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I’ve been a silent member of the community for quite a while now, but now that I’m active again, I thought it would be helpful to re-link to posts from the week that I found thought provoking or useful.

So starting today, I’m starting a “Friday Links” post tradition. This will basically gather all the links I thought were cool from the week and provide a bit of why I thought each was interesting or useful.

First we have “Bringing Back the Magic” from Brandan Landgraff at d20source.com. As someone who’s been investigating how to add more “crunch” to wizards, I have to say I hadn’t thought much about magic items until I read Brandan’s entry. As he says, a +3 flaming sword just doesn’t have much pizazz – “all too often it is easy to think of a magic item as a +3 flaming sword, rather than the legendary fiery blade wielded by the mighty conqueror Hulkgar the Bad during his annexation of the kingdoms of the north”. You can find this great article here.

Next, you have a similar article from the AbstractXP blog… Again, a +3 dagger is just a dagger with a +3, but it could be so much more. It should have a history or at least a name to inspire fear and stories in your enemies and friends. It’s definitely a trap that many D&D players run into as far as magic items – focusing on the properties of the item and not the item as his or her character would perceive it. Yet another area where some “crunch” is needed for better roleplaying. You can read the whole article here.

To change the topic a bit, as a parent I’m often struggling with when to introduce my creative, imaginative daughters (ages 4 and 6) to roleplaying. So I’m always on the lookout for “Gaming as a Parent” types of articles around the blogosphere. I found one on The Escapist this week from WJ Walton titled “Washington Post parenting blog likes D&D”, which led me to a Washington Post article I wouldn’t have read otherwise. And Walton’s conclusion – if “he’s really suggesting that more parents should play RPGs with their kids”? He couldn’t agree more. I hope to join this cadre of gaming Dads soon. For the article and the link to the Washington Post article, see here.

Next, we have an article from the gnomes at Gnome Stew. John Arcadian suggests you “Think About Your Game As If It Were a Movie or TV Show.” I have to say, though this isn’t the first article on this theme, it’s one of the best I’ve seen to summarize the various aspects of TV show production that lend themselves to being a GM. I’ve tried this mindset myself from time to time (in the distant past), but never really got the hang of it. With John’s suggestions, maybe I’ll try it again! You can read the article here.

And lastly, I’m always on the lookout for resources. Over at the Game Table Role-Playing Game Blog, Justin Mason has provided a list of 33 free fantasy True-Type Fonts (TTF) that can be used in your own campaigns. There are some great ones here. “Hobbiton Brush Hand” is just beautiful, and I think the capitals for “Neverwinter” would make great flourishes on any page. Thanks Justin for offering these! You can see the article here yourself.

Thanks for all the great posts and I hope to make this a regular column every Friday!

Let me know if you have any suggestions for links and I’ll be sure to include them. Have an awesome weekend!

–Fitz

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