Recent content by Annie Bulloch

Dungeon in a Box is a monthly subscription service which bills itself as a complete package of materials to run a D&D 5th Edition adventure. The box includes an adventure and a variety of accessories to go with it. The modules are designed to work as standalone games, but if you subscribe...

Yes, unfortunately, international shipping rates are brutal no matter what.

Yikes, that’s not great.

Curious about monthly subscription boxes aimed at tabletop gamers? Take a look at the boxes you can get from Dice Envy! Online retailer Dice Envy offers subscription boxes at three different tiers: Original, Basic, and Sampler. Each tier can be ordered month to month, or you can prepay for a...

Is your D&D game a battle of DM versus players? Or do you prefer a collaborative relationship over an adversarial one? Before I dig into this, let me be clear: the best style of play is whatever your group prefers. I’m not here to tell you your fun is wrong. If everyone is enjoying the...

Last weekend, I spent some time hanging out with a friend from my D&D group. We had other things on the agenda, but we also realized that it was a perfect opportunity to have an in-character conversation we had been trying to have in-game for nearly two months. Our sessions have been eventful...

Yeah, absolutely. I hoped it would go without saying, but: don't be inappropriate. Don't be a creep. Again, this is a rule for D&D and also real life.

No braces were involved, so I don't know what would have happened in case of a critical fail. Maybe somebody's magic malfunctions, or somebody accidentally falls on a sword! Probably something nonfatal yet embarrassing.

Do your D&D games ever contain romantic elements? I’m not talking about stereotypical antics involving trying to hook up with NPC barmaids or seduce a guard as a distraction. Realistic relationships are unlikely to develop that much in a one-shot, or in a style of play which de-emphasizes role...

Yeah, the time we pretty much did Seven Samurai/Rio Bravo vs a large group of orc bandits seemed totally fresh to the kids! It was super fun regardless.

I definitely keep it fast-paced. And I have to steer them into various situations or they would never do anything but shop for magic items and look for pets. I taught them a bit about the need to earn and save money though!

Helping kids create characters is a lot of fun. It takes time because they deliberate over every detail, and I have to explain it to them. Heck, it's helped me learn things because I had to understand it well enough to explain it. I'm much better versed in the various schools of magic now that...

I run a weekly D&D game for children ages 8-14 at my shop. When I took over our Young Heroes League program last fall, I had very little experience as a DM. I started running an Adventurer’s League table for adult players a few months later, which is easy by comparison. There isn’t much the...

Just last night, my DM presented my character with actual pages that he wrote, aged, and burned himself. They're full of clues about a problem we're investigating right now. I was delighted and read the whole thing aloud. My fellow party members also want to make those dogtags I mentioned. I...

Obviously, the best way to reward your D&D players for participating is to have a good game ready. But when you’ve found a good group and want to dig deeper to enhance the experience, here are a few methods for rewarding your players. Some are DM-specific, but others can apply to any player or...