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By now, you've probably seen the D&D game I ran for the writers and producers of Robot Chicken. It's all over Youtube (with and without DM commentary). The adventure, which I've since taken to calling "Tomb of the Orc Slayer," unfolds in a dwarven sepulcher nestled amid the greater dungeon complex of Undermountain, below the city of Waterdeep.

I'm giving serious thought to submitting this short adventure for publication in Dungeon magazine, along with adventures for the other two dwarven tombs mentioned in the videocast ("Tomb of the Heartless Dwarf" and "Tomb of the Iron Warlord"). Each tomb would serve as a standalone adventure, or they could be played as a series that concluded with the heroes acquiring three dwarven shields needed to unlock a secret dwarven vault within Undermountain itself. (The vault is something I hadn't considered building an adventure around. Hmm. That would make for a very interesting adventure design contest, wouldn't you think?)

Let me know if this "tripartite tomb" series is something you'd like to see. If there's sufficient interest, I will endeavor to carve time out of my crazy schedule to make it happen.

Chris

I posted a new map in the "Iomandra - Public" group photo gallery. The 11" x 17" map depicts Io'drothtor, a Dragovar city on the shores of Krethmidion (an island with a steel dragon overlord). This map, the third full-sized city map that I've created for my home 4E campaign, was drawn and colored using Adobe Photoship CS4. Feel free to plunder it for your home campaign(s).

For more information on my home campaign, check out the "Iomandra and the Dragon Sea" wiki.

Chris

I run a 4E campaign for two different groups of players on Monday and Wednesday nights, and both groups have just graduated from paragon tier to epic tier. In the Wednesday night game, naval combat has become a key feature of the campaign. I recently ran a battle between two fleets of ships: the heroes' fleet (each player was given a ship to command) and an enemy fleet. The battle played out smoothly, and everyone had a lot of fun.

Here are the rules I used to run the battle:

community.wizards.com/wiki/Dnd:Iomandra/...

This ship-to-ship combat system is not a simulation. There's no "facing," for example. It's also simpler than the character combat system because there are no opportunity attacks. That said, I will probably add a bit more complexity to the system over time (rules for combat advantage, for example).

I have a blue-tinted wet-erase battle map that I use to represent the water, and I have card stock ship tokens from the old Spelljammer® boxed set that I use to represent the various ships on the grid. I designed a "character sheet" for each ship so that players could keep track of their ships' hit points and crew. I've attached a sample below. In the meantime, if you're interested in running D&D ship-to-ship battles, I suggest you give these simple rules a test drive and let me know what you think.

Chris

Cool things are afoot at Wizards.

We've made some recent changes to the D&D R&D staff. We've split the D&D creative team into two groups: the D&D RPG Group (focused on the 4th Edition D&D RPG and spinoff RPGs such as D&D Gamma World) and the D&D New Business Group (focused on D&D games beyond the RPGs, including board games and other stuff we can't talk about yet). Both groups report up into Bill Slavicsek, the Director of D&D R&D and Book Publishing.

Several staffers who used to work on RPG content have moved over to the D&D New Business team, including James Wyatt, Chris Youngs, Bruce Cordell, and Peter Lee. They have very exciting jobs, which I'm sure they'll talk about in the weeks and months ahead.

As for me, I've decided to stay with the D&D RPG, where I can do the least damage. LOL Here's the current D&D RPG Group, presented in alphabetical order:

Richard Baker (design manager), Greg Bilsland (editor), Bart Carroll (D&D website editor-in-chief), Michele Carter (editing manager), Jeremy Crawford (developer), Mike Mearls (group manager), Kim Mohan (managing editor), Cal Moore (editor), Christopher Perkins (senior producer), Stephen Schubert (development manager), Matt Sernett (designer), Rodney Thompson (designer), and Steve Winter (magazines editor-in-chief).

We also have some open positions to fill . . . Stay tuned!

Both D&D teams work closely with several art directors on the CAPS team (Creative and Production Services): Jon Schindehette, Mari Kolkowsky, Kate Irwin, and Keven Smith. They, too, are part of the D&D family.

What does the new structure mean for the 4E roleplaying game? Well, Mearls is responsible for coming up with innovative RPG product ideas and building an exciting RPG release plan that caters to the needs of our diverse gamer audience. I'm responsible for telling Mike when he's being crazy while delivering all RPG products on schedule, on budget, and to mission specs, as well as overseeing the staff that does the work (pretty much everyone in the above list, minus Mike).

We have a terrific, experienced in-house team working to expand 4E's horizons, and we have a strong cadre of freelance writers and editors backing us up. We're wrapping up work on the D&D Essentials product line, which aims to bring new players and DMs into the hobby, and we're hard at work on 2011 and 2012 RPG products. You'll get a sneak peek of what's planned at Gen Con this year; if you're not planning to attend, keep an eye on the website for spoilers!

And, of course, you can expect surprises along the way . . . not unlike the Penny Arcade/PvP podcasts, the Robot Chicken videocasts, the Creature Competition, and the D&D animated shorts!

Chris

One of the tricks I learned as a Dungeon Master was to keep a list of pregenerated names handy . . . specifically for NPCs. In the course of a campaign, my player characters interact with scores of incidental NPCs, and it's always nice to be able to give that "third dragonborn from the left" a name when the players ask for one.

The list of pregenerated NPC names I use for the Iomandra campaign is posted HERE

Feel free to pillage the list. In addition to NPCs, the list includes ship names (since Iomandra has a strong mautical theme). Many of the ship names can double as tavern or inn names in a pinch.

My campaign is currently set at the high paragon tier, and I've pretty much exhausted this list. But the fact that the list carried me through 18 levels of play says something about its efficacy. I hope y'all find it equally valuable.

Chris

If you hang out on our forums, you've doubtless heard the announcement concerning our Star Wars miniatures and RPG lines. Not the best news for diehard fans of our Star Wars games. I have a few thoughts I'd like to share that will probably have no impact on the angry few who wax hyperbolic on our forums, but they're good thoughts regardless.

First, who am I, you ask? I'm the lead designer for the Saga Edition RPG and the creative manager for our RPG and miniatures lines. I also edited a little-known magazine called Star Wars Gamer, which some of you über-nerds might remember from a few years back. I've been associated with Star Wars professionally for more than one-quarter of my life. The only one who has me beat at Wizards is my boss, Bill Slavicsek, who's been pushing Star Wars on you folks since, well, forever.

So here's my take on the Star Wars RPG and miniatures game: Both games have enjoyed success. Both games are very robust and fill a lot of shelf space. From a creative standpoint, we've explored all that we want to explore for the moment. The Saga Edition RPG is a solid game supported by a number of good sourcebooks, and I think the last book in the series (The Unknown Regions) makes a fine bookend, taking us to the very edge of the known galaxy. There's enough words in these books to sustain a SWRPG campaign for years. On the miniatures front, we've plumbed the depths of Star Wars lore to bring you interesting minis, including lots of obscure characters, but there comes a point where you just gotta stop and ask, "Does the world need a mini of 'Third Jedi from the Left' right now?" or an umpteenth Darth Vader mini? That said, we're ending the run in style. The Dejarik monsters kick mighty ass; your collection won't be complete without 'em. From a production standpoint, it doesn't help matters that the cost of painted plastic has skyrocketed. Everything was much cheaper back when the economy wasn't screwing with our bank accounts.

I think it's easy to forget that Wizards has finite creative and production resources. (We often forget that internally, so I can imagine what some fans think.) As a creative company, we're always looking for new challenges and opportunities. We like to try new things. We like to surprise ourselves and our customers with new and/or fun game experiences. We're looking at ways to expand and improve our own games and brands, as well as ways to inspire and grow the gaming community. We don't like to rest on our laurels. We don't like driving the same way to work every day. Contrary to popular belief, we're also quite smart, and we pay close attention to everything happening around us. In the gaming industry. In the entertainment industry. In pop culture. In business. For a company that revels in fantasy, we're pretty well grounded in reality.

In a nutshell, I feel we've done right by Star Wars. We put our best ideas on the table and scooped up a pile of awards for our efforts. I also feel a sense of bittersweet relief as I focus my energy on the cool projects that lie ahead, including things you won't hear about for another 6 to 12 months.

I hope folks enjoy our Star Wars games for years to come. After all, games only die when people stop playing them. Maybe 10 years from now, some kid at a convention will ask me to sign a copy of the Saga Edition rulebook he's using to run a game for his friends. That would be cooler than eating ice cream on Hoth!

One more thing . . .

I would like to thank the folks at Lucas Licensing for a terrific partnership. They not only encouraged us to fully explore the Star Wars universe in our products but also gave us great ideas for minis and RPG sourcebook content. They were hands-on in good ways and hands-off in good ways. They helped us make better products, so props to them. I'd especially like to thank Chris Gollaher for being an all-around super guy and a force of good in our galaxy. And also George. Thank you, thank you, for letting us take the Millennium Falcon for a spin.

My Monday campaign took an interesting turn this week. The heroes were settling accounts with the Horned Alliance (a tiefling thieves' guild) when they pushed two villains into the gears of a gargantuan contraption called a time prison (an arcane device built by a dragonborn mage for the Dragovar Empire — think of it as a creative alternative to the empire's current prison system). The contraption began to malfunction, causing "stutters" in time that wreaked havoc with the initiative order. Despite valiant efforts to stabilize the machine (read: skill challenge), it exploded with chronomantic energy and hurtled heroes and villains alike three years into the future.

This isn't my first use of time travel in the campaign, but it's the first time a group has traveled to the future. On top of that, there's a good chance they'll be stuck there for the rest of the campaign. It's afforded me a rare opportunity to imagine what has transpired in the heroes' absence and to surprise the players by challenging their perceptions of where the campaign is headed. The revelation is compounded by the fact that Jeremy Crawford's character was not present for the session. Ergo, his character was not blasted into the future.

I've said this before in many forums: No Dungeon Master should contemplate using time travel without tremendous forethought and a poopload of prep work. It can seriously eff up your campaign. If it's not telegraphed, your first reward will be the wide-eyed "oh sh*t" look on the players' faces. Then comes the reward of pulling back the curtain and showing what happens to a world deprived of the adventurers' interference.

Here are a few spoilers for those who enjoy reading the campaign chronicles:

The Sea Kings United: To ensure their survival, the feuding Sea Kings have united under a single flag . . . the first time this has happened since Draeken Malios briefly united the Sea Kings at the Battle of the Roiling Cauldron. So who's the One King To Rule Them All? Here's a hint: He just got out of prison.

The Black Curtain Parted: The biggest mystery of the campaign is what lies beyond the Black Curtain — an impenetrable barrier of darkness that has been slowly engulfing the world. While the Dragovar Empire struggles to hold itself together, a secret kingdom wiped from the annals of history sends fleets of ships through the barrier to wipe the Dragovar Empire off the map.

The Knights Divided: The Knights of Ardyn, once viewed as the greatest threat to the imperial throne, have become the Dragovar Empire's best hope of survival. However, Ardyn's knights are stretched thin holding back the ravenous tide of the Far Realm-corrupted Myrthon Regency to the west, the conquering fleets to the east, and the evergrowing kingdom of Skaravostrym.

The Baronies Betrayed: The eight barons of Bael Nerath have put aside their petty squabbles and conceded to a fateful meeting that will ensure the survival of humanity. However, one of them has forged a secret alliance that could destroy his rivals in one fell swoop.

I look forward to seeing which plotlines get the characters hooked and which ones fall by the wayside!

Chris

I spent Sunday afternoon putting the finishing touches on a new map for the Iomandra campaign, specifically the capital city of the Dragovar empire. I had a clear vision of Io'calioth at the very start of the campaign — a city built on the ridges of a sunken volcanic caldera — and held true to that vision, thanks to the magic of Photoshop. Ah, Photoshop . . . is there anything you can't do?

My Monday group arrived in Io'calioth somewhat unexpectedly, courtesy of a 1,000-foot-high water cyclone—check out the campaign episode wiki for details, if you're curious. My challenge to myself was to create a city that surpassed my previous city-building effort (the cave city of Io'galaroth) and had its own unique character. I also needed Io'calioth to incorporate everything I'd written about the Dragovar empire to date, including sections of the city devoted to each of the six castes (arcane caste, divine caste, martial caste, commoner caste, expert caste, and noble caste).

Unlike Io'galaroth, which I hand-drew and then scanned and colored, Io'calioth was built entirely on screen, using the mouse as my "pen." The reason was scale — I didn't have a piece of paper large enough to draw the city in its entirety. I cheated whenever I could; for example, to get the circular shape of the city just right, I started by creating a large gray circle, traced around it with the pen tool, and then deleted the circle.

Anyway, you're probably bored, so I'll stop typing now. Enjoy the map! You'll find it in the Iomandra group's public gallery.

This past Wednesday, I treated my players to a Very Special Halloween episode of the Iomandra campaign. Apart from the scares and bloody battles, this particular episode (titled "Death's Door") brought two different character arcs to a crossroads. One of the characters, Vargas (played by Rodney Thompson), is a deva avenger of the Raven Queen. The other is Garrot (played by Mat Smith), a human fighter and clod.

At the very start of the campaign (before the first adventure, even), Garrot stole a unique magic item known as a ring of the raven. This magic item created by the Raven Queen attaches and binds to its wearer, raising him from the dead a certain number of times before its magic expires. By drawing upon the ring's power, the wearer also pledges his eternal soul to the Raven Queen. Given Mat's propensity for getting into trouble, it's no surprise that Garrot used the ring on several occasions without knowing exactly how many "lives" he had remaining.

Some time ago, during a particularly tough heroic-tier encounter, both Garrot and Vargas were killed. Vargas's spirit languished for a time in the Shadowfell, where he encountered the spirit of a smiling gnome. The gnome claimed to be a special emissary of the Raven Queen and told Vargas that the god of death had a special mission for him—that he was being sent back to the world to "deliver a message" to Garrot when the time was right.

Advance ahead several months, to this past Wednesday. The heroes have joined forces with a trio of shadar-kai to hunt down the leaders of an evil cult called the Shroud of Nerull, who are dedicated to the resurrection of Nerull, the former god of death (whom the Raven Queen deposed and slew). The heroes vanquish their quarry in a manor overlooking the village of Drazenhurst—a sleepy burg of Raven Queen worshipers haunted by the ghost of its former defender, a paladin named Lukas Drazen. Unfortunately, the party cleric (played by Curt Gould) falls in battle, and while the other characters perform a ritual to bring poor Divin back from the dead, Vargas heads back into the village. There, in the village graveyard, he sees the ghost of the smiling gnome waving at him. Vargas enters the cemetery and feels a dark chill as he steps through a shadow crossing into the Shadowfell, where the gnome says to him, "I bring a message from the Raven Queen."

"The Raven Queen has summoned Lord Drazen to Her court, as a reward for his years of faithful service," the gnome tells Vargas. "However, Drazen's spirit is not at rest. You must see to that, so that he finds his way to Her side. Once Lord Drazen's spirit is gone, Drazenhurst will need a new eternal defender. That can be you, or it can be Garrot. You must decide."

And that's how the session ended, with Vargas forced to contemplate who must stay behind to protect the village—him or Garrot—with the added implication that he must kill Garrot if he chooses the latter. To the best of my recollection, this is the first time I've ever set one character against another, and I have no assumptions about how the situation will play out. Will Vargas betray the Raven Queen and leave Drazenhurst with his dim-witted companion? Will he do what She commands and slay Garrot? Will he leave his friends behind and spend the rest of his life (and death) as Drazenhurst's eternal defender?

I guess we'll have to tune in next week to find out! Mwah-ha-ha.

The final episode of the Series 3 Penny Arcade/PvP podcast went live last Friday. Yes, I killed Wil Wheaton's character with a very mean acid pit trap, but Wil broke the cardinal rule of Dungeons & Dragons: Never split the party. Fortunately, Wil was kind enough to focus his ire on Scott Kurtz instead of me. If you haven't heard his spectacular rant, you NEED to listen to the podcast. Like, now. Just don't do it while driving.

If you're wondering why the Series 3 podcasts are shorter than the previous series (30 minutes, down from 45 minutes), it's because Aeofel died unexpectedly and we wanted to end with a bit of a dramatic cliffhanger. What will become of Acquisitions Incorporated without their faithful intern? Will Binwin's father ever start drinking again? These are deep questions, my friends. Deep, serious questions.

One of the ideas we're considering for Series 4 is getting Wil behind the DM's screen. Aoefel's demise has left an empty desk at Acquisitions Incorporated, and although I would love to see Wil return as a vengeful revenant or something equally cool, I think Wil would have a blast playing the Dungeon Master. Let me know what you think of this idea . . . as well as any other ideas you have for Series 4!