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# A Walk in the Dark

A look in to the mind of an RPG designer

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Hacking an AI Chat Bot (Part Three)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2025/04/28/hacking-an-ai-chat-bot-part-three/) - Part Three in my exploration of AI chat bots... now getting into the actual storytelling and RPG aspects of them.
- [Hacking an AI Chat Bot (Part One)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2025/04/27/hacking-an-ai-chat-bot-part-one/) - Part One of an exploration into AI chat bots, and how they handle storytelling and roleplaying.
- [Hacking an AI Chat Bot (Part Two)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2025/04/28/hacking-an-ai-chat-bot-part-two/) - Part Two of an exploration into AI chat bots.
- [In Response to Threat of Arrest](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2022/07/01/in-response-to-threat-of-arrest/) - I know I haven't posted here in a while, but something came up that required me to respond. You see, this morning I was threatened with felony arrest by George Jones, creator of Crom: Unchained Now I bet you're asking... "Who?!?" Well, that's complicated. You see, the blog in question was originally maintained by a
- [Offline 4E Dice Calculator](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/06/11/offline-4e-dice-calculator/) - For a while I've been using Sly Flourish's online 4E Dice Calculator for all my campaigns; it's quick and easy and I find it better to use than looking up the entries on a PDF and doing the math to adjust the die sizes. But recently - primarily due to that fact that I'm over
- [Everything Is Better With Tentacles - Planning](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2021/07/25/everything-is-better-with-tentacles-planning/) - Several months ago, this happened... At the time I considered it kind of a joke response, but then I thought about it... I mean, let's face it: if I saw a title on DTRPG or the DM's Guild with the title Everything Is Better With Tentacles, I and many others would probably buy it on
- [The Fonts of D&D 5th Edition](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/11/24/the-fonts-of-dd-5th-edition/) - Since I posted this on Twitter, I thought I would expand on it. As a publisher, one of the things I always have to keep in mind is that my product's design and layout should be reasonably close to the official products while being very clear that it's not actually an official product. Although my
- [A New Year](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2019/01/01/a-new-year/) - Holy hell, has it really been ten months since I've posted on this site? I gotta start remembering this thing exists.
- [Atomic Age - Dice Mechanic](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2019/08/25/atomic-age-dice-mechanic/) - Atomic Age Design Discussion #1: How To Choose a Dice Mechanic
- [Hey, GenCon People... Please Read This](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2020/01/26/hey-gencon-people-please-read-this/) - Hey, GenCon admin people... you and me had a problem last year. Let's not go through that again, K?
- [We Have Switched Hosts!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2020/12/14/we-have-switched-hosts/) - God, I haven't posted in nearly a year... and this is the only thing I can come up with?!? I've been meaning to move away from GoDaddy for some time now, and now I'm about 80% along the way to do it. I have more admin control now, but with that does come some risk
- [A New Beginning](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2019/08/13/new-beginning/) - I'm making a new RPG system! Crazy, right?
- [Ken Whitman Responds to KODTLAS Release](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2018/02/14/ken-whitman-responds-to-kodtlas-release/) - This may seem like an odd thing to appear here, so I think it requires a bit of an explanation... If you're a reader of this blog or a follower of mine, odds are you know who Ken Whitman is. Let's just say that he is one of the most talked about people in the
- [Zoinks!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2018/01/27/zoinks/) - In case you are not aware, we're running a Kickstarter for the 5th Edition conversion of our ENnie-nominated adventure A Night in Seyvoth Manor that is already 300% funded! We continue to be overwhelmed... Over 300% funded?!? Never imagined we would get that far, and we're eternally grateful for that! The only stretch goal we've
- [D&D Beyond - First Impressions](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2017/03/20/dnd-beyond-first-impressions/) - So the day has come... D&D Beyond open beta has begun, so I decided to take a look. First off, I'm looking at this strictly as (1) a software developer and architect, and as (2) someone who would actually use this thing. Without any mention of possible pricing, I can't say yet whether it's worth
- [WotC Announces Digital Tools... AGAIN.](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2017/03/13/wotc-announces-digital-tools-again/) - ***SHAMELESS PLUG*** Cavern of the Damned is now available for Pathfinder (through DriveThruRPG) and for Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition (through the DM's Guild)! God, has it been *that* long since I posted anything here? My year has been kind of chaotic, to say the least... but leave it to Wizards of the Coast to
- [The Reality of the DM's Guild](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2016/04/29/the-reality-of-the-dms-guild/) - In case you're not aware, our first Kickstarter for The Coming Dark, Chapter One: Into the Light has finally launched on Kickstarter. Initially, based on the information we had from the past, we intended to release it through the DM's Guild. That reasoning is based on WotC's (Mike Mearls, specifically) response to my question in
- [The Sum of All Fears](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2016/04/21/the-sum-of-all-fears/) - As several of you may know, I've had a little project of mine - the campaign The Coming Dark - in development for quite some time. Almost five years, to be precise... it's technically the reason this blog exists. Over a year ago I decided that I was going to launch The Coming Dark, Chapter
- [Size Matters](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2016/01/17/size-matters/) - The recent announcements of the 5th Edition SRD/OGL and the DM's Guild has got me really excited, and I've begun to look back on a large "incomplete"/"shelved" folder I have on m external hard drive. There's a lot of things there that I don't even remember doing, but one thing stands out: the Revenge of
- [Hell Freezes Over](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2016/01/12/hell-freezes-over/) - Well it finally happened... WotC has released the 5th Edition SRD, officially putting 5E within the bounds of the OGL and, at the same time, announced the DM's Guild. I admit I wasn't sure if this day would come. Lord knows I've been harping over it since 5E was released (and, arguably, before that), and
- [Into the Light](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2015/09/20/into-the-light/) - I've been talking about this for a long time... Hell, the actual product has been in development for five years... But now I'm finally going to do it for real. My #1 pet project, my three part campaign called The Coming Dark, is *finally* going to go to Kickstarter. Like I said, I've been writing
- [Trapdoor Technologies : They're baaaaack!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2015/08/24/trapdoor-technologies-theyre-baaaaack/) - One of the most frustrating things about freelance writing and publishing is that sometimes you're really excited about a product that you put together... and you can't tell anyone about it. This has been my torment for the last two months. Some of you remember Trapdoor Technologies and the ups and downs they had with
- [Some 5th Edition Monsters](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2015/07/26/some-5th-edition-monsters/) - I've been recently re-tooling my campaign "The Coming Dark" with the hopes that I would launch a Kickstarter for it in the very near future. One of the sections that I've completely rewritten is a scene where a bunch of drow would occupy a keep on the way to your primary objective. Although drow are
- ["Revenge of the Kobolds" is out!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2015/06/18/revenge-of-the-kobolds-2/) - After languishing in a self-imposed "development hell" that lasted about two years, my pride and joy... Revenge of the Kobolds... is finally released! FOR FREE! The product is made even more awesome through the cover art by Val "Kick Girl" Hochberg! Now, if WotC would get their act together and release a 5th Edition license
- [Did you know that there's a Dungeons and Dragons slot machine?](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2015/04/09/did-you-know-that-theres-a-dungeons-and-dragons-slot-machine/) - DISCLAIMER: Company names and external links on all external communications have been omitted from this article. Proper names of individuals have been changed to protect them. That title might sound completely unlike anything I've ever written on this site... and you're right, because I didn't write it. Several weeks ago I got contacted by a
- [In Defense of Morningstar](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/12/07/in-defense-of-morningstar/) - In case you're not aware, the project formerly known as DungeonScape has re-launched on Kickstarter as "Codename: Morningstar". Now I haven't talked a whole lot about the product, and in the past I admit I have been a little critical of it at times, but I wanted to put in a few words about it
- [The Cavern of the Damned](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/10/03/the-cavern-of-the-damned/) - [Preliminary Intro - Subject to change!] As you slowly open your eyes the world seems out of focus. The room dips and sways sharply as you raise yourself up off the ground, your arms shaking under the weight of your own body. As the blur twists and bends in reaction to your ear-splitting headache, you
- [Math Makes Brain Hurt](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/09/22/math-makes-brain-hurt/) - Over the weekend I acquired the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Monster Manual... which I desperately needed for my conversion of "The Coming Dark, Chapter One" to 5th Edition. I have to say, even if you aren't a DM, I highly recommend you get your hands on it. It's a beautiful book and is chock
- [The 11th Skeleton](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/08/09/the-11th-skeleton/) - With the release of the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Starter Kit and Player's Handbook, I have decided to convert my long languishing adventure "The Coming Dark" to 5E. But, unlike other publishers who will remain nameless, I am not going to rush it out there, and no one's going to see a thing about
- [To Crunch or Not To Crunch](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/07/05/to-crunch-or-not-to-crunch/) - Development has continued on the Atomic Age RPG... Granted, not as fast I would like due to personal and "real life" issues (how awesome would gaming be if we didn't have to do things like, you know, pay rent and eat food!) but it's moving along. This past week I've been focusing on two things:
- [A Developer's Hell](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/06/04/a-developers-hell/) - Gosh, it's been a while... To say my life has been hectic, or difficult, is somewhat of an understatement. So much so that I have had to effectively cancel my trip to GenCon this year because I see no way whatsoever that it can be logistically or financially possible. So, to those of you that
- [A Place In The World](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/03/30/a-place-in-the-world/) - Gosh, it's been a while. Saying "I've been rather busy" is somewhat of an understatement. As of late I've been having a but of a problem in the development of the Atomic Age RPG: I'm not exactly sure what the RPG is meant to be, in a manner of speaking. You see, when I first
- [Atomic Age Preview: The Vorpal Rabbit](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2014/02/02/atomic-age-preview-the-vorpal-rabbit/) - In case you aren't aware, my pet project - the post-apocalyptic treatment of 13th Age's Archmage Engine SRD - has a name now: Atomic Age. We have a website and a Twitter account, but I'm not exactly advertising yet because I don't have appropriate branding for it. I want a logo and a few creative
- [Future Plans](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/12/02/future-plans/) - So although there is still a metric crapload of stuff to be done for my new project, I can't help but think of what I'm doing to do with it. First off, a Kickstarter is probably a definite at this point, but that notion terrifies me more than you can possibly know. I've heard the
- [On The Road (Part 3)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/27/on-the-road-part-3/) - Hopefully this will be the last of my series talking about the theory behind vehicle mechanics. If you're not up to speed, here is part one and part two. Hardpoints In the post-apocalyptic age, sometimes just having an average car isn't enough. You need to... how should we say... accessorize it. Depending on the vehicle
- [On The Road (Part 2)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/23/on-the-road-part-2/) - This is a continuation of yesterday's post in which I babble on about implementing vehicles in 13th Age. Maneuverability and Skill, Revisited In the three examples I provided - the motorcycle, the car and the 18-wheeler - the maneuverability and skill levels were equal, which seem to imply that there really isn't a need to
- [On The Road (Part 1)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/21/on-the-road-part-1/) - As part of this little project of mine, I've been trying to think of what additional rules I may need to introduce. I'm doing that rather hesitantly simply because piling on more rules go against the very nature of the 13th Age design methodology. It's made to be "rules light", or at least in such
- [Class Acts](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/16/class-acts/) - Who knew that designing an RPG was HARD?!? In the past few days I've stepped away from documenting mutations, augments and other weird stuff and tried to decide exactly what classes were going to be in this thing. This is, this is not a magical world, or at least not in the way you're familiar
- [One Unique Mutant](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/12/one-unique-mutant/) - So in light of my last post regarding mutations, I've been doing some thinking. A Step Back Before I proceed with the full on development of this project, I had to stop and think of what exactly my goals are. I have a general vision, and I have the game mechanics to do it, but
- [A Mutant's Life](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/10/a-mutants-life/) - In case you haven't heard, I'm working on a new project. I'm bringing the apocalypse to the Archmage Engine! Although I have a mental image for what I want this project to be, I've been curious as to what everyone else wants it to be. So I've been doing some research, acquiring rulebooks and reference
- [The Archmage Beckons](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/11/08/the-archmage-beckons/) - A long time ago I did some content for a certain game system who, for reasons you may already know, will remain nameless. I was rather enthusiastic about that game system/campaign setting, but I was denied the option of using it to publish content. But I really liked what that game system brought to the
- [Traps in 13th Age](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/09/28/traps-in-13th-age/) - As I think I've mentioned before, I've fallen in love with 13th Age... so much so that I have decided to convert my uber-campaign The Coming Dark entirely from Pathfinder to 13th Age. It's somewhat of a daunting task; in retrospect, I probably should just have written it from scratch, simply because that several design
- [13th Age Icons in Vector Format](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/08/31/13th-age-icons-in-vector-format/) - Like I did with the D&D 4th Edition pantheon of gods, I have decided to go ahead and redraw each one of the 13 icons in 13th Age... Some of them were fairly easy to do, but the Wyrm and the Crusader were complex as all hell. Nonetheless, there you are. For now I am
- [A New Age](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/08/31/a-new-age/) - Recently I was introduced to 13th Age via a Google Hangout play session hosted by Aaron R. (@WolfSamurai on Twitter). You can read more about him and his campaign HERE on Obsidian Portal. If I was only allowed to say one thing about 13th Age is that the ruleset has the amazing ability to win
- [Discipline Magic](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/08/09/discipline-magic/) - NOTE: This is a brain dump. I admit I don't have all the final details on this. Yesterday I had an idea for a new magic system, so I found myself writing up some of the basics at around 3am. The reason for the new mechanism is the way that I see the current world
- [Going Primeval](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/07/25/going-primeval/) - This past week has been... "interesting"... to say the least. First of all, if you have yet to vote on the 2013 ENnie Awards I highly encourage you to do so. And, while you're at it, throw a vote or two for me and Darklight Interactive, who are nominated in two categories: Best Free Product:
- [Long Overdue Update](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/07/16/long-overdue-update/) - Gosh, has it really been over three months since my last post? Well, suffice to say that things have been somewhat hectic. I started a new job on April 1st and my work schedule has changed radically, so I usually get home extremely tired and not thinking about blogging. But I will hopefully get back
- [The Day After](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/04/02/the-day-after/) - Happy Post-April Fools Day everyone! Time for an explanation... On April 1st 2001, while I was actively developing The Opera, a total conversion for Half-Life, I launched an "Opera Pre-Alpha", which is actually still visible and downloadable HERE through the Internet Archive (amazing... the ZIP file is still there to download!). You can read the
- [DLI Acquires DnD Next Video Game License](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/04/01/dli-acquires-dnd-next-video-game-license/) - If you've been following this blog, you know that we have had our fair share of communication with the legal department over at Wizards of the Coast, and as a result we have not only learned a great deal of what we can and cannot do as far as licensing but we have been able
- [Neverwinter: A Review](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/03/25/neverwinter-a-review/) - Before I continue, I need to state a disclaimer: 1) I don't remember the last time I wrote a review about anything. So this may not be the most perfect of reviews; it's more of a brain dump, if you will. 2) I have never played World of Warcraft. My recent MMORPG experience is only
- [The Kobolds are Coming!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/03/13/the-kobolds-are-coming/) - Today I decided to try and get Revenge of the Kobolds finally out the door. It's been sitting on my drive for some time, and I think it's time it get some air and some feedback on whether the mechanic I put together actually works. Here is the intro: For as long as you
- [As Seen In Dragon Magazine...](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/03/02/as-seen-in-dragon-magazine/) - Yesterday the Table of Contents for Dragon Magazine #421 was finally published, and it contains somewhat of a surprise: my co-authored article is finally going to see the light of day! ...and I don't quite know how I feel about that now. The article was written over a year ago (my source file has the
- [A Night in Seyvoth Manor](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/02/17/a-night-in-seyvoth-manor/) - So thanks to some really useful feedback from my editors, I have decided to release A Night in Seyvoth Manor for Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition! And, like I promised, I'm releasing it ABSOLUTELY FREE! Here's the intro... Few people in the village of Ravenshire spoke of the manor atop the hill to the north,
- [The Needs of the Many](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/01/20/the-needs-of-the-many/) - Sometimes I think I make a really bad business owner. I admit that I don't do all this adventure design for the money. Heck, I can't imagine anyone doing this sort of thing for the money. Unless you somehow manage to have a multi-million dollar Kickstarter campaign, it's a hard industry to make a profit
- [Through the Years](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2013/01/01/through-the-years/) - Starting off the new year on the right foot, this blog has been surprisingly selected as Stuffer Shack's "Favorite Site of the Month" for January! I'm not kidding about being surprised... I mean, as of late I've only been posting once or twice a month, and the posts that I have written aren't up for
- [Moving Forward](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/12/12/moving-forward/) - For the past two months, at least from a workload standpoint, I've been living through hell. So much so that I haven't had much a chance to get my two completed products - Revenge of the Kobolds and A Night in Seyvoth Manor - the needed attention to get them ready for publication. I haven't
- [Continuing Education](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/11/27/continuing-education/) - Yesterday I posted about an apparent issue I had with Wizards of the Coast regarding their organized play program. As it turns out the reason I can no longer access my events is because the FLGS changed owners; I haven't been there for a month (been busy moving in to a new home), but although
- [Lack of Education](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/11/26/lack-of-education/) - Seems like Wizards of the Coast *really* doesn't like me... A few weeks ago, on October 31st, I received the following email from Wizards of the Coast through their customer support site. The subject line of the message is - and I'm not making this up - "Education Letter"... 10/31/2012 David Flor [Address Omitted] United
- [The Absent-Minded Alchemist](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/11/14/the-absent-minded-alchemist/) - A couple of months ago some of us had an idea for a special project, but due to our lives getting a little more complicated than we had planned that project has yet to develop. Maybe some day it will, but not now. I had created a short, two encounter side trek/delve for this project,
- [Open Call for Playtesters](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/11/02/open-call-for-playtesters/) - So I was able to successfully "finish" A Night in Seyvoth Manor by Halloween... But you may notice the quotes around the word "finish". The module needs work, lots of it. Editing is the most apparent concern, but beyond that I have genuine concerns over the mechanics of the thing and whether the adventure (1)
- [Feelings of Dread](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/11/01/feelings-of-dread/) - So A Night at Seyvoth Manor is technically complete! My original plan was to make it a release specifically for Halloween, but after a few minor setbacks (personal distractions, as well as one day losing the entire InDesign file to a corrupted drive) it seemed like it was highly unlikely t make it by then.
- [The Mathematics of Fixed Damage](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/10/20/the-mathematics-of-fixed-damage/) - Ever since I conceived the idea for creating A Night in Seyvoth Manor, I've been debating whether to use fixed damage values for the monsters and traps or not. The general consensus is that using fixed damage values speeds up the encounter, primarily because mathematics becomes simpler. You don't have to read a handful of
- [Maze of Possibilities](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/10/16/maze-of-possibilities/) - There is one part of A Night in Seyvoth Manor that I've been having problems designing for a while: a hedge maze. You see, this maze is intended to be huge with changing walls and paths, so that aspect alone makes it virtually impossible to represent on a tactical map. Not to mention that navigating
- [Design Considerations for Seyvoth Manor](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/10/15/design-considerations-for-seyvoth-manor/) - So development continues on A Night in Seyvoth Manor... I'm not 100% sure if it'll be ready by Halloween but I'm doing my damnest to get it done in time. And the first release will probably be for 4E only; I can't imagine myself having the time to convert it to other game systems before
- [Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/10/12/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/) - Even though "Revenge of the Kobolds" is still in development (Kickstarter launch pending, and due to other financial obligations I can't officially hire my artist yet), I had the strong urge to do something special for Halloween. So I've decided to create an arguably short adventure that could theoretically be run in a single day,
- [The Off Pitch](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/10/01/the-off-pitch/) - The time is upon us once again: a new submission window has just started for Wizards of the Coast and DDI! And... and... I'm drawing a blank here. The Thrill of Victory Now I know how some of you think because I'm in a similar boat: getting something published in Dragon or Dungeon magazine would
- [Revenge of the Kobolds](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/08/21/revenge-of-the-kobolds/) - I've mentioned this "challenge" adventure I've been working on before, but now it's time to be official about it. I haven't officially chosen a title for it (I'm not fond of the above title), but this adventure is similar in concept of the traditional Lair Assault adventures by Wizards of the Coast. But there is
- [Go For the Eyes!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/08/17/go-for-the-eyes/) - You know, I can't resist a good blog carnival. When I saw the "Classics Return" blog carnival over at Daily Encounter, I wondered what to do for it. Quite honestly I don't remember much of the classics, at least at enough of a capacity to do them justice. And I can't re-do a classic adventure
- [New Dice-Related Tools](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/08/11/new-dice-related-tools/) - I've recently been working a bit on some tools I us to make my life easier, so I thought I'd share them. Both of the following apps are for Microsoft Windows and require the .NET Framework (as I write this I don't remember if it's 2.0 or 3.5). They are standalone EXEs that are fairly
- [Light and Dark Fonts](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/08/09/light-and-dark-fonts/) - It's been over a month since I posted? Gosh, I've been busy... Sorry. A long time ago, for an alternate reality game that... well... failed miserably, I created two custom font sets. I actually used these two fonts in "trailhead" packages to start the game, writing the entire sender's address label in the corresponding font.
- [In the Works](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/06/28/in-the-works-2/) - I can't help it... I have more and more ideas popping in to my head, and part of me really wants to write them up in a module but there's another part of me that questions what edition to do it for. After all, some would argue that 4E is on its last breath, but
- [The Shotgun Approach](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/06/19/the-shotgun-approach/) - WARNING: THis post might ramble on a lot for little purpose. Read at your own risk. For the most part, I've been reserving a lot of opinions I may have about "DnD Next" and trying not to actively engage those people who choose to complain about it at the top of their lungs. Doing the
- [Kickstarter... Or Not](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/06/18/kickstarter-or-not/) - I have a lot of thoughts and ideas that are constantly rolling around in my head, and if the average day contained more than 24 hours I would most probably put them down on paper and publish them for the world to enjoy. But there's always one thing about my publications that makes me somewhat
- [DND Next: The Pseudo-Ranger](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/06/08/dnd-next-the-pseudo-ranger/) - As the result of a write-up of the ranger "design goals" on the Wizards of the Coast website, there has been a lot of discussion of what a ranger is and what it should be. I figured I'd chime in with an opinion because rangers are the second most common class I play (the first
- [David and Goliath](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/05/30/david-and-goliath/) - On Twitter somebody - I don't remember who - said that if a lone fighter went up against a lone goblin it would be "impossible" for a goblin to survive. But the mathematician in me has a hard time with the word "impossible", so I figured I'd actually do the math and figure out what
- [The Next Iteration, Part One](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/05/29/the-next-iteration-part-one/) - DISCLAIMER: Although I am signed up to the playtest and have the materials, due to lack of availability of a local group and the legal restrictions to playing it online I haven't actually put these rules in to practice. All I can do is analyze what is given and perhaps do some mathematical experimentation. Some
- [May of the Dead: Death's Edge](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/05/27/may-of-the-dead-deaths-edge/) - As part of the May of the Dead blog carnival, I decided to do something similar to what I did with the Winter is Coming carnival: create yet another adventure module! This adventure is significantly smaller in scope than my earlier publications, but it's just getting started. It's a very short (5 scenes) level 0
- [May of the Dead: The Reanimated](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/05/21/may-of-the-dead-the-reanimated/) - My big surprise, if you will, for the May of the Dead blog carnival is scheduled to be published in about a week, but I figured I'd do something unscheduled and show off a bit of a teaser that's still appropriate for the event. The following is an excerpt from a campaign currently in development.
- [Status Update](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/05/17/status-update/) - It's been almost three weeks since my last post, so I figured it was time to give everyone a status update. If you're not aware, on April 27th my mother passed away. I can't say it was unexpected - she had been dealing with a fair share of health issues and she hadn't been the
- [The Heart of Fire](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/25/the-heart-of-fire-2/) - We are pleased to announce the release of The Heart of Fire, our next major adventure/campaign for Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition! Here is a brief synopsis: Over a century ago, the nation of Cerra was terrorized by Vulkanon, a fearsome dragon that rose out from an active volcano on a small neighboring island.
- [The DnD Pantheon](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/15/the-dnd-pantheon/) - Yesterday I was in a strange mood, so I decided to try and practice a little with my non-"drag clip art around" skills in Fireworks and Illustrator. I'm trying to expand my skills, get some more practice in drawing and in raw vector manipulation, so my maps and such can be a little more robust
- [Dreams of a Byline](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/13/dreams-of-a-byline/) - We are currently about a fourth of the way through a submission window for Dungeon and Dragon magazines (DDI, for short). But early in the cycle a discussion cropped up on Twitter about why people want to be published in DDI in the first place, and why those same people just forget DDI and publish
- [The Blink Dog](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/07/the-blink-dog/) - Earlier today, someone joked on Twitter that "the new edition of D&D better have blink dogs!" Prior to that post, I had never realized that the blink dog didn't exist in D&D 4E. Of course I remember it, and I've actually used it on more than one occasion. In 4E I actually created a similar
- [In the Works](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/06/in-the-works/) - First off, I now see why D&D wasn't to keen on my "Drizzt for President" items... Today they announced Rise of the Underdark at PAX East. Amongst the items they were giving out there was a "Lolth 2012" button. My timing is impeccable, isn't it? Anyway, whereas a few days ago I had zero ideas
- [Drizzt for President (Or Not)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/02/drizzt-for-president-or-not/) - Two posts in a day!!! That's unheard of!!! So I created the image you kind of see to the right: a "Drizzt Do'Urden for President" image that I intended to make decals, bumper stickers and even a political yard sign out of thanks to CafePress. I even considered making it an undisclosed reward in
- [World of Fools](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/04/02/world-of-fools/) - Even though I have sometimes participated in the antics, I really hate April Fools day. It's the sort of day when I should disconnect from everything and just crawl in to a closet, refusing to come out until 12:01am. I almost accomplished that today - went with the family to the beach - but I
- [A Hero's Journey](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/03/12/a-heros-journey/) - So I've sent The Heart of Fire to a few people who volunteered to edit it; I haven't heard from them in a few days, so either I've stupified them with my awesome writing or my writing is soi abysmal that I compelled them to jump off a bridge. You can never tell with these
- [The Heart of Fire](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/03/03/the-heart-of-fire/) - It's been two weeks since a post, so I figured I'd post something. Yesterday I finished my editing pass on my upcoming Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition mega-adventure The Heart of Fire. I use the term "mega-adventure" loosely; it's 130 pages, which makes it larger than most adventures... but it's not as big as Expedition
- [Compass Rose](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/02/18/compass-rose/) - A few days ago, on a whim, I decided to try and create a custom compass rose for my maps. I have a few available in the clip art I yanked from Campaign Cartographer 3, but I still wanted to have one of my own. Also, it was sort of a challenge to myself. I
- [Disorganized Play](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/02/10/disorganized-play/) - Today I went by my "friendly local gaming store" to see if they'd received the materials for the upcoming D&D Encounters and D&D Lair Assault seasons. They didn't, but that's not the reason for this post. The owner of the store told me that Wizards of the Coast is apparently cracking down on stores. Apparently
- [Fear of Birds](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/02/09/fear-of-birds/) - DISCLAIMER: The below talks a lot about the mechanics in D&D 3.5e. I, as I say below, am not as familiar with 3.5e as most of you so I'm sure I' probably making several errors and incorrect assumptions. I'd really like to know what I'm doing wrong. Recently I had the opportunity to play in
- [Appeasing the Ones Who Matter](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/02/06/appeasing-the-ones-who-matter/) - If you're like me and not yet part of the "D&D Next" (referred to as "DDN" from here on) playtest, in the past week or two you've probably been curious for some information on it. And when you went looking for it, you hopefully found a source of good information (EN World's "D&D 4E Info"
- [Cartographer's Guild Mapping Challenge](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/02/03/cartographers-guild-mapping-challenge/) - A few weeks ago I decided "this was the month I was going to do it," and by "it" I meant participate in the monthly Mapping Challenge posted by Cartographer's Guild. Kind of thankful I didn't think that way last month; it involved making an actual, physical diorama. So today this month's challenge was posted:
- [4th Edition Attack Math](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/01/26/4th-edition-attack-math/) - NOTE #1: Steve Winter has already addressed most of this on his blog, Howling Tower... With charts, no less! Since I couldn't get it out of my mind today, I'm writing this anyway. :) NOTE #2: I have not checked *all* the math, and I'm sure many of you out there who do this kind
- [Calm Before the Storm](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/01/24/calm-before-the-storm/) - At a personal level, I've been having a rather difficult time this past month because of my attempts to recover from what could only be described as a rather expensive holiday. As a result, I look to my alternate sources of income - however small they may be - and somehow hope that they would
- [A Plea to D&D 5th Edition Playtesters](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/01/17/a-plea-to-dd-5th-edition-playtesters/) - I've been a professional computer programmer for close to 30 years, and in that time I've had my share of interaction with testers Quality Assurance. My worst experience with "testers" was when I was doing video game development, both with my Quake II add-on "PainRift" and with my Half-Life total conversion "The Opera". Gamers are
- [The Vortex Bag](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/01/15/the-vortex-bag/) - While I'm editing the rather large campaign The Heart of Fire, I figure I'd share a few of the elements from it that aren't quite spoilers but give a sense of the things I'm trying to do with this module. Let's start off simple with a rather dangerous discovery: what if there was a Bag
- [Pleading the Fifth](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/01/11/pleading-the-fifth/) - If you're reading this blog, odds are you're aware of Wizards of the Coast's announcement that the next edition of Dungeons and Dragons is currently in development. I have refrained from posting about it because I didn't want to take part in all the rampant speculation as to what this version will entail. But one
- [Gamma World Remnants: Accelerator Control Robot Guardian](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2012/01/05/gamma-world-remnants-accelerator-control-robot-guardian/) - In Where Worlds Collide, the party first needs to gain access to the computer systems that seal off the accellerator control room of what was once CERN. The site's AI, known affectionately as C3 (short for the CERN Computing Centre), has started to charge up the accellerator and intends to unlease a miniature black hole
- [Items of Legend](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/12/31/items-of-legend/) - About a month ago I was busy working on my next module, Heart of Fire, when I decided to take a minor diversion and do something different. I chanced across the D&D 3.5e book Weapons of Legacy by Bruce Cordell, Kolja Raven Liquette and Travis Stout... and realized that such a thing didn't exist in
- [Gamma World Remnants: Gammacore Reactor Control](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/12/11/gamma-world-remnants-gammacore-reactor-control/) - I've been wanting to release this for quite some time, just haven't gotten around to it. This was one of the planned areas in my cancelled Gamma World "fourthcore" (or "gammacore", as some have called it) project When Worlds Collide. The whole campaign was meant for a party of about 5th level. In similar style
- [Avoiding the Rails](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/12/07/avoiding-the-rails/) - NOTE: The following post may contain spoilers for the first chapter of my campaign, The Coming Dark. As I've mentioned to a few people recently, I've been somewhat disillusioned with the fist full length campaign I'd created, The Coming Dark. For a while, I wasn't sure why... I thought it was simply "DM burnout", or
- [Contest: Design a Treasure Vault](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/12/04/contest-design-a-treasure-vault/) - I am currently developing another module titled The Heart of Fire. In a style that seems to be somewhat typical of me, it's another big one - 116 pages at current count - but I think this module might actually be more usable because of the way it's designed. It's not a linear path... It's effectively
- [In the Shadow of the Great Dragon](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/11/28/in-the-shadow-of-the-great-dragon/) - Gosh, has it been that long since a post? As of late, my life has been somewhat complicated due to work and "real life", but that's not to say that I'm sitting on my hands doing nothing. Recently I've given a lot of thought to my campaign The Coming Dark, and I'm starting to realize
- [Print Publishing In a Digital Age](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/11/03/print-publishing-in-a-digital-age/) - For the past few weeks, in and around moving from one house to another, I've been working on getting a hardcopy version of "The Endless Winter" up for sale somewhere. Actually, let me clarify that... This all started with my own desire to have a tangible, hardcopy version of something I created that I can
- [Brief Hiatus](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/11/01/brief-hiatus/) - Gosh, has it been that long since a post? I've been in the process of moving in to a new(er) home, and it's been somewhat exhausting work so I have not had the chance to focus on some things I intended to post here. To give you an idea of how busy I am, I
- [Gamma World Remnants: The Love Bus](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/10/18/gamma-world-remnants-the-love-bus/) - The following are exerpts from the cancelled Gamma World module The Fortress of Dr. Neb. You are welcome to use any part or all of the below, but I would appreciate hearing about it if you do! Dr. Neb's Island Fortress After the party deals with the situation in "Site 13", it was time to
- [Mapmaking for the Non-Artist, Part 2](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/10/17/mapmaking-for-the-non-artist-part-2/) - This is a continuation of Mapmaking for the Non-Artist, Part 1. Been so busy that I didn't realize how much time had passed since the last installment. So here ya go with part two! Preface Before I continue, a few of you suggested the obvious thing I should have mentioned in the first post: you
- [Gamma World Remnants: Lepus Maximus](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/10/04/gamma-world-remnants-lepus-maximus/) - When the submission window opened for Dragon and Dungeon magazines, I immediately did the same thing I did the last time: proposed The Fortress of Dr. Neb and Where Worlds Collide as Gamma World adventures/delves. Chris Perkins was thoughtful enough to answer at a greater length than the "we don't want any, thanks" one liner
- [Mapmaking for the Non-Artist, Part 1](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/10/03/mapmaking-for-the-non-artist-part-1/) - This is the first in a series of tutorials on how to create digital maps. Hopefully it will help out those of you that are looking to pretty up their campaigns in some other way than just buying a new stack of tiles. I'm not sure how many parts this is going to be, but
- [The Endless Winter and Upcoming Projects](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/09/30/the-endless-winter-and-upcoming-projects/) - So I have completed and released The Endless Winter through T. W. Wombat's Winter is Coming Blog Festival, apparently to some rave reviews. Many have commented on the professional look of what I put together... I joked about "overdoing" my submission, but quite frankly I wouldn't have it any other way. One the one hand,
- [Winter is Coming](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/09/21/winter-is-coming/) - I have decided to participate in T. W. Wombat's Winter is Coming RPG Blog Festival, in which we all create winter-themed content for D&D and other rulesets. Since I live in Miami, Florida I admit I don't have the level of experience with whatever this "winter" thing everyone keeps talking about is, but I figured
- [Critical Assault](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/09/17/critical-assault/) - Today was an interesting day... I spent almost the entire day at my FLGS, hoping to either run a game or participate in one. Here is my experience... Disorganized Play I was looking forward to the opportunity to DM my first live game in over a decade. I prepared two campaigns: one homegrown and simplistic,
- [Lair Assault and Fourthcore](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/09/11/lair-assault-and-fourthcore/) - Yesterday I had the opportunity to stop by my FLGS and get to know some of the players and DMs there. I also got the first chance to see the new Lair Assault Forge of the Dawn Titan. I was not an active participant because I got there too late and there were too many
- [Welcome To the Wayside Inn](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/27/welcome-to-the-wayside-inn/) - I have been working on getting my Wayside Inn map ready for publication as a map pack. For most people, this is kind of an easy thing, but I'm a bloody perfectionist sometimes... So I completely re-did the map for the third time, this time in 200 DPI so it doesn't look bad in full
- [Is Surrender Always an Option?](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/24/is-surrender-always-an-option/) - In the movies, I don't recall many times where the protagonist asks the "big evil" to surrender and the BBEG says "You have a point. I surrender!" You didn't see Oddjob throw his hands up and capitulate when Bond threatened him with his hat. You didn't see the alien queen assume the fetal position and
- [Complying With the GSL](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/17/complying-with-the-gsl/) - Since I can't even mention the words Gamma World without having to slice off a pound of flesh and mail it to Wizards of the Coast (darn it! I did it again!!! *STAB!!!*), I've decided to focus on my conventional D&D 4e campaign, The Coming Dark. In order to do that, I have to go through
- [The Death of Gamma World Content](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/12/the-death-of-gamma-world-content/) - I finally got a response from Wizards of the Coast's legal representation, and it's not the response I or anyone else wanted to hear. The important information is provided below: Dear Mr. Flor, Thank you for your patience and persistence in this matter. Our letter of July 13, 2011 clearly lays out Wizards' position regarding
- [An Alternative to Player Death](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/11/an-alternative-to-player-death/) - I've run my share of campaigns and, as far as I can remember, I have never had a PC die. Having a PC die is actually a problem for me, because the plot line in my primary campaign kind of demands that the original five players survive (at least until Chapter Three, that is). So
- [The Future of Gamma World](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/09/the-future-of-gamma-world/) - In addition to seeing what it's all about and enjoying the activities, I went to GenCon Indianapolis with one objective: to find out what the deal is with Wizards of the Coast and Gamma World. After four days, I wish I had a answer. I mean, I wasn't expecting a resolution of this whole thing,
- [Game Preparation With Limited Resources](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/02/game-preparation-with-limited-resources/) - About three days ago I decided that I was going to run Fire From the Sky at GenCon, but during these three days I have a boatload of work and other preparations I have to go through before I travel. And, quite frankly, I'm broke. I needed to get ready quickly and at little personal
- [Exclusive GenCon cover!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/08/01/exclusive-gencon-cover/) - For those of you that managed to download Fire From the Sky before it became contraband, I have a special offer! Due to several people asking for it, here is the PDF of ONLY THE COVER to the Fire From the Sky: Contraband Edition printed specially for my running of it at GenCon. NOTE: This
- [Writer's Block](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/07/28/writers-block/) - I've been having a troubling couple of days as of late, but find it necessary to post *something* on here... In the past two or three weeks: I just came off a rather exhausting 10 day vacation, during which we drove from Miami to New York City. As many of you know, I was hit
- [Legal Limbo](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/07/20/legal-limbo/) - I'm in somewhat of an awkward situation. Last week, while I was out of town on vacation, I was hit with a "cease and desist" order preventing me from distributing the Fire From the Sky Gamma World module to anyone. Note that I say "distributing" and not "selling"... As per the C&D, I'm restricted from
- [Cease and Desist](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/07/13/cease-and-desist/) - I'm on vacation right now, so I really didn't need this... I just received a "cease and desist" letter from Wizards of the Coast's legal department that states that my Fire From the Sky Gamma World module "...infringes on Wizards' intellectual property rights..." and "...is an illegal derivative work of Wizards' copyrighted D&D GAMMA WORLD
- [Excess Houseruling](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/07/05/excess-houseruling/) - I don't mind houserules most of the time because there are certain things in the core mechanic that, to me, make no sense, are not covered or may not translate well to the format I normally participate in ("play by post"). I personally have houseruled things like critical hits, tough minions and skill challenge handling
- [A New Beginning](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/28/a-new-beginning/) - Technically this post has nothing to do with D&D. Hope you don't mind. A short time ago, Sersa V at Save Versus Death announced that he will discontinue support of that which we know as "Fourthcore". I admit I've been in that position before, and I can't blame him for feeling the way he does.
- [The World-Ending Bag of Holding](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/26/the-world-ending-bag-of-holding/) - I don't know if I've mentioned it here or not, but when it comes to managing encumbrance in D&D I'm of the school that assumes everyone - even first level characters - has a Bag of Holding. I do not want to worry about the math involved in determining weight, and I refuse to believe
- [Fourthcore/Gamma World concept](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/24/fourthcore-gamma-world-concept/) - When I get an idea in my head, it's really hard to shake it. I'm already working on two modules, so I must be insane to think of a third one. But I can't help it!!! It's my heroic flaw!!! Having been heavily influenced by Save Versus Death's Fourthcore adventures (especially the ultra-secret playtest I
- [The Fortress of Dr. Neb (Teaser 2)](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/20/the-fortress-of-dr-neb-teaser-2/) - (Teaser one, the cover, can be found HERE) He means it!!! He really does!!! He's not kidding around this time!!! You know what's the great thing about creating Gamma World campaigns? Freedom! From beginning to end, the typical Dungeons and Dragons campaign is a series of scenes that flow in to each other in a
- [Creating a Non-Lethal Solo Monster](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/17/creating-a-non-lethal-solo-monster/) - WARNING: This post contains some serious spoilers for the end of Act One of my campaign, The Coming Dark. If you are currently one of my players on the WotC forums, I would prefer you stop reading now. Almost every "solo" monster I've seen in the world of D&D has one specific purpose: kill the
- [The Coming Dark, Chapter One - Campaign Preview](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/15/the-coming-dark-chapter-1-campaign-preview/) - ***WARNING*** If you are one of my players from the Wizard of the Coast forums, this could be some major spoilerage. I trust you to use your judgment when reading this, and if you do I hope you know to put it out of your mind come game time. I've been kicking around the idea
- [The Ubiquitous Sunrod](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/08/the-ubiquitous-sunrod/) - Many posts have been written about the single most common magic item in D&D 4e: the sunrod. Now it's my turn. I was recently writing up the last area in Chapter One of my campaign The Coming Dark, and it involved rain. The atmospheric effects were somewhat inspired by the conditions in and around the
- [The Architectually Unsound Fortress of Evil](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/06/01/the-architectually-unsound-fortress-of-evil/) - While I was attending college at the University of Miami I worked as a lab tech on the School of Architecture's computer lab. While there I had access to all sorts of neat things, such as AutoCAD 10 (it was 1990... Humor me, OK?). Let me clarify that I am not an architect: I'm a
- [Why We Do What We Do](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/25/why-we-do-what-we-do/) - Over ten years ago (god, has it really been that long?!?) I was part of a team called the Redeemed Assassins, creating a "total conversion" for Half-Life called "The Opera". It wasn't an easy time for anyone involved in the group; there was a lot of personal turmoils that made the completion of the game
- [Coming Soon: The Fortress of Dr. Neb](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/21/coming-soon-the-fortress-of-dr-neb/) - I may not have a single encounter written down on paper, but I figured I'd try to make the cover art. So here it is! I've been debating what level to make it, so I figured I'd take it to the next level and start at level 2. That may change, though. This module will
- [Fear of Change](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/17/fear-of-change/) - Not long ago The Id DM posted a great write-up about errata in general - Et tu, Errata? - that discusses the nature of errata without going in to a line by line analysis of the Templar/Cleric changes by Wizards of the Coast. I was going to chime in with an analysis, but I figured
- [Cornering the Gamma World Market](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/17/cornering-the-gamma-world-market/) - I realized something today: I'm a published author! And it wasn't even planned! For the past several months, I've been working on my own personal Citizen Kane (or Waterworld... Time can only tell): a massive Heroic tier campaign for Dungeons and Dragons 4e called The Coming Dark. And when I say "massive", I kind of
- [Hazard/Monster: The Black Obelisk](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/13/hazardmonster-the-black-obelisk/) - WARNING: Possible campaign spoilers. I've recently been having a bit of a mental dilemma with certain traps in my campaign. My previous post talked about a specific hazard that has both positive and detrimental effects, and issues that come up as it relates to forced movement. Now I'm dealing with a solo trap that... well...
- [Hazard: Calming Waters](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/11/hazard-calming-waters/) - WARNING: If you're one of my players, this might contain spoilerific material! I have a bit of a quandary, and figured this was as good a place as any to talk about it... Well, at least here you can speak in blurbs larger than 140 characters anyway. As part of my campaign, I have one
- [Contest Results (Finally)!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/05/06/contest-results-finally/) - First of all, once again I apologize... This has been a hellish month, and had I known that it was going to end up like this I probably would have handled the contest differently. It is my first contest after all. Due to my inability to focus in a time of adversity, I put the
- [Call for Judges](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/29/call-for-judges/) - Due to my current health issues (inner ear inflammation, dizziness and vertigo, foul mood) and a major assignment at work that needs to be completed by Monday, in order to not further delay the choosing of a winner to the contest I am placing an open call out for impartial people to serve as judges.
- [Quick Contest Update](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/27/quick-contest-update/) - Just wanted to let everyone know where things stood on our Heroes of Shadow contest. Since Saturday I myself have been battling with a relapse of inner ear issues I've had since childhood, and as a result I'm getting hit quite often with massive amounts of dizziness and vertigo. So I have not been able
- [Contest and Upcoming Publications](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/25/contest-and-upcoming-publications/) - First off, thanks to everyone who submitted their solo encounters to our Heroes of Shadow contest! As I've stated before, I had chosen to not look at any of the submissions until past the deadline, so now that that's done with I'm going to go through them and try to objectively pick a winner. Will
- [Preview: The Ethereal Bard](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/23/preview-the-ethereal-bard/) - The fiolliowing is an element from Chapter 2 of my campaign, The Coming Dark. If you are one of my players and have not reached Chapter 3, you may not want to read this. D&D 4e has very specific rules on how certain powers affect "allies" and "enemies", but those rules always make the assumption
- [Open Call for DnD-based Monopoly Design Ideas](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/18/open-call-for-dnd-based-monopoly-design-ideas/) - DnD-opoly ...or Dungeonopoly ...or Dragonopoly ...or whatever we decide to call it ...It's time to actually consider it. Today I received another email from Hasbro in which they provided the physical mailing address to their legal department and to the representative that I have to submit the concept to. They are taking this far more
- [The Coming Dark, Chapter One](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/17/the-coming-dark-chapter-one/) - After somewhat of a sleepless night last night (if you follow me on Twitter, you know why. If not, don't ask...), I have decided to buckle down and compile "Chapter One: Homecoming", the first of about eight chapters in my campaign, "The Coming Dark". There's one section to be completed - the conclusion, which would
- [DnD-opoly a Possibility?](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/15/dnd-opoly-a-possibility/) - Sometimes even the most nonsensical of conversations grows in to something quite unexpected. A few days ago, and I don't even remember how the conversation started, we began to joke about a Dungeons and Dragons themed version of Monopoly. After all, both Monopoly and Wizards of the Coast are owned by the same company -
- [Underwhelming Odds](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/14/underwhelming-odds/) - When I first picked up the D&D 4e rulebooks and began designing my campaign, my DMG was opened several times to the "Encounter Level" chart in order to determine what my XP budget was, and I was using that as a basis for all the encounters I put together. After all, this was the sort
- [Contest Winner: Goblins go BOOM!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/11/contest-winner-goblins-go-boom/) - It's no secret that I love minions. They are an easy answer to making an encounter seem like more than it really is. Sometimes just a handful of monsters is dull... I want droves upon droves of enemies coming at them from all sides! And when I don't want them to die so easily I
- [Contest: Win "Heroes of Shadow"!](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/06/contest-win-heroes-of-shadow/) - Having recently won a contest myself, I'm in a charitable mood. So I thought I'd try a little experiment and run a contest of my own. If you're wondering whether you can afford to buy upcoming Wizards of the Coast books like Heroes of Shadow or The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond, well here's your chance
- [Gamma World and the Great Legal Unknown](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/03/gamma-world-and-the-great-legal-unknown/) - I have recently completed a Gamma World "delve" (5 encounters) tentatively titled Fire From the Sky, and am considering making arrangements as far as distribution. Part of me wants to send it to Wizards of the Coast for possible publication in Dragon or Dungeon, not because of the money but because it would be a
- [Critical Effects](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/04/02/critical-effects/) - One of the biggest complaints I had about D&D 4e is that a "critical hit" didn't really mean as much as they use to, and many people that discussed the topic missed the ways it was done in the past. In 4e a "critical" usually means not much more than "max damage", and "max damage"
- [Robot Zombies and Exploding Mushrooms](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/28/robot-zombies-and-exploding-mushrooms/) - No, I'm not talking about a Roger Corman film... This blog is about RPGs, so it has to be none other than Gamma World. It's been a long, long time since I look at Gamma World, but I have to admit that I've been familiar with it all the way back to the first version.
- [Crazy People Need Love Too](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/25/crazy-people-need-love-too/) - Ever since I saw someone post the question on Twitter I've been thinking about it: how would you treat insanity in D&D 4e? In order to consider this concept, I of course had to go to the one true source of all things insane... Call of Cthulhu. If you're not familiar, in CoC you have
- [Utility: New Monster Builder](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/23/utility-new-monster-builder/) - I'm probably going to be a little critical of Wizards of the Coast here... I'm sure they have their reasons for releasing what they did, but I'm seeing it as an impartial observer, a paying customer and a software developer. Most of this post was conceived when it first went Beta, but I didn't have
- [Bioware Read My Mind](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/21/bioware-read-my-mind/) - I've been designing my campaign for quite some time now. Officially, the campaign's been built in the D&D 4e mechanic for about nine months, and before that some of the underlying concepts have existed as part of an alternate reality game that I've been designing for almost two years. A lot of the ideas came
- [Ever Forward](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/18/ever-forward/) - Before I continue with this blog, I thought I'd clarify a little about myself. I am a "gamer" in the traditional sense, and have been involved with game design and game development for close to 25 years. But, as far as D&D goes, I'm somewhat inexperienced when it comes to running a campaign in person...
- [Splitting the Party](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/16/splitting-the-party/) - Everybody says "don't split the party"... Most of the time the reason they give is "bad things will happen", which they inevitably do. The real reason is that it's a potential nightmare when it comes to doing it in a table top session. It doesn't always go over well when you tell half of the
- [Utility: Truly Random Die Rolls](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/12/utility-truly-random-die-rolls/) - I've been a programmer for close to thirty years, and during all that time I've had a nasty habit that I show no sign of getting rid of: if I need a program, I don't spend much time actively looking for it... I just write one! In the online D&D games I was a part
- [Overly Complex Encounters](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/11/overly-complex-encounters/) - "Out of intense complexities intense simplicities emerge" - Winston Churchill Part of my problem designing a D&D 4e module is that I haven't played a live table top D&D game in over ten years. During that time, all the games I've been involved with are "play by post": I'm currently DM-ing several online games, and
- [Skill Challenge: The Interview](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/09/skill-challenge-the-interview/) - POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING: If you are participating in my campaign, or intend to participate in it, you may not want to read the attached PDF. Skill challenges have always been my heroic flaw. I don't think I've been able to run a skill challenge correctly yet, but I'm getting there. A boatload of online resources
- [Encounter: Hall of Spiders](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/07/hall-of-spiders/) - We Xogo recently had a "Create an Encounter" contest. Unfortunately I didn't win, but I figure the following encounter should not be wasted. During the development of my campaign quite a lot of things have changed. Rooms have been added and removed, creatures have changed drastically, the plot has been altered five different ways, etc...
- [Toughening up Minions](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/06/toughening-up-minions/) - There are various schools of thought about minions... Some people like them, some people hate them. Some use them to balance out an encounter, some will throw legions of them at a level one party just because they can. In several of the starting encounters of my campaign, I use minions a lot. But I
- [Hazard: Fleeing Rats](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/04/fleeing-rats/) - DISCLAIMER: I'm going to be talking about a movie that's over 20 years old. Don't start screaming about spoilers. I know there is a "Rat Swarm" monster, but that's not quite the same thing. The rat swarm in the Monster Manual is an actual monster and is handled as such: it occupies a specific square,
- [WotC's Online Tools: Flawed Design](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/03/wotcs-online-tools-flawed-design/) - When it comes to the relatively new "online" character builder by Wizards of the Coast, there just doesn't seem to be a middle ground: you either love it or you loathe it. But the two major complaints seem to be (1) "why the heck did they choose Silverlight?" and (2) "why do I have to
- [Introduction](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/2011/03/02/introduction/) - What better way to start a new blog than to introduce myself. My name is David "Nighthawk" Flor and I am technically a game designer. I use the term "technically" because I haven't actually done it professionally... That is, nobody has actually paid me to design a game (yet), but you can't blame me for

## Pages

- [About](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/about/) - THE AUTHOR So who am I? My name is David Flor, and I've been known online under the handle "Nighthawk" for quite some time. By day I am a Software Developer, and have been a programmer for almost 40 years (I started around the age of 10... You do the math). My hobby, so to
- [Sample Page](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/sample-page/) - This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger
- [The Black Doll](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/doll/) - NOTE: This post has nothing to do with the usual content on this blog. This is a personal account of recent events in my life, and since I have no other medium on which to post it here 'tis. Post originally written on May17th, 2012 As I have mentioned on this blog, my mother recently
- [The Story of PainRift](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/the-story-of-painrift/) - The following story was posted by me on my former PlanetHalfLife website. Reposting it her not only for nostalgia's sake, but I think the lessons learned here could be helpful others. According to the Wayback Machine, this story was posted on October 8th, 1999... which is a lifetime ago. Reading through it you can tell
- [Contest](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/contest/) - DISCLAIMER: You will not get any manual before the dates listed below. We're giving it to you for free; we're not magicians and do not hold any power over Wizards of the Coast that allows us to get these books early. Current Contest: Solo Encounter w/ Pool, Fountain or Basin Entry Deadline: 12:00am Eastern
- [Contact Me](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/contact-me/) - (This page is temporary, at least until I can get around to fixing up the right column) Email: dflor@brainclouds.net Twitter: @BrainClouds Facebook: A Walk In the Dark fan page Corporate site: Darklight Interactive If you would like me to post links to your site/blog/whatever here, please email them to me at the
- [Campaign Introduction](https://rpg.brainclouds.net/campaign-introduction/) - We remembered that we had not been alone in the old times. There had been visitors who came from far away. We knew not from where they came but their absence struck us like a blow when we perceived it. But what could we do? How can one call a friend without a name to

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