Yes, yes…Wizards of the Coast has Encounters (which looks spectacular) but did you know BensRPGPile.com has Friday Night Strike – its own monthly delve play?

Every DM wants a chance to step out from behind the screen and put on his player shoes. The change of pace is beyond refreshing and often sparks new ideas…hence, the birth of FNS.

The heralded Dungeon Delve book provides the perfect optional settings. Where’s the sequel though? You simply pick an Encounter Level and it’s off to the DM races. This setting is also the perfect time for the group to try new races and classes (so you don’t get bored with your current main character). 

Friday Night Strike has sparked a slew of home brew innovations. For starters, it’s given us the boards concept and the sunken Dungeon Tiles effect Your game group should feed off each other’s creativity.

As a special treat, we have posted all five video sessions of our very first Friday Night Strike entitled, “Arc of Souls”. Bobby Hurley, the infamous voice of Magnum and Red Dawn, took the DM reigns. Enjoy.

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Behold the sanctity of a gamer’s dice bag. One dares not violate it. Ben knows there’s a story and superstition behind every precious die in one’s collection. So, let’s delve into his dice pile and see what we find (and remember no touching – just looking).

Ben has attained quite a mishmash of dice goodness. He never knows when a bitter cold streak is going to hit. He demands variety and humor in every of roll.

His favorite RPG dice finds include:

• Oddballs: d3 or d4 as an eight-sided No problem
• Language: Always nice to fail in a foreign tongue
• Locator: In the?
• Clear: Hopelessly in love with this style
• Oversized: Bigger can sometimes be better
• Treasure: Pick the parcel on the spot
• Directional: The incredibly hard to find scatter die
• Monster: Great for wandering
• Huh: What was Ben thinking?
• Go-to: This DMs favorite set (for now)
• Metal: Heavy but effective
• Misfits: There’s a die for every occasion
• Memorable: Good times…good times
• Utility: DM tools
• Humorous: Funny as in ha-ha funny
• Nouns: Random objects

The where-to-buy in dice hunting is just as elusive as the what-to-buy. Online options are a mess. Your local game store, like a Gamers’ Inn, will net you some periodic pleasure. However, Ben recommends saving the biggo search for your annual Gen Con Mecca. All the distributors proudly display their wares in huge quantities. Finding dice gems there are fun and easy.

Gen Con is also the infamous home of the dice dive. You can pay $30-plus and use an empty frat-like beer pitcher to scope up as many as you can. It’s the perfect way to amass a community dice stash for guests. You gotta experience this once in your gaming lifetime.

And we didn’t even really talk about all the dice trays and rollers out there.

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My oh my how that ticking clock of father time goes by…

A year to the day the Internet gave birth to a bouncing baby Ben’sRPGPile.com – a collection of misfit gaming addicts who were hell bent on bringing a better gaming experience to their global D&D RPG brethren.

And what a year it’s been. We’ve been inspired and driven to create a slew of handy home brewed accessories (including our beloved Condition Flags and Hit Dice). We’ve uncovered a clump of handy downloads from fellow skillful inventors (such as the helpful Anatomy of a Combat Turn and Magic Item Cards). And we’ve reviewed a flock of must-have gaming products (including industry legends’ Hirst Arts and Dwarven Forge)

We’ve even blessed the airways with our silly banter and endless laughter with twenty-seven (and counting) weekly video podcasts.

And best of all – we continue to meet a plethora of talented and enthusiastic gamers who simply want to roll for initiative.

Here’s to another year of the ever-growing Pile. Thanks everybody.

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Your party’s trips back to town can be real snoozers. Thank goodness there’s lot of ways to fix this common game-drag problem. As a DM, Ben drops in a couple buildings and simple accessories to give these otherwise humdrum affairs a real boost.

When you build street scenes, a whole new world of intrigue opens up. You can add new side quests. Run a skill challenge (courtesy of This is my Game). Or, drop in a little more story dialogue interaction. Any or all of these module ideas brightens up game play and enhances the main plot.

And anyways, BensRPGPile.com was long overdue for another building review. This time Ben thought a simple, yet effective multi-use structure would do the trick. Ben snagged this cottage from Miniature Building Authority at an earlier Gen Con. He’s used this pre-painted, out-of-the-box piece to represent an out-of-the-way outpost and a general store.

MBA’s superior quality and attention to detail once again shine through. A few of these buildings are a must for any Dungeon Master’s arsenal. Pop open a box, place it on a Battlemat and let your imagination take you the rest of the RPG way.

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