Ah yes – the death of your character…a historical event frozen in time. A great DM needs to seize this moment and make a typical downer scenario spring to life. That’s where these kick-ass new death certificates from our buddy and terrain aficionado, Rob come into play.

Remember all those silly paper awards you got in grade school (outstanding reader, math magician, etc)? Here’s a chance to use them in your own game but with some real flair and style. As Rob puts it, “Hey I respect your character, but man, he got jacked up!”

For DM prep, you simply have to fill in the gritty details on the template and print it out. If possible, stay classy and do it in color. Then take it to your next game session to award in a mini ceremony of sorts. If you’re feeling especially funny, don’t hesitate to get all munchkin on his ass as you hand it out.

Rob’s cert template has text fields for the PC’s name, the way they died, and the area in which it happened. For extra salt, Rob even has some fun skull stickers to print and put on your DM screen.

Your game group will appreciate the extra effort. A death certificate experience can turn a sometimes somber/bitter moment into a laugh-aloud-good-nature-fun-fest. Plus, guys will often find a place in their work cube or home office for their new-found memento.

Of course, the irony of is thick here – the average gamer can’t remember what the first amendment is but he sure as hell can recall when and how his beloved 12th level Wizard died. And that’s yet another reason why we love our D&D.

Questions to Ponder: How do you handle deaths in your game? Are they quick and ruthless or do you do anything fun to remember the characters? Do you resurrect any of them or is it a clean break?

Download It | See It

It’s time to officially acknowledge GaleForce Nine as top booth pick of Gen Con 2010. They have a slew of 4E gaming products coming to a game table near you. It was a real treat to see them all in person at the Con. This week we turn our eyes toward their super handy effect markers (including fire, ice and smoke).

These multi-use effect walls give the DM a bundle of game options. Use them as a:

• wall of ice effect from a Wizard’s spell.
• timed spell standing effect or immovable obstacle.
• fire effect in a burning building.
• blocked/diluted line of sight (with smoke plumes).
• triggered trap.

You can place them on the game board as single square pieces or as a row of three. The pieces assemble and re-assemble with ease so they fit nicely into any DM’s travel kit.

Again, Ben really wants to give props to GaleForce Nine for embracing 4E and releasing so many new innovative products. Our readers can expect to see many more reviews from this creative company over the next year. It’s like they’ve truly re-invented themselves – a wonderful sight to see, especially when other companies out there seem so slow to react 4E.

Questions to Ponder: How do you show game effects on your board? Did you create any fun house rules to go with them? Does the fire effect dominate in your game or have you found ways to give ice and smoke a chance?

Get It | See It

The first campaign setting of D&D 4E is a blockbuster affair of intriguing mystery and ferocious combat. You won’t believe what lies ahead – well, that is if you survive long enough to see it.

Gen Con attendees got a real treat when Rodney Thompson and Rich Baker (anyone happen to know his Twitter address?) of Wotc R&D sat down with convention go-ers to reveal the ravaged world that is Dark Sun. Listen to this podcast before you crack those books open.

Ben’s RPG Pile played the upcoming World Wide Game Day module, The Lost Cistern of Aravek, which is coming to a game store near you on 8/21. If you plan on attending, it might be best to hold off on our Dark Sun review due to spoilers. If you can’t go, give our own video podcast of the game a try.

Enjoy our first Dark Sun impressions:

- Game Changer: There are enough differences in the regular 4E to make you stop and think. Ben was worried about creating confusion as he’s just starting to understand regular 4E but it’s a minor risk worth taking.

- Monsters Rule: The baddies from the Creature Catalog are vicious. Our fourth level party of five fought a level 6 solo skirmisher that could max its damage at 56 in a single round (along with some other nasty effects). Pretty brutal considering our characters averaged about 45 hp.

- Intensity Level: The battle tactics, unique terrain, and monster strength kept Ben on his toes – literally. If you ain’t standing around your table for much of Dark Sun, you’re really not playing (or are dead already).

- Classy Characters: The character sheets were immaculate. The artwork, the layout, the new abilities were all easy to spot and use. Get ready to read though – these classes are stuffed with options.

- New Terrain: Ben can turn his game board into a 3-D dungeon in a snap but a desert? Well, that’s a different story. DMs will need time to ramp up. Of course, Ben welcomes this new challenge.

Best of all, we recorded our Dark Sun initiation as part of our ongoing Friday Night Strike series. You can download all eight parts of our video podcast on iTunes. Consider it a helpful test drive.

Bottom line – Dark Sun is a sensational new 4E setting. You will absolutely love it. Well, what are you waiting for? Get down to your local game store, buy the books and try it firsthand. By the way, do you have any water to spare?

Questions to Ponder: Will you play Dark Sun? Why or why not? Would you run a Dark Sun campaign and a regular D&D 4E campaign simultaneously? What campaign setting do you want to see next?

Watch It

“The vendor hall is now closed.” Sparkly new treasures rest on your shelf. C’est la vie Gen Con 2010.

But wait! Consider some small to-do’s now that could turn into future big fun.

- Sheet of Sadness: Did you keep a quick running notes’ list so you had an easy reminder sheet for next year? If not, now’s the time to strike while the memory iron is hot. Real-life Ben examples: (1) bring travel-size Pepto (thanks so much abnormally huge Ram Burgers). (2) download the Gen Con iPhone app before the show (since finding specific booths in those crowds was painful).

- Online Gallery: Upload your Gen Con pics to Facebook or Flickr now before you accidentally delete them. And make it easy for your game group to pull them down for their own collection.

- Thank You’s: Certainly you encountered some good gaming citizens or met some long-time heroes at the Con. What’s the harm in sending a quick tweet, email or wall post as a nice way to thank them for their hospitality or down-to-earthiness?

- Buddy Gifts: Set aside your game group gift now before it gets lost. Did you take a great buddy photo that fits nicely into a dollar store frame? Was there a t-shirt you nabbed that’s perfect for a holiday/birthday gift?

- Dire Piggy Bank: It is never too early to slowly start putting your gold coins away for next year. Did you have a little money left over? Excellent – put it in that cigar box now. Establish your reserve fund now for all that eventual loose change and birthday/holiday money. This is how Ben slowly amasses his spending money & it’s a major motivating force.

- Outlook Reminder: Gen Con 2011 is set for 8/4 thru 8/11. Enter in an outlook reminder January 26-ish so you’re prepared to call into the hotel block and nab that room right across the street from the convention center.

- Check the Tweets: Keep a close eye on Twitter and these common hash tags (#dnd, #gencon, #wotc) for all the great post Con articles and photos. It’s a virtual sea of D&D tranquility out there right now and you could be missing it.

- Inspiring Words: Start your own new list of goals for your game. If you weren’t inspired by all the amazing people you personally met and observed, it’s time to take a pulse and ensure you didn’t become undead during all those travel woes.

Questions to Ponder: What do you personally do now to help prepare for next year? Anything on our handy list that you find works well (or not so well)?

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Every battle-forged game group has their unique spin on our beloved game of Dungeons and Dragons. Whether it’s a couple classic carryovers from previous editions, a learned online tip, or simply an original thought, all these combined tweaks will truly help make the game your own.

And BensRPGPile.com is no different. We’ve played together for quite some time now and consequently are dreaming up new ways to keep things fun and entertaining.

With that said, here are Ben’s Top 10 D&D House Rules to play by:

1. Fumble P1: Roll a 1 & your turn is immediately done (even if actions remain).
2. Fumble P2: Roll a 1 & your next attack ain’t no fun (-2 attack on next turn).

3. Fumble P3: Roll a 1 & you’ve won…a shot (but it’s the drinker’s alcohol of choice).
4. Corpse Country: Two dead bodies in a square becomes difficult terrain.

5. Torch Throw:  We roll certain dice to determine the distance of a tossed object.
6. Enemy Targeting: Roll the corresponding die for the 1st target & go clockwise.

7. Saving Grace: If you forget, you can only roll a save anytime before your next turn.
8. Rule Review: DM makes immediate call. Twitter or WotC forum confirms for future.

9. Achievements: Good & bad game play gets you Encounters-like rewards.
10. Go Team: We all contribute to our game and to BensRPGPile.com anytime we can.

All our little game idiosyncrasies are constantly evolving and we encourage you to do the same. Take it from Ben: Don’t get stuck in your ways. Avoid the mundane and always try new things. Keep reading the myriad of amazing D&D blogs. Listen to podcasts. Stay connected on Twitter. And be sure to tell us what house rules you guys use?

This surreal D&D community will welcome you with open arms – just remember to hug back.

Yes, it’s corny…we know but D&D spider swarm headlines don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Ben relishes a good spider swarm and this week seemed like a great opportunity to look at some of the many eight-legged miniature choices.

Coincidentally, the Pile gang just built a fancy spider lair as part of its Comicon Dungeon Delve. Our spider queen is quite the fertile bitch so we needed to fill the cave’s nooks and crannies with wide variety of venomous villains.

Lots to choose from including:

• Giant Spider (from Reaper’s Legendary Encounters)
• Huge Spider (from WotC War of the Dragon Queen)
• Widow Spider (from the Mage Knight series)
• Deathjump Spider (from WotC Dungeons of Dread)
• Spider of Lolth (from WotC Underdark)
• Large Monstrous Spider (from WotC Dragoneye)
• Phaseweb Spider (from WotC Demonweb)
• Blade Spider (from WotC Desert of Desolation)
• Swarm of Spiders (from WotC Underdark)
• Demonweb Swarm (from WotC Desert of Desolation)

The handy webbing can be nabbed at any Walgreens or craft store. Ben suggests you lightly brush it with some dark gray Games Workshop paint to give it a musty feel though. The strands are also great for wrapping victims

For added lair effects, be sure to make and space out some columns and fill the floors with lots of broken pieces and rocks. Ya see it’s the little things that help raise that hair on your arms when the DM yells, “Spiders!”

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A good dungeon needs many obstacles, known and unknown, to spice up the RPG experience. This time Ben went with an oldie but a goodie – the ominous terrain cave-in. This classic creation is yet another golden opportunity to make your three-dimensional game board come alive.

Ben utilized the Fieldstone molds (# 70, 75, and 701) to craft the core base of this piece. He then cast some smaller Woodland Scenic boulders to accent the crumbled walls. Finally, a Skullcrafts Oregon Beach Sand flock and a Games Workshop paint scheme round out the job.

The keys to building this terrain boils down to two sets of steady hands and of course, lots of glue – four types to be exact. Ben and Rob (the voice of Magnum & Red Dawn on our weekly podcast) then did a dry assembly run on the piece including some helpful reminder photos.

The slickery paint scheme included:

• First mix 2 drops of Games Workshop Codex Gray with 1 drop Chaos Black.
• Now dry brush that darker gray combo onto the piece.
• Then apply a lighter dry brush of just Codex Gray.
• Then paint a lighter brush of Citadel Delvan Mud wash (for that dirty feel).

So whether it’s a sudden dungeon cave-in, an unfortunate sprung trap, or a simply portion of a ruined room, damaged terrain needs a permanent place in your own D&D pile.

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A trained killer always wants to see the face of its future victim. Any and all details are critical – anything to speed up the hunt.

Ben knows this allure well. So much so he created NPC tracker cards for his campaign. Now upstart Paizo, has sweetened the pot with a super handy face deck series including: the Friends and Foes deck and an Enemies deck. They’re a perfect complement to your game accessory hoard.

The decks offer a slew of NPC options. Everything from a grumpy Duergar to a fc_fireb.jpgraging fireball.  Of course, there’s always a couple hokey, cartoony ones in the pile but Ben still applauds the effort.

Ben still favors his custom campaign cards but these babies work great in a sudden NPC pinch. Just pull a name off Chris Perkin’s kick-ass list and grab a corresponding face from the deck – and presto!

At $10.99, these decks are very affordable. And new twists and ideas are on the way. Ben is especially giddy about the upcoming Plot Twist Cards.

Ben is a big Paizo fan simply because they constantly look for new ways to immerse the player into the game. Who doesn’t love their maps and item cards? Remember, it’s the subtle touches that raise a typical game above the bar.

See It | Get It

Great game shirts are a part of everyone’s own RPG Pile…so much so that Ben wanted to get jiggy and add another fantasy apparel option to the mix with an official website T-shirt.

The reasoning here is two-fold. First, we needed a team shirt for the Pile crew to wear at this year’s upcoming Phoenix Comicon Lava and a Cup of Java event in May. Second, we’re just a proud bunch of gamers who wanted to stand tall for our office’s traditional Dragon Shirt Fridays. 

Inspiration for the paint splatter effect came from an old Blizzard World of War Craft design. We picked two colors: blue to represent our local Gamers’ Inn shop and black cause every RPG’er loves to wear black.

A great work buddy (hereby known as “Lorenzo”) hooked us up with a killer local print shop. Mix that in with two insanely talented designers (Gabe-age and Reed) and you got yourself a winning clothing formula.

The blue shirt is up for sale in our Café Press store and the black option will soon follow. We’re excited about creating future t-shirts and tchotchkes but the group had to start with what’s closest to the heart.

See It | Get It

OK – he’s not going to lie to you…Ben has been dying to use that Lord of the Rings’ play-on-words headline for some time now. Still, can you ever have enough door variety in your D&D terrain life? With that obvious answer, here’s installment number 2 in this gripping series.

Ben loves to mix up the entry and exit points in his dungeons. Big or small, wide or tall, it simply doesn’t matter. He relishes the game group’s reaction and tactics based on the mere appearance of the barrier in front of them. With that said, here’s our latest batch of door goodness.

We’ve utilized the portcullis from Dwarven Forge (from Wicked Editions Set I) – a must-own). Our homebrewed jail cell doors work great for your typical prison area but could also serve as slick gates.

We crafted an imposing door to serve as our entry way into the second Horned Hold tower inside Thunderspire Labyrinth. A small door served as a special getaway inside the Duerger Trading Post cave.

Ben mustered a broken door for Brugg’s Halfmoon Inn assault. And he even made a partially clawed door in a recent Friday Night Strike Dungeon Delve.

Seem like overkill? Too much? Nah – remember, variety is the spice of life.

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