Unofficial DnD Fourth Edition Website
I was recently contacted by the person behind DnD4.com, an unofficial DnD Fourth Edition website, asking for a quick review.
If you’re looking for the most up-to-date information about fourth edition, you’re probably better off cruising ENWorld or Wizards’ website. If you want timely information that’s also updated and collected into a rumors and facts section for quick referencing, then this is probably for you.
Campaign Website
A few months ago, I posted an article about building a campaign website to keep track of your game’s story, characters, and other various elements.
One of the most difficult parts of building a website like this is finding hosting and getting the necessary software set up on the server - wikis are obviously the best but they are also difficult to deal with.
Micah from ObsidianPortal.com got in touch with me recently to let me know about the website - which provided a free automated hosting space for people to use as a campaign website.
Some of the basic features include an NPC, Item and DM wiki, making it easy to make changes on the website and keep track of events, characters and items. In addition to the campaign management features, the website makes it easy to publish your campaign or keep it private - you can even use the website to hunt out new players, based on geographic location or other search parameters.
If you’re looking for a simple solution to handle your campaign website, check out Obsidian Portal - if you don’t need anything other than the basics described above, it’ll certainly meet your needs.
Is there any other software or websites that make this process easier that you take advantage of?
Wednesday Links
The ChattyDM recently started a set of forums for RPG players to hang out in and discuss different games, swap advice or game stories. A nice set of forums with knowledgeable people I enjoy talking to. Highly recommended.
John Kim posted his initial thoughts on DnD Fourth Edition, discussing changes in the game and the target audience of 4e. Well-organized and highly recommended.
Deeper in the Game wrote a short article discussing the purpose of setting in an RPG.
Martin from Treasure Tables has announced he probably won’t continue with the site. Thanks for all the good content over the years!
Thursday Links
The link division on the sidebar has been altered and split into two categories, Gaming Blogs and Gaming Communities. In addition, here are some sites you might appreciate:
Roleplay Gateway provides a community forum environment for people to discuss and play RPGs. If Play-By-Post is your thing, make sure you check them out.
Robin D. Laws has been posting an interesting series of articles exploring the implications of wireless e-book readers. The series begins with this article, followed by a second and a third. All of these are very good and well written.
Yax has been discussing the Top Ten Reasons why 4e will be the Best and the Worst RPG Ever.
I Think, Therefore I Game
Thanuir recently started a blog called Cogito, ergo ludo. While the blog is currently a little less than a week old, I’m familiar with some of Thanuir’s thoughts and respect them, and expect to see a lot of good content coming out of that blog.
Friday Links
As I’m about to head off to PhilCon, I wanted to leave you with a few links for the weekend.
TheRPGSite is a great news site with forums and a good collection of user blogs, are focusing around gaming. I highly recommend this site, and encourage everyone to head over there and start posting on the forums.
The RPG Consortium is a great role-playing community, with a large number of great articles and active forums that are worth checking out.
Socratic Design is a design blog for RPGs. While unfortunately it appears to be discontinued, or at least on extended haitus, the archives are certainly worth taking a peek at.
New Reading
Few things make me happier than expanding my RSS Subscription list, there is just something about finding new and interesting things to read, and knowing that I’ve also found a new steady stream of them. Here are some of the new sites I’ve subscribed to:
Catch Your Hare is a relatively new blog by Graham which has some good advice on what attitudes to have and how to look at games in order to have a good time.
d20 Magazine Rack is exactly what it sounds like, an e-zine dedicated to d20 games.
Game Design Heretic is a live journal blog, focusing primarily on game design, both as applied by the author and in general theory.
Game Designer in the Wilderness is Clinton R. Nixon’s blog about gaming. You can find topics there ranging from reviews to game design and theory. Highly recommended reading.
Jonathon Drain’s d20 Source is a good weblog with material for the d20 system, both along the lines of original game material and advice for game masters and players alike.
Hopefully these sites will provide you with some excellent reading. If you have any you’d like to share or recommend, please feel free to do so in the comments.
RPG Giveaway Extravaganza
If you haven’t heard from elsewhere yet, DriveThruRPG.com is having a ThanksGiveAway sale, where they are giving away dozens of RPG PDFs everyday this week.
Check it out for free games!
Chatty DM
One of the regular gaming blogs I read is the Chatty DM, which has just moved to a new domain, ChattyDM.net Everyone drop by, check out his excellent content, and say hello.
Thursday Links
A few recent articles have been popping up over the web, I thought I’d share with you.
Ticking Goblins - An excellent article from Neitherworld Stories exploring just what makes goblins special.
GameCraft - A good article regarding modes and stances in RPGs. Thanks to RPG Theory Review for the heads up!
Little Things That Give It All Away - A rant by the RPGPundit about decisions regarding the default mythology in DnD 4e.
