After Action Report: D20 Cruise

On April 26, 2024, I boarded a plane from my native Salt Lake City, UT to Orlando, FL. I had applied and been accepted to run two 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons games aboard a cruise ship bound for Mexico, for a D20 Cruise event.
Thankfully, a good friend of mine had applied and been accepted as well. This was convenient, because I did not have to share a cabin with a stranger and some of the DMs on this cruise were pretty strange. Neither one of us had ever been on cruise, but we both had decades of experience running games.
My largest concern was my players. I was worried that my players would not like me, or like my game. Basically, I was afraid I would not be good enough.

State of the Blog 2023

 

Unfortunately, due to the state of the economy and the exorbitant cost of living in Utah, I have been forced to get another job. This means I will have less time to dedicate to Adventures Under the Dark Sun. I appreciate everyone who has been reading my blog for these last few years and I enjoyed writing weekly articles, stories, and creating creatures for all of you.

This comes at a good time, as viewership of my blog has decreased dramatically. I do not know if this is due to the Wizards of the Coast controversy, a genuine disinterest in the setting, or an elimination of bots. I will likely never know.

This is not the end of the blog. I will continue to post Dark Sun material, but the posting will become more infrequent. I will try to post as often as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Together, we can keep Dark Sun alive.

Thoughts and analysis of Wizards OGL response.

Wizards of the Coast is not affiliated with this blog, which is their loss..

First, it is important to say that I am not a lawyer and I do not work in corporate media relations. I am a decades long D&D player and creator of D&D content. When the leaked Open Game License 1.1 (OGL) was release, it worried me a bit. Was Wizards going to shut down my blog, or demand I make changes? I didn't think so, but you never know.
A week passed, then two, with no response and I started to worry a little bit more. Was everything true? Then, on the 13th of January, 2023, they released a response to the leak and backlash of their OGL plans. I decided to put my thoughts and predictions for what their response is really saying. I tend to be a pessimist though, which may be why I like Dark Sun so much.

I have included the Wizards of the Coast statement below, but I interrupt it with my own responses. To read the uninterrupted statement, click here.

Dark Sun Dungeons

Dark Sun is a unique setting in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. Certain tropes in other settings are downplayed or eliminated. It is my belief that dungeons in the Dark Sun setting should be as unique as the setting itself.
This article provides advice on running dungeon adventures in the Dark Sun setting. The advice is taken from my decades long Dark Sun Dungeon Mastering experiences. I hope it inspires you to run your own Dark Sun game.

In relation to a table top roleplaying game, a dungeon is a term often used to describe an underground lair, where monsters and treasure can be found. From the point of a gameplay aspect, a dungeon is a contained environment, where the action of an adventure takes place. This means that a dungeon, in this sense, can be a ruined fortress, a group of narrow canyons, or even the Warrens in Tyr.

There's a lot of dungeon designing advice online and I will endeavor not to repeat it. My goal is to have the information I provide apply to Dark Sun, as much as possible.

Game Theory: To Fudge, or Not to Fudge, that is the Question

Game Master, Dungeon Master, Storyteller, Keeper, Director. The person running a tabletop roleplaying game can be called many things. In the end, it doesn't matter what they are called, but what does matter is how they choose to run a game. This article explores the controversial topic of game masters fudging die rolls. Game master will be used throughout the article as a title for the person running a table top game.
It is universally acknowledged that players fudging die rolls is cheating. But what about game masters? Can game masters cheat in a table top roleplaying game?

In a game where a person can control the universe, weather, every living creature on an infinite number of worlds, and even the gods themselves, many people would say that it is impossible for that person to cheat. However, others point out that fact that game masters are still playing a game and games have rules. If one person is not following the rules, when everyone else must, that is cheating and cheating should not be allowed.