Mixed Signals

Straight-forward gaming

As is often the case, the 5th Edition books for the Dragonlance setting leaves out a lot of detail. In the page it provides for the Kender race, it doesn't mention the culture's fondness for the topknot hairstyle, the use of the hoopak, pouches and pockets, or maps. One of the defining traits of the...

Sometimes, a story just begs for a double-cross. Somebody hires the player characters to complete a job, everything goes fine, until right at the very end the PCs discover their employer was the baddie all along! Now their employer wants them dead, or refuses to pay, or intends to conquer the world...

After the original three Dragonlance books, also called Chronicles, comes the Legends trilogy. The Legends books addresses, within a surprisingly narrow scope, life after becoming legendary war heroes. The books focus on Caramon and Raistlin, however, although there's a healthy dose of Tassleh...

Kender are my favourite variety of halfling, and as a longtime fan of Dragonlance, I have some pretty high expectations for what a Kender plays like in D&D. So how has D&D 5th Edition translated the Kender into a playable ancestry?

If you don't have time to read this post right now, you can also v...

The digital edition of the 5e Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen pre-order has been delivered, and I eagerly read through it in a day. I've been waiting for this book since the start of 5th Edition, but I wasn't sure what its scope would be. Now I know when in Krynn's long history the book is...

Now that D&D is on its 5th edition (and heading quickly toward its next incarnation), and Pathfinder has released a 2nd edition of its own, the two gaming systems borne of literally the same rule set have diverged substantially. They both still implement essentially the same game, though, so I decid...

Paizo's Book of the Dead is a source book about both the dead and the undead, describing the ecology, life cycle, ethics, advantages, and dangers of time spent after all your time is spent. I picked up a copy at my game store, and I'm going to review it chapter by chapter. This post covers chapter...

Growing up, the The Lord of the Rings books was the canonical fantasy epic. It was the standard bedtime story, and all other fantasy was defined by or compared to it. I love the Lord of the Rings. Heck, I went to great length to ensure that I could work on The Hobbit movies. But I also have to...

In D&D, an interesting thing happens when you cross the threshold from Tier 3 (levels 9 to 13) to Tier 4 (levels 14 to 20). No matter what the DM throws at players, the players have answers. By Tier 4, the players have likely accumulated magic items, astounding feats, powerful spells, multiple attac...

The third book in the original Dragonlance trilogy is Dragons of Spring Dawning and it's one of those concluding novels that just doesn't pull any punches. Takhisis is real, Lord Soth is lurking in the shadows, Tanis has ruined the party's chance of success, Laurana is kidnapped, and Raistlin wiel...

With the release of Spelljammer for D&D 5th Edition, I decided to break out the second AD&D Spelljammer module Skulls & Crossbows. I'm looking at it particularly with quick conversion in mind, but also for story and general usefulness. Chapter 5 is entitled "Rewards and revenge," and it consists o...

With the release of Spelljammer for D&D 5th Edition, I decided to break out the second AD&D Spelljammer module Skulls & Crossbows. I'm looking at it particularly with quick conversion in mind, but also for story and general usefulness. Chapter 4 is entitled "Monsters of the void," consisting of ju...

With the release of Spelljammer for D&D 5th Edition, I decided to break out the second AD&D Spelljammer module Skulls & Crossbows. I'm looking at it particularly with quick conversion in mind, but also for story and general usefulness. Chapter 3 is entitled "Starfaring races," and this post covers...

With the release of Spelljammer for D&D 5th Edition, I decided to break out the second AD&D Spelljammer module Skulls & Crossbows. I'm looking at it particularly with quick conversion in mind, but also for story and general usefulness. Chapter 3 is entitled "Starfaring races," and the second and t...

With the release of Spelljammer for D&D 5th Edition, I decided to break out the second AD&D Spelljammer module Skulls & Crossbows. I'm looking at it particularly with quick conversion in mind, but also for story and general usefulness. Chapter 3 is entitled "Starfaring races," and the first advent...

There's a lot of overlap between D&D and Pathfinder. Originally, of course, Pathfinder was the D&D 3rd edition rule set copied and pasted (legally permitted by the Open Game License), with a few nominal adjustments, into a book labeled "Pathfinder". Now that D&D is on its 5th edition (and heading...