Michael Jasper's Blog, page 7

D&D Dad: Wizard in a Bottle (our Adventure Report)

Spoiler Alert! Don’t read this report if you haven’t played Wizard in a Bottle!

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Session: Wizard in a Bottle (1/27/18)

Neptune (Drew), Revali (Mitch), Kirby (Caleb), and Rurik (our friend Robinson) are joined by Kazi (half-elf sorcerer, aka our friend Melissa) and Lilliana (aasimar Paladin, aka Elizabeth) at their usual table in the Driftwood Tavern in Neverwinter. As it turns out, Kazi and Lilliana have arranged for the party to meet a one-legged man named Ulfgar Longwood at the Tavern to di...

D&D Dad: Troll Trouble (review)

The D&D Dad blog reviews Troll Trouble by Gary Whicker!

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Just for kicks, the boys (aka Drew and Mitch) and I played some D&D while we were at the beach, and the adventure we played was “Troll Trouble” by Gary Whicker. We all rolled up new Level 1 characters, and I ran a character along with doing my DM duties, and we finished the quest in two session, about 6 hours total, I’d say.

It was another fun, classic-feeling one-shot (two-shot?) adventure (see my spoilerific Adventure Report for detai...

D&D Dad: Tower of the Mad Mage (review)

The D&D Dad blog reviews Tower of the Mad Mage by M.T. Black.

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This was our first-ever one-shot adventure, and it was a blast! Kudos to M.T. Black for creating a slick, easy-to-use adventure for 1st level players. It definitely felt like a “classic D&D” adventure, but with some nice updates and unexpected twists.

Overview of the Adventure

This adventure took about five hours to complete, but a small portion of that time was used to get two brand-new players up to speed on the game (they alrea...

D&D Dad: The Lost Mine of Phandelver (review)

[image error]As part of this blog series, I wanted to do brief reviews of the different Dungeons & Dragons adventure we’ve played. We’re focusing on 5th edition D&D only, by the way.

TIP: For each adventure we play, I write a short recap that’s FULL of spoilers. If you’re a DM, check out the Lost Mine Adventure Report.

With these reviews I want to do more than just give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. I want to give my opinion on what I liked, of course, but also give you tips if you’re a new Dungeon Master a...

D&D Dad: Explaining D&D to new players

[image error]The “Stranger Things” guys, playing some D&D.

If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in being a Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons.

I used to feel like being a DM would be way too much work, but then I just bit the bullet and ran a few sessions. It was rocky at first, but the bonus was that my players were also new to the game, so they didn’t really know I was doing a mediocre job at first.

But each time we played, it got easier for me, and more fun for them. It’s definite...

D&D Dad: Some more of our characters

While we were working our way through The Lost Mine of Phandalin, Mitch talked to his buddy Caleb, who decided he wanted to play. Caleb got his parents, Melissa and Robinson, to join us for a couple games. It was a blast!

So of course we had to create NEW CHARACTERS. And this time, we had enough players, so I didn’t need to run a player character while also working as the DM. Yay!

TIP: Click the links to see each character’s full character sheet at the awesome D&D Beyond website.

Mitch create...

D&D Dad: Explaining D&D to new players

[image error]If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably interested in being a DM for Dungeons & Dragons. I used to feel like being a DM would be way too much work, but then I just bit the bullet and ran a few sessions. It was rocky at first, but the bonus was that my players were also new to the game, so they didn’t really know I was doing a mediocre job at first.

But each time we played, it got easier for me, and more fun for them. It’s definitely worth the stress you might feel at first.

If you have a...

D&D Dad: Our Characters!

I wanted to show off the first four Dungeons & Dragons characters we created last year. We made them using the rules in the D&D Starter Set, and they all survived The Lost Mine of Phandelver. And now they’re all Level FIVE and moving from Phandalin and the ruins of Thundertree into other adventures.

PRO TIP: Click the links to see each character’s full character sheet at the awesome D&D Beyond website.

First up, my guy: Zaxbinaxby the Silverthorn:

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Next, Elizabeth’s Eileria Fangorn (she need...

D&D Dad: What is D&D?

Welcome to the D&D Dad blog! This is the second blog in the “Historical” section (after “We’re going on an adventure!“), and in this entry, I’m going to try to take some of the complexity out of the game for new players (including new Dungeon Masters).

[image error]The Dungeon Master from the D&D cartoons from the early ’80s.

I’m a technical writer for a software company for my day job, and I started out my career as a junior high English and Reading teacher many moons ago. So I have a need to help people...

D&D Dad: We’re going on an adventure!

When I was in sixth grade way back in 1980, when I was almost ten years old, I really got into Dungeons & Dragons.

[image error] An ad for the “purple box” version of D&D, which came with “random number generators” (also known as dice)!

There was no bookstore in the small, rural town in Iowa where I grew up, so I had to wait for trips to the “big city” of Dubuque to hit the Waldenbooks at the mall to check out the latest D&D modules. The modules had these amazing, brightly colored covers, and inside were a...