Typically I don’t bother with the myriad of online stores out there selling everything from panake syrup to re-usable diapers, but Shopwiki caught my attention. Not only because they don’t necessarily sell everything that you can find on their site or even make money when you buy it but because when I did a search for Dungeons and Dragons I found very quickly links to some good vintage D&D books, books that I couldn’t find on Amazon or after a lot of searching elsewhere. So I’m passing it along to the rest of you.
Shopwiki is basically a wiki for shoppers so of course they have stuff for video games, consoles, and all that other jazz, but they don’t just cram the crap down your throat either. They have some pretty useful information with regards to what you are buying hence the wiki part of it.
They have buying guides for just about everything as well from games to controllers. Like everything else online you have to be a bit careful and do some poking around to verify.
What caught my eye was the fact that it was so easy to find links to vintage D&D stuff that I really had a hard time finding elsewhere. Without that I don’t know that I would have bothered to write anything at all.
One lesson I’ve learned the hard way is to be careful what I say as a Dungeon Master. Believe it or not the players listen.
Sometimes when describing a scene I will add a sentence or two of flavor just to make the scene stick a little bit. The players take this added flavor text to heart and before long they are so focused on the color of the princess’ dress that they are completely overlooking the half burned letter from the evil overlord that she was attempting to destroy when they walked in. Suddenly the color green is an omen for death at every step and they want to go out confiscating every bundle of green cloth in the country.
Okay, maybe a bit of exaggeration, but not a whole lot. Usually it is something more like the quality of a chair or the sturdiness of a table or the location of a fur rug. The players expect that there is something special about it. Why? Because I’m the DM and I wouldn’t be saying anything if it weren’t important.
The lesson is that I should keep my mouth shut unless I want the players to interact with it. If it isn’t something that I as a DM really want to deal with then I should probably skip it. Players will ask all sorts of questions and try all sorts of things without being handed a bag full of dead ends.
On the reverse side you can always add your own false leads here by putting a different inflection on your voice and adding emphasis perhaps where you shouldn’t. But I recommend that you do this only sparingly because frankly it can lead to frustrated (or worse, bored) players.
Okay, so you have an idea for a nifty new campaign that you want to run but you really don’t have the time to put it all together. What do you do?
This can be a huge problem for a lot of dungeon masters, particularly those with a creative bent who aren’t thrilled with using someone else’s work. All too often these folks turn into the guy (or gal) who is constantly “working on it” but who never actually ends up running a game because they never actually finish.
Here are some ideas:
1 – Create only what needs to be created for the campaign. Don’t flesh out an entire world rolling up dozens of NPC’s if they will never be used. Leave that kind of nonsense to the professionals they get paid to make up fluff you don’t.
2 – Set a deadline. Write down the date that you will have it finished. Mark it on your calendar and tell someone else. That way they can chew you out if you don’t finish.
3 – Set aside a specific time of day when you will work on it. Hint: the earlier in the day the more likely you will actually do it. Stick to your time just as if you were attending an important class or going to work.
4 – Use random name generators. There are tons of free ones on the web. Save yourself time where you can.
5 – Make pre-made home-made. Borrow from whatever sources you can, particularly maps. Drawing out awesome maps is very, very time consuming and many of the maps in a campaign (particularly outdoor maps) end up being tossed aside very quickly. Spend time only on the maps that the players really need.
Okay, for those of you who don’t allow videos to play automatically or who have them blocked entirely, the youtube link is below. The creator of this video sent me the link and I thought I would pass it on to all of you. It is a kooky little video that captures the flavor of going out and finding the myriad of monsters available in the game.
Anyone willing to put this much effort must really share the passion for the game. Props to Dan Meth and company.
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May 19, 2009 
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