dvanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D)

is a game tailor-made for aspiring actors & actresses. Why? Because it provides you with an opportunity to roleplay characters other than yourself. Roleplaying develops your improvisational skills by forcing you to become innovative. The Dungeon Master (DM) is the scriptwriter and narrator of the gaming session. It is up to him or her to determine the environment and denizens your character will interact with. There are parameters and props that affect what your character can and can't do. And there is a certain amount of chance (AD&D dice rolls) involved that enlivens the game.      Props can be minimal or expansive depending on your DM's ingenuity. To roleplay all you really need is a pencil with a good eraser, a set of AD&D dice, paper, pizza and soda (preferably with caffeine in it to keep you awake when you find yourself involved in a game that runs for 36 or so hours. With a good DM you can get so involved in roleplaying that you lose track of time.).     The parameters involve a set of well-defined (but changeable) rules to fit your gaming session and style of play. You can find these "rules" in TSR's series of books about the game, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. They have produced many (much more than you would ever need) products that help players and DMs experience AD&D roleplaying. For books, get the Dungeon Master's Guide, the Player's Handbook, and the Dungeon Master's Design Kit. These three products will teach you everything you need to know about the game: how to play it and how to tap your creative imagination. As the DM, you can design your own creatures that interact with your players' characters, but I'd recommend that you start out with TSR's already-developed Monster Manual books that are essentially encyclopedias of fantasy creatures. These tomes reveal all that is known about these denizens -- their stats, detailed descriptions, activities, moods, traits, and capabilities. Everything that brings them to "life" in a player's imagination. Of course, as the DM, you can modify these to fit your story setting.     AD&D rules are not set in stone. They are only a set of guidelines that you can either follow or change. Too many DMs and players make the mistake of assuming that these guidelines are absolute and cannot be deviated from. Their gaming sessions suffer and cause players to lose interest. To be a great DM for your players, you have to be descriptively creative, have the ability to ad-lib spontaneously (chaos theory and AD&D dice can really mangle your pre-conceived scripts), have a good sense of humor, and get along well with people. A good DM is the lone controlling element in a well-balanced, exciting and fun AD&D gaming session. Let your players know beforehand what your rules are. It is wise for you to write or type them up so you can convince the players that you are following your own rules and not making them up as you go. There are occasions where you need to do this, but you have to conceal it from your players, otherwise it can disrupt the flow of the game. As the DM, you don't set out to slay the players' characters. You create an environment for them to interact with. Chaos theory, AD&D dice, and player experience/inexperience or stupidity regulates how well their character does in the game. You can, however, mess with your players' minds every now and then by rolling your dice (the percentile ones and the 20-sided die achieve the best effect). Carefully examine one of your ready-made charts next. And then, don't tell them what the fake dice rolls were for. If they do ask (and they will), my favorite response is to say, "Well, you aren't the only denizens inhabiting this world." In DM vernacular this is known as creating a sense of foreboding. Even though you really didn't do anything or have something on standby, the players won't know this, unless you overdo it. This really sets them on edge and they chatter amongst themselves while trying to figure out what to do.      Who Am I? Terry L. Karkos. My younger brother, Jeff, introduced me to AD&D back in the late 1970s. I found I enjoyed the game more as the DM instead of a player, because it allowed me to develop my inherent storytelling abilities. I have been a DM for several years. Hopefully, this web site will teach an aspiring DM how to creatively craft AD&D adventures (access through the Magick button below), or at least provide new ideas to explore.      To access a current campaign, Harrald, of which I have a player already involved (and will be chronicling his characters' exploits) and another group preparing to embark into it, use this portal: For those of you who want to: Read my guestbook or leave a message: This site is family-rated so please do not write offensive language or post offensive sites. These will be removed.