Dungeon Magazine Content - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Dungeon Magazine Content

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
jlaurhughes_dup
May 20, 2009 23:16:51 I don't see much, if any, discussion of content found within the Dungeon Magazine, the magazine doesn't carry just adventures. There are helpful articles, quite often overlooked by many, including the Skill Challenges series(Which ran over a 6 month period and had two sets of three articles) in which DM's were given hints on how to run a skill challenge, design level appropriate skill challenges, and even gave an idea how much time a more complex skill challenge represents.

The latest article for DM's is Choosing Monsters, which is episode 14 of Dungeoncraft. I don't know how many actually read these out of all the subscribed forum members. This particular article covers Broad themed monsters, Adventure themed monsters and has a discussion of Geography.

I don't know what sort of thing I hope to accomplish with this thread, maybe just to bring the rest of those who are DM's and Subscribers to the awareness that these articles, while often overlooked, are still as helpful as ever.

JL

PS. Don't know where to put this at the moment.
#2
gregt_314
May 20, 2009 23:30:25 It'll probably get moved to DDI Insider. There's threads for article discussions there, but you're right in that it doesn't get discussed much.

With all due respect to the author of Dungeoncraft I've never found his articles particularly useful or entertaining, but I suspect that's because they're aimed at players newer to roleplaying or DMing than I am.

The Save My Game articles vary in quality - I typically enjoy the mailbag more than the article itself - but are at their lowest at least sound advice, and at their highest can be pretty great.

The Ruling Skill Challenges section I've always just taken as an extended apology for the Skill Challenge mechanic, which (IMO) remains fairly dire even after column after column of advice on using it. Someone else might be getting value out of it, though.

The adventures, by contrast, are excellent, and while there's frequent typos and missing content it's on average vastly better than any of the published modules (particularly the H series), it's generally extremely easy to insert into established campaigns or existing adventures, and it contains a lot of good "how to" examples for doing certain kinds of scenarios yourself. (A personal favourite is the Frozen Tower adventure which offered advice on customising monsters, doing outdoor navigation skill challenges, and inserting weather and environmental effects into an adventure.)
#3
calronmoonflower
May 20, 2009 23:34:10 Here's a link to the D&DI area of the forum: http://forums.gleemax.com/forumdisplay.php?f=708
Alternately you could scroll down on the main D&D forum.
#4
Simonides
May 21, 2009 0:18:37
The Ruling Skill Challenges section I've always just taken as an extended apology for the Skill Challenge mechanic, which (IMO) remains fairly dire even after column after column of advice on using it. Someone else might be getting value out of it, though.

I am going to respectfully disagree here. While I agree that the treatment of skill challenges in the DMG does deserve an apology and the math was (and still is) a bit off, I have had a good deal of success using the Ruling Skill Challenges articles and using Skill Challenges in general to spice up the game.
#5
gregt_314
May 21, 2009 0:19:13
I am going to respectfully disagree here. While I agree that the treatment of skill challenges in the DMG does deserve an apology and the math was (and still is) a bit off, I have had a good deal of success using the Ruling Skill Challenges articles and using Skill Challenges in general to spice up the game.

Fantastic! I guess that's why magazines have a range of content; everyone finds something the like!
#6
Artifact
May 21, 2009 10:55:35 I'm enjoying the Greenbier campaign that James Wyatt is fleshing out in the Dungeoncraft articles. Following along with what's going through his head as the campaign develops is interesting. The early articles had some excellent advice for campaign building. I'm hoping that when all is said and done that we might even see a Greenbrier adventure or two in Dungeon (maybe something he's ran for the group).

I'm with JL in that I think a lot of this sort of stuff gets overlooked pretty easily. (Heck, I've had a thread on 'favorite articles' that no one's even looked at in at least two days-- busy place over there on the Dragon/Dungeon general boards ;).
#7
gwynn_dup
May 23, 2009 16:07:08 I like the Dungeoncraft articles, and I found all kinds of useful hints and angles in there that I didn't give proper thought before. Although they do reference older adventures a bit too much (adventures that I don't know, although the article gives a general idea of what they are about).
#8
gregt_314
May 25, 2009 3:27:24 I think the issue with discussing Dungeon content is that it's hard to meaningfully critique an adventure until you've played it - and even if you start them the day they're published it's still typically four to six sessions before you're done (anywhere from a month to six months depending on how often and how long you play).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 jlaurhughes_dup May 20, 2009 23:16:51	I don't see much, if any, discussion of content found within the Dungeon Magazine, the magazine doesn't carry just adventures. There are helpful articles, quite often overlooked by many, including the Skill Challenges series(Which ran over a 6 month period and had two sets of three articles) in which DM's were given hints on how to run a skill challenge, design level appropriate skill challenges, and even gave an idea how much time a more complex skill challenge represents. The latest article for DM's is Choosing Monsters, which is episode 14 of Dungeoncraft. I don't know how many actually read these out of all the subscribed forum members. This particular article covers Broad themed monsters, Adventure themed monsters and has a discussion of Geography. I don't know what sort of thing I hope to accomplish with this thread, maybe just to bring the rest of those who are DM's and Subscribers to the awareness that these articles, while often overlooked, are still as helpful as ever. JL PS. Don't know where to put this at the moment.
#2 gregt_314 May 20, 2009 23:30:25	It'll probably get moved to DDI Insider. There's threads for article discussions there, but you're right in that it doesn't get discussed much. With all due respect to the author of Dungeoncraft I've never found his articles particularly useful or entertaining, but I suspect that's because they're aimed at players newer to roleplaying or DMing than I am. The Save My Game articles vary in quality - I typically enjoy the mailbag more than the article itself - but are at their lowest at least sound advice, and at their highest can be pretty great. The Ruling Skill Challenges section I've always just taken as an extended apology for the Skill Challenge mechanic, which (IMO) remains fairly dire even after column after column of advice on using it. Someone else might be getting value out of it, though. The adventures, by contrast, are excellent, and while there's frequent typos and missing content it's on average vastly better than any of the published modules (particularly the H series), it's generally extremely easy to insert into established campaigns or existing adventures, and it contains a lot of good "how to" examples for doing certain kinds of scenarios yourself. (A personal favourite is the Frozen Tower adventure which offered advice on customising monsters, doing outdoor navigation skill challenges, and inserting weather and environmental effects into an adventure.)
#3 calronmoonflower May 20, 2009 23:34:10	Here's a link to the D&DI area of the forum: http://forums.gleemax.com/forumdisplay.php?f=708 Alternately you could scroll down on the main D&D forum.
#4 Simonides May 21, 2009 0:18:37	The Ruling Skill Challenges section I've always just taken as an extended apology for the Skill Challenge mechanic, which (IMO) remains fairly dire even after column after column of advice on using it. Someone else might be getting value out of it, though. I am going to respectfully disagree here. While I agree that the treatment of skill challenges in the DMG does deserve an apology and the math was (and still is) a bit off, I have had a good deal of success using the Ruling Skill Challenges articles and using Skill Challenges in general to spice up the game.
#5 gregt_314 May 21, 2009 0:19:13	I am going to respectfully disagree here. While I agree that the treatment of skill challenges in the DMG does deserve an apology and the math was (and still is) a bit off, I have had a good deal of success using the Ruling Skill Challenges articles and using Skill Challenges in general to spice up the game. Fantastic! I guess that's why magazines have a range of content; everyone finds something the like!
#6 Artifact May 21, 2009 10:55:35	I'm enjoying the Greenbier campaign that James Wyatt is fleshing out in the Dungeoncraft articles. Following along with what's going through his head as the campaign develops is interesting. The early articles had some excellent advice for campaign building. I'm hoping that when all is said and done that we might even see a Greenbrier adventure or two in Dungeon (maybe something he's ran for the group). I'm with JL in that I think a lot of this sort of stuff gets overlooked pretty easily. (Heck, I've had a thread on 'favorite articles' that no one's even looked at in at least two days-- busy place over there on the Dragon/Dungeon general boards ;).
#7 gwynn_dup May 23, 2009 16:07:08	I like the Dungeoncraft articles, and I found all kinds of useful hints and angles in there that I didn't give proper thought before. Although they do reference older adventures a bit too much (adventures that I don't know, although the article gives a general idea of what they are about).
#8 gregt_314 May 25, 2009 3:27:24	I think the issue with discussing Dungeon content is that it's hard to meaningfully critique an adventure until you've played it - and even if you start them the day they're published it's still typically four to six sessions before you're done (anywhere from a month to six months depending on how often and how long you play).