"In the book, Gandalf acted much as he always did in this meeting: Annoyingly Mysterious. You can’t really fault him, that’s his style. In the movie, it seemed like he was just being a jerk. I ...
2024-01-13 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
"I could not figure out a way to put Liv Tyler into episode LIV. Pity. But I did manage to work Danny DeVito in there, which was kind of unexpected." ~Shamus
2024-01-06 11:00:11 +0000 UTC View Post
"Don’t get too hung up on horses. While the rulebooks have all sorts of rules for movement speeds while on foot, encumbered, or riding, the truth is that all travel takes exactly as long as the D...
2023-12-30 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
"When dealing with railroading DM’s, never waste skill points on the tracking skill. If it’s part of the plot, you’ll find it no matter what you roll. If it’s not part of the plot, then it ...
2023-12-23 11:00:10 +0000 UTC View Post
"The saying is, “No honor among thieves”, but I think it applies just as well to the other character classes. I would not be shocked at all to find a paladin and a cleric arguing over which one...
2023-12-16 11:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
"Nobody wants to play a campaign with Emperor Fred or High Chancellor Gary, and so the usual approach is to give everyone high fantasy names like King Geon’ai, Sir Lua’an-Eradin, or Lady Alaain...
2023-12-02 11:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
"I see a lot of kids with those “I Roll Twenties” t-shirts. I don’t know what game they are playing, or where they get their dice. I need one that says, “Help. The dice are trying to ki...
2023-11-25 11:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
"The rulebooks never say that players earn XP for finding ways to imply the other guys at the table might be gay, but you would never know this from observing their behavior." ~Shamus
2023-11-18 11:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"Players complain so much about having to walk long distances. You would think they were actually, you know, walking there." ~Shamus
2023-11-11 11:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
"How to motivate your players:
"Merry and Pippin were about the most underused characters in this campaign. I imagine the two of them sat on the couch playing XBox, and if they were needed for anything they would shout their act...
2023-10-28 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"When railroading players, ALWAYS have a backup plan in case they derail the plot. By tradition this backup plan is, “Put players back on rails.” " ~Shamus
2023-10-21 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"Characters come and go, but the relative success of a campaign story can be judged by the number of players who are willing to see it through to the end." ~Shamus
2023-10-14 10:00:02 +0000 UTC View Post
"It would have been pleasing if this extra-large (double, actually) comic had ended up being number “XL”. Missed it by one. (What kind of a dork obsesses over details like that? Sheesh.)
...
2023-10-07 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"Live free or die, man. Live free or die." ~Shamus
2023-09-30 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"So after a couple of weeks of speculation about what will happen to Boromir, you can… speculate some more!
On Monday I’ll have the other “half” of his death. It was just too big to c...
2023-09-23 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"And here I finally deliver the joke / point I wanted to make way back in strip #16. The rules as presente...
2023-09-16 10:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
"The Circle of Fantasy Roleplaying Life:
"The most terrifying part of any campaign is when the players at last wiggle free of your grasp and escape the railroad plot you’ve devised.
This marks the first time our hapless group has ...
2023-09-02 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"The players are there to overcome challenges and earn rewards. If you are foolish enough to deny them the desired supply of challenges and rewards they will instead amuse themselves by frustrating...
2023-08-26 10:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
"I’ve had my players try to barter for items I was trying to give them for free. This is not a bad thing, but it always throws me off-script. It’s like little Timmy coming downstairs on Christm...
2023-08-19 10:00:05 +0000 UTC View Post
"I’m taking Thursday off, so no comic on Friday. Enjoy your holiday." ~Shamus
2023-08-12 10:01:01 +0000 UTC View Post
"Players are always in a hurry to reach town. Once there, they will be in even more of a hurry to leave." ~Shamus
2023-07-29 10:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
"This one has a bit of an in-joke in the second panel. The phrase, “Why is nobody ever glad to see us?!” was uttered in varying forms quite often during our campaigns.
I often tr...
2023-07-22 10:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
"In any large prewritten campaign, the DM is bound to read the wrong bit of dialog sooner or later. Sometimes it’s easier to cover up than others. Sometimes it’s impossible. In these cases it c...
2023-07-15 10:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
"Oh look. Another secluded place of secret enchantment and arcane mystery.
Yawn." ~Shamus
2023-07-08 10:01:00 +0000 UTC View PostMany people have noticed that despite being told we'd be uploading old content, and updating the site...nothing has really happened. We haven't forgotten, but the transition from Dad doing everythi...
2023-07-03 17:25:24 +0000 UTC View Post
"Sooner or later, we all become Dave.
A quick glance around this site should reveal that I have a profound dice problem. I can’t walk into the geek store without picking up a couple of new ...
2023-07-01 10:00:07 +0000 UTC View Post
