Rule of the Dice

Awesome Pic of the Week

2009-11-11T07:00:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately I don't remember where I found this picture or who the artist is. I am pretty sure it comes from DigitalArt.org but I can't say for certain. I think its a great piece and an inspiring looking place for adventures in game. I just imagine the PC's entering a lost kingdom high in the mountains full of dark secrets and powerful magic. It also reminds me of Hyberborea from Conan the

The Whiner at the Table

2009-11-10T07:00:00.005-05:00

In my years of gaming I've dealt with rules lawyers, power gamers, mix/maxers and almost every RPG stereotype. But in my opinion the worst, most irritating and contentious player is the whiner. A whiner is never satisfied. When their PC is is in the spotlight, they complain they that the spotlights too bright, and when they're not in the spotlight they complain that they can't see. In they're

To Dave, Phil, Graham and Danny... Thanks for creating the RPGBN

2009-10-22T07:30:00.003-04:00

I don't know any of you guys beyond the words on your blogs, but I wish I did - because, after all the shit you've put up with over the last little while I would take all of you out for a beer and some good food. Thanks for creating the RPGBN and through it introducing me to so many blogs that I never would have known about. Thanks for making my blogging life better, easier and more fun. So

Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon

2009-10-15T07:00:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't had your dose of 80's cartoon cheesiness you can watch every Dungeons and Dragons cartoon episode here. Don't watch them all at once or you'll go blind from consuming so much cheese.

The Gender Swap

2009-10-14T07:00:00.014-04:00

I was reading this post over at Critical Hits about gaming women. As I was scanning the comments I noticed a few people stating that although they didn't game with women, the men in their groups would often play women. In my twenty eight years of gaming, I have gamed with men and women, both straight and gay and no one has ever played their opposite gender. So I have to ask, does gender swapping

Awesome Pic of the Week

2009-10-13T07:00:00.006-04:00

This weeks picture comes from artist John Howe. He is best known for his Tolkien art, but his other works are pretty awesome as well. His depictions of Middle Earth are some of my all time favorites. I find his vision of Tolkien's world somewhat darker than most artists, which is probably what I like most. This is one of my favorite pictures of his, and also the current desktop picture on my

Have your PC's suffered enough?

2009-10-12T07:00:00.065-04:00

Suffering follows a hero like stink follows a Stench Kow. If you take a look at almost any hero from mythology you have the immediate realization that being a "hero", or for that matter anyone of consequence in history is a pretty shit deal. Not only are there terrible responsibilities and grave decisions to be made, but almost everyone you will ever meet is probably dependent on you in some way

The Top Ten Ways to Know Your Campaign Sucks

2009-10-11T08:00:00.001-04:00

The RPG top ten for this week is... The Top Ten Ways to Know Your Campaign Sucks 10) Everyone meets in a tavern. 9) A dark robed man enters the tavern looking for "adventurers". 8) There's a fight in the tavern. Because every fantasy world has all of its taverns filled to the brim with mercenaries, thieves and assholes just looking to fight anyone who happens to be around, regardless of the

Is This A Good Idea - Part II

2009-10-10T12:00:00.004-04:00

I have been working on the outline for a new campaign world and I will have the first drafts ready in about two weeks. I would like to thank Zzarchov, Tyler and seaofstarsrpg for their comments from my previous post. They helped a lot in gaining some perspective on a somewhat muddled idea. I am looking for people to collaborate with on this project. I have plans to publish it, and already

A Brand New Rule Of The Dice

2009-10-10T00:08:00.004-04:00

I finally got around to updating the site. I was never really satisfied with any of its previous incarnations, I found them, well, kinda ugly. Not that aesthetics should take away from content, but a nice design certainly makes for a more enjoyable writing and viewing experience. Man, I sound like an interior designer, which is only half as bad as a graphic designer, which I actually am, and is

Is this a good idea?

2009-09-09T07:00:00.002-04:00

I've had an idea for a campaign world floating around in my head for the better part of ten years. Its an idea thats always there but as soon as I get close I start to get uneasy about it. You see, this idea is out of my usual pulp sword and sorcery genre and that is disconcerting to me. For some reason as much as I want create it, I just chicken out. Here is the basic idea: Add 1 part

Viking Dad - Some Shameless Self Promotion

2009-09-08T00:00:00.002-04:00

I debated whether to post this, and then I figured what the hell. Most of the rpg bloggers and readers will probably get a kick out of this. You see, for the better part of a year I have been working on a comedy web video project... about a viking... dad. It all started last summer at my friends cottage. We had been drinking, which is a standard cottage endeavor as everyone knows. Well the

Awesome Pic of the Week

2009-07-17T00:06:00.003-04:00

This weeks picture is by one of my favorite artists Justin Sweet. His style is a similar to Frank Frazetta (like almost every fantasy artist) but he has a unique coloring and line style that is very striking. From what I know he works a lot on the computer using Corel Painter for illustration as well as traditional mediums. He has done the art for several video games including the old Icewind

How Lost Can Make You A Better Gamemaster

2009-06-12T00:00:00.009-04:00

I thought I would hate it, I thought it would suck, but in the end I gave in and started watching Lost. I usually completely disregard the TV advice of my fellow geek friends, especially after they recommended that I watch the new Battlestar Galactica, which I hated every minute of with a smoldering dragonfire like hatred. So when they started recommending Lost I didn't listen. I didn't listen

I've been away but I'm coming back...

2009-05-08T12:24:00.004-04:00

I've been away for a while but I am coming back. Even though I've been very busy I have had time to get in some good gaming, here's what I've been up to; 1) I've started a campaign in a world that I've been working on for the better part of two years. More to come on this later. 2) I've worked very hard trying to introduce my new world to the players in a dramatic and fun way, and I've been

Out & About

2009-03-08T00:00:00.010-05:00

I finally got some time to sit down and catch up on my blog reading. I haven't been out and about the RPG Bloglands for some time, its nice to see that everything is still as good as ever. There's an Open Game Table Logo contest at The Core Mechanic. Also at The Core Mechanic, it looks like Open Game Table recently hooked up with Indie Press Revolution. If your interested in a first impression

New Featured Posts

2009-03-05T00:00:00.002-05:00

I have several new feature post ideas that I am going to implement here at Rule of the Dice. They are going to cover the a wide variety of homebrew gaming topics and interests. If you have any ideas for posts, would like to write a guest post or would like to have any of your homebrewed gaming products featured send me an email at jack@ruleofthedice.com. The new feature posts are: Worlds of

The Godfather of Gaming

2009-03-04T00:05:00.004-05:00

One year ago today we lost the godfather of gaming, Gary Gygax. On this day lets all pause to remember the impact and incredible inspiration his creation has had on our lives and the lives of millions of others all around the world. Get out those old school books and game.

How I play the game

2009-02-28T00:41:00.003-05:00

This is a re posting. I am still too busy to do a real post, but someday soon real life will no longer interfere with my blogging life. I wrote this post originally as my first post for the RPG Bloggers network and then foolishly backdated it by accident, so I'm pretty sure a lot of people haven't read it. The post sums my play style and general philosophy of role playing. To me, world and

Awesome Pic of the Week

2009-02-22T01:33:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, my real life has been busy so of course my blogging life has suffered. I should be back to blogging sometime this week with new posts on a regular basis and a few new features. This weeks awesome picture comes from the master himself, Frank Frazetta, arguably the best fantasy/science fiction artist of all time. If you are unaware of Franks art, and it is almost

Top Ten Ways to Know if You’re an Old School Gamer

2009-02-11T01:14:00.007-05:00

I am preparing several new posts for the site and they will be up in a few days. In the meantime, just for fun I am re-posting the first post I wrote here at rule of the dice. Just so everyone knows, I am an old school gamer who started with OD&D and I still love a good old school megadungeon from time to time. This is just for fun, if you happen to take offense to it you can go here instead.

New Site, New Focus

2009-02-07T08:35:00.006-05:00

If you've visited the site before you will notice that it has been completely redesigned, for the better I feel. Along with the site redesign I am changing the focus, or more precisely, giving a focus to Rule of the Dice. From this point on the sites primary focus is going to be homebrew gaming. Building campaign worlds and awesome adventures are what I love most about role playing and I want to

Conspiracy Theories are Great... For Your Game

2009-02-05T06:34:00.005-05:00

If you talk about alien abductions, shape changing pan dimensional beings and the secret cabal of the Illuminati in real life you probably need a psychiatrist. In real life conspiracy theories are ridiculous, but for role playing games they're great. Using conspiracies in a game add depth and a sense of mystery to a campaign. Imagine playing a modern game where the Illuminati were the sinister

Down and dirty NPC creation

2009-02-04T10:49:00.002-05:00

Lets face it most NPC's are fodder for the hero machine. You will be lucky if your players remember your NPC names, let alone the details of their lives and interests. So because of this I find it best to create as little as possible in the beginning and fill in the details as you go. I call this down and dirty NPC creation and its served me well for years. Before you even start creating an NPC

Awesome Pic of the Week

2009-02-03T07:55:00.004-05:00

This weeks awesome pick of the week is from a warhammer concept drawing. I don't know the name of the artist but its from the wild elves concept art on the Games Workshop site. Warhammer has some of the coolest art in gaming, I might even be so bold as to say they might have the best art in gaming. The art is dark and really portrays a gritty world, and if you've ever played the Warhammer RPG