Michael Jasper's Blog, page 5

D&D Dad: “Storm King’s Thunder” Adventure/Campaign Report

Here’s the first of our party’s Adventure Report for the humongous Dungeons & Dragons campaign Storm King’s Thunder:

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Here’s the party (we’re already at Session 3, so everyone has leveled up from Level 1 in this image):

[image error]Here are links to the party members’s character sheets:

Sir Frost Breaker (Mitch) Mavthos (Drew) Shashy’ra Mellerel (Elizabeth) Torinn Thava (Beth) Halberticus Darkleaf (Arden) Brother Broosel (Mike)

Session 0, 2/17/19:

The campaign begins! After almost a half year of prep,...

D&D Dad: Prepping for a HUGE Adventure

Hello again. Sorry it’s been a while, but I’ve been busy prepping a new adventure that’s going to be huge — literally! It’s my first time tackling a full-size published campaign, and I chose Storm King’s Thunder, where my players are going to take on giants.

To help me, I have a huge map and all sort of resources, as you can see below:

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Wish me luck, and happy gaming!!!

NOTE: I used Vivyx Printers (Signs and Banners, Vinyl Banner, 31″ x 48″) and used this hi-res map from Mike Schley ($5), whi...

D&D Dad: Tell me more about this D&D resurgence…

[image error]More about “STK” at the end of this post!

I’ve been wanting to write this article about Dungeons & Dragons since I started this blog way back in September (hey, it seems like a long time ago for me!). I’ve been reading a lot lately about the game and its somewhat shocking resurgence in the past few years–ever since the release of the Fifth Edition, or “5e” as we call it–and I thought I’d share my thoughts on why it’s gotten huge again.

I mean, even The New Yorker has written about D&D, for cr...

D&D Dad: What kids can learn from playing D&D

I recently read an article that reinforced everything I’ve learned about playing D&D for the past year, and I had to share it with you here.

Here’s the quote that’s at the heart of this article:

For Kade Wells, the teacher who runs the club at Davis Ninth Grade School outside Houston, the answer is simple: “Playing Dungeons & Dragons makes you smarter.”

The article is titled How ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Primes Students for Interdisciplinary Learning, Including STEM, and it was published by KQED....

D&D Dad: One-shots and Campaigns

I’ve been trying to get back to playing Dungeons & Dragons with my family and friends for a while now. It feels like we play maybe once a month or so these days, what with school and extracurriculars for the kids, and busy days of work for my wife and me. We’ve kinda fallen out of the habit.

I’m hoping to get on a more regular schedule. Sometimes this game is more like a sport than a hobby. I have this need to practice so I can keep getting better!

And just this past week, I think I figu...

D&D Dad: Dice. Those wonderful, terrible dice.

[image error]Maybe you cracked open your Starter Set and found those strange blue dice floating around in there with the books. Or possibly you picked up a bag of dice to get ready for your first game.

So what’s up with all these dice? We’re talking six or seven dice, all with different shapes and sizes. You might even see the name “polyhedral” used for theme.

Let’s do a deep dive about dice, shall we? Soon you’ll know the difference between a d4, a d12, and a d20. Let’s get rolling!

What’s up with all t...

D&D Dad: What’s behind that DM screen, anyway?

This was a somewhat crazy week, so I ran out of time to write up a blog about my topic of the week: the DM screen.

So instead, I made a short video to show you how we set up our gaming table for Dungeons & Dragons, with an emphasis on what’s behind the secret screen!

Okay, so there was quite a lot of camera motion in that, but I’ll do my best to attempt a Steadicam approach in future videos!

Also, I like to see how other DMs set up their DM area, so here are links to other articles about DM...

D&D Dad: Your first time playing (as a Dungeon Master)

So you’ve bravely volunteered to be the Dungeon Master for your group of players. Congratulations! Let’s get you ready for running your first-ever game of Dungeons & Dragons.

SPOILER ALERT: You’re going to have fun. You’ll be exhausted at the end of the gaming session, but you’ll have a blast.

In this article, I’ll talk about some “best practices” for preparing for your game, what to do right before the game starts, how to run the game, and what to do after the game is over. The D&D Dad has y...

D&D Dad: The Goblin Grail Gang (our Adventure Report and review)

Spoiler Alert! Don’t read this report if you haven’t played The Goblin Grail Gang!

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Session: The Goblin Grail Gang (9/29/18)

A note from the D&D Dad: I’d normally create two separate articles for this adventure session, but this one-shot by M.T. Black is special. Not only is it a great introduction to new players (I had one at this session), but the entire adventure takes place on ONE sheet of paper! So I’m simply combining my Adventure Report with my Review.

For this one-shot, we gathered mu...

D&D Dad: Your first time playing (as a Player Character)

So you’ve created an amazing character for Dungeons & Dragons, and you’re ready for your very first adventure. Woo hoo!

Before the game ever starts, I have a few tips for you. And for when  the game gets rolling, I have even more tips so you can make the most of your first time playing as a Player Character (PC).

[image error]The Critical Role crew, playing D&D old-school style… (no podcasting equipment!)

NOTE: I’m going to assume you already have a group of other players and a DM to play D&D with, but i...