is a Fine Target increasing Thwaks armor class by an additional +8, making his adjusted AC 28, Thankfully for Crow the area is unarmored so no additional adjustments need to be made to strike the area. So Crow makes his attack. Crow is +14 to hit with his enchanted Greatsword and rolls a 16. (14+16 = 30) Crow lands a mighty cleave into the throat of Thwak. (Now obviously a greatsword to the throat has the potential to be fatal so this attack will force a fortitude save.) Crow's damage when wielding his greatsword is 2d6+8, so he rolls damage normally as he would with any attack. Crow deals 14 points of damage to the throat of Thwak and forces a fortitude save difficulty 10+ damage dealt so Thwak then needs to roll his fortitude save and come up with a total of 24 or above to survive the attack. Thwak has a +10 to his fortitude save but only rolls a 4 on his save, failing the check and getting his head removed as Crow shears his head from his shoulders."

This rule may take some time to become familiar with but has the potential to increase the flavor of your combat scenes by forcing your play group to do more than just roll dice and tell you damage. This rule can be utilized by any attack that requires an attack roll, even touch/ranged touch spells!

Enjoy.

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The History and Movement of Dungeons and Dragons

Dungeons and Dragons. These three words bring many thoughts to many different people. People think about nerds, geeks, dorks. Others think of fun, adventurous, stimulating. Some people think of live action role playing (LARPing). The bottom line is that Dungeons and Dragons has been around for quite some time, and has entertained millions of people around the world due to its open world, open imagination based game. Dungeons and Dragons has expanded into a multi-billion dollar idea that has spawned many copies of the D20 system.

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) was first published in 1974. The game quickly grew in popularity and the demand for the basic book sky-rocketed. D&D is a D20 system. D20 systems are role-playing games where each player has a character sheet with statistics, equipment, spells, race, age, class, and other abilities. Players play on either a mat or some other form of board with which the Dungeon Master (DM) molds his story for the players enjoyment. It is called a D20 system because most actions require the player to roll a 20 sided die. D stands for die, 20 the number of sides on the die. In D&D the D20 is used to attack, make saving throws to avoid spell damage, or to use an ability such as stealth or intimidation. Damage rolls on successful attack rolls usually use D6, D8, D10, or D12s. The main focus players have in their characters are the abilities and attacks they can perform. Abilities and attacks depend greatly upon the class of the character.

Dungeons and Dragons has a plethora of classes for players to choose from. They can choose from a basic fighter, barbarian, sorcerer, wizard, bard, cleric, monk, paladin, to even a druid. There are well over 40 different classes for players to choose from and even more prestige (expansion) classes. Each class has different abilities and play a different role in the party. Players can choose from being a melee damage (rogue), ranged damage (archer, wizard), support character (bard), healer (cleric), or a tank type of character (barbarian). Dungeons and Dragons was set up to be a team game that required every player to take his role seriously. Like the common phrase says, "You only as strong as your weakest link". If a groups healer is fooling around in combat, the entire team can suffer. The use of roles ensures everyone has an equal playing field in terms of their importance to the party.

Perhaps the greatest part of D&D is the length games can go on for. One game of D&D consists of sessions. Each session can last anywhere from one hour to an entire day depending on how dedicated and free the players and DM are. Games consist of these sessions and certain games can last several years, even up to 10+ years of gaming. I've personally played in games that have been going on for 3 years now and have grown attached to my character. Dungeons and Dragons is perhaps the only game that people become attached to their characters on a normal basis. Although it may take several gaming sessions, many people begin to envelope themselves in their character and each decision they make.

Many people believe D&D sessions are always a Dungeon adventure that ends with killing dragons or saving the princess. However, luckily for most gamers, the man behind D&D, Gary Gygax, added alignments to each characters. You character may be lawful, neutral, or chaotic. Several DMs make their adventures chaotic only, which leads to many characters doing whatever they want, when they want. Several of my sessions have been focused on internal issues with our party instead of external issues such as what has red eyes and is looking at us while we set up camp at night.

In my experience, the easiest characters to begin playing Dungeons and Dragons are fighters. Fighters must know their Armor Class (AC), Health Points (HP), and what attacks they can perform. Fighters have the least amount of material that needs to be memorized in order to play effectively. Although they are a simple class to play, they can play a great role in any party. Upon learning the basics of the game, experiences players may explore into the Arcane or Diving classes such as the cleric, druid, or wizard. These classes must know the same information as fighters, but must also pay attention to their spells. A good wizard knows what spells to use and when. Casting classes are limited in their spell casting capabilities and if they run out of spells, they must resort to hand to hand combat. A Wizard fighting in hand to hand combat is much like a quarterback attempting to tackle a linebacker in football.

Dungeons and Dragons is a game meant to be played by anyone. The game is only limited by your imagination. I've played D&D with a wide range of characters. From 16 year old punks to 65 year old grandfathers and everything in-between. It takes an open mind to try Dungeon and Dragons out for the first time, but it doesn't take a nerd or geek to enjoy playing it. I consider Dungeons and Dragons to be the equivalent of a video game, except it was first created when video games were barely even known about. Today, everyone knows what video games are and the majority of citizens enjoy playing them. If people were to try D&D just once, I'm sure they would an enjoyable experience. Dungeons and Dragons games can be found in many places. You're able to find groups that play online or you can even walk into a comic shop and ask if they host games. D&D is more popular than most people expect. Through the use of imagination and the collective thoughts of many willing participants, Dungeons and Dragons has grown from a home-made basement gathering to a world-wide game enjoyed by millions.

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