Secret Backstories and Mysterious Characters

A well-developed backstory is often a critical part of creating a role-playing character. By no means necessary, a backstory can provide a foundation, some core tenets, for your character and allows you to ground yourself in his/her motives and behaviour. It allows you to understand how that character may make decisions and evolve as the story unfolds.

We have discussed character-making before, but today I'd like to discuss a specific type of character backstory, the secret one.

Dallas Kasaboski

Introducing Aseir (Al'Farok) Aerendgast

We've started a new D&D game here at D4sign! Don't worry, we'll continue playing The Long Game, but we're also playing a game run by fellow D4sign blogger, Mike! Today's post is all about my character for the game, and how he came to be!

                                

Dallas Kasaboski

Dungeons & Dialogue: Advanced Wordplay Edition

Alex Adams

If combat and exploration is the heart of D&D, dialogue is the soul.  Communication and exposition are the myriad paints by which players streak across the textured canvas of the DM’s phantasy.  A word can change a siege into surrender, a murderer into martyr, or victory into villainy.  It’s key that players learn how to communicate effectively and excitingly and elevate inter-party and world dialogue to its rightful position beside knoll-stomping and jewel-snatching.

For your consideration:

Kalgar Drakeswynd: Fleshing out his character...

Dallas Kasaboski

What started out as a one-shot session for a friend's birthday, has now turned into a campaign, with regularly scheduled sessions and everything. Since then, we have not only learned more about the campaign and the setting, but about our characters as well.

Making a new character, and how tough that can be...

Dallas Kasaboski

Well, it has been entirely too long since I wrote a post here, but it has been a while since I last played. Tonight, I played a thrilling session of Dungeons and Dragons, probably one of the best of my life, and it was so exciting that I was compelled to start writing this blog post at 1am.

The Ultimate Zombie Hunter Part 5: Tactics & Wrap-Up

Dominic Matte

You've built your ultimate badass paladin who can totally kick the crap out of zombies. Or maybe you haven't and you're looking for a completed example. How should this paladin actually behave in combat, given the mix of powers and feats available to you? Read on for some tips, as well as some sample characters to show you what I'm talking about.

The Ultimate Zombie Hunter Part 4: Weapons & Future Tiers

Dominic Matte

So far I've only really talked about the heroic tier. That's because Posse McToes never made it past level 11, so I never really got to continue expanding past there. I'll provide a quick overview of some of the standout options for paragon and epic tiers, but it won't be as comprehensive as my heroic tier coverage.

The Ultimate Zombie Hunter Part 3: Feats

Dominic Matte

The paladin's powers are cool and all, but perhaps surprisingly, the feats are where you can make your zombie hunter really shine. That's because they'll give you specific bonuses and abilities against undead, or augment your best undead-killing powers, rather than simply dealing a chunk of radiant damage.

The Ultimate Zombie Hunter Part 2: Powers

Dominic Matte

Hopefully I've convinced you that paladin is the right class choice for killing zombies in 4th edition D&D. So now let's move on to power and feat selection.

The Ultimate Zombie Hunter Part 1: Class and Race

Dominic Matte

If you know you're going to be facing a lot of zombies, or if you just hate them, the idea of creating a character who hunts the undead may have crossed your mind. In D&D, the cleric is typically seen as the undead-killer, with its ability to turn undead. But in 4th edition, the Paladin, ordinarily a tough defender, is really the best equipped for fighting zombies, and can actually exceed the damage output of a typical striker against the undead. And if you're playing a paladin, you'll want to choose the race that best complements its abilities.

Follow along as I provide some tips on how to build the best zombie-hunter, using my oddly-named human paladin Posse McToes as an example. But do keep in mind that overspecializing in zombie slaying will leave you a bit weak against other creatures.