|
JD Wiker
J. D. Wiker is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career JD Wiker originally comes from Indianapolis, where he began his love of games, starting with his family's collection of board games and the weekly game night. He designed his first game — a mash-up of ''Stratego'' and '' Tank Battle'' — in 1977, and discovered ''Dungeons & Dragons'' while buying miniatures to use as playing pieces. Wiker has done work on Wizards of the Coast's version of the '' Star Wars Roleplaying Game'', including ''The Dark Side Sourcebook'', ''The Hero's Guide'', and ''The Galactic Campaign Guide''. After leaving Wizards in 2002, he founded The Game Mechanics, and is the company's president and lead roleplaying game designer, with credits including ''Artifacts of the Ages: Swords & Staves'' and the City Quarters series: ''Thieves' Quarter'', ''Temple Quarter'', and ''Arcane Quarter''. Wiker lives and works in the San Diego area. Works His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in free association with three Pacific Island sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. It is the world's third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders with Canada to its north and with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the most populous country in the Americas and the third most populous in the world. The national capital of the United States is Washington, D.C. and its most populous city and principal financial center is New York City. Paleo-Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Game Mechanics
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the most frequently used word in the English language; studies and analyses of texts have found it to account for seven percent of all printed English-language words. It is derived from gendered articles in Old English which combined in Middle English and now has a single form used with pronouns of any gender. The word can be used with both singular and plural nouns, and with a noun that starts with any letter. This is different from many other languages, which have different forms of the definite article for different genders or numbers. Pronunciation In most dialects, "the" is pronounced as (with the voiced dental fricative followed by a schwa) when followed by a consonant sound, and as (homophone of pronoun ''thee'') when followed by a v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons & Dragons Game Designers
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from french ''oublier'' meaning to ''forget'') or bottle dungeon is a basement room which is accessible only from a hatch or hole (an ''angstloch'') in a high ceiling. Victims in oubliettes were often left to starve and dehydrate to death, making the practice akin to—and some say an actual variety of—immurement. Etymology The word ''dungeon'' comes from French ''donjon'' (also spelled ''dongeon''), which means "keep", the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word in English was near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning as ''donjon''. The proper original meaning of "keep" is still in use for academics, although in popular culture it has been largely misused and come to mean a cell or "oubliet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Manual IV
''Monster Manual IV'' is an optional supplemental source book for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. Contents As with other ''Monster Manual'' supplements, MM4 contains a variety of new creatures as well as expanded variants on staple '' D&D'' monsters such as orcs, demons, yuan-ti, and gnolls. What separates it from past volumes is the level of detail given to each creature subtype, including probable behavior in combat and even a complete pre-prepared encounter complete with a map. While the 'standard' entry still clocks in around two pages, many of the 'expanded' entries are four pages or longer, with the 'Spawn of Tiamat' section going on for nearly forty pages, or 20% of the entire volume. This results in fewer overall monster entries, which proved unpopular among many D&D players. Each entry also contains a table listing DC ratings for skill checks made using the Knowledge ability. In general, a low DC check results in revealing all the monster's subtype traits to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandstorm (Dungeons & Dragons)
''Sandstorm'' is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. Contents ''Sandstorm'' describes how DMs can create adventures and even campaigns set in a desert or wasteland environment. The book details many hazards that are associated with real-life dangers to desert travelers. Furthermore, ''Sandstorm'' corrects many false ideas about deserts, such as the belief that quicksands are commonly found in the desert; the book explains that quicksands require water to form, and are usually found near an oasis, although quicksands are still rare even there. The book gives ideas for DMs as well as players in using new prestige classes and new races. In addition, book references several 3rd edition books, such as ''Deities and Demigods''. At the beginning of the book, examples of wasteland areas found in the campaign settings of Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms are given. Chapter summary # The Waste: This describes the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planar Handbook
''Planar Handbook'' is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Contents It contains updates for the 3.5 edition of the fictional Dungeons & Dragons universe for some material from the Planescape campaign setting, along with new races, equipment, spells and feats for characters adventuring on the Planes. Publication history The ''Planar Handbook'' was written by Bruce R. Cordell and Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, and was published in July 2004. Cover art was by Matt Cavotta, with interior art by Brent Chumley, Emily Fiegenschuh, David Hudnut, Dana Knutson, Doug Kovacs, David Martin, Dennis Crabapple-Martin, James Pavelec, Steve Prescott, Vinod Rams, and David Roach. Bruce Cordell admitted that "the ''Planar Handbook'' is ambitiously titled, which means we had to be selective in covering only those things we believed would be most useful to plane-venturing players. Essentially, after a few concept meetings i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unearthed Arcana
''Unearthed Arcana'' (abbreviated UA) is the title shared by two hardback books published for different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Both were designed as supplements to the core rulebooks, containing material that expanded upon other rules. The original ''Unearthed Arcana'' was written primarily by Gary Gygax, and published by game publisher TSR in 1985 for use with the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' first edition rules. The book consisted mostly of material previously published in magazines, and included new races, classes, and other material to expand the rules in the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' and ''Players Handbook''. The book was notorious for its considerable number of errors, and was received negatively by the gaming press whose criticisms targeted the over-powered races and classes, among other issues. Gygax intended to use the book's content for a planned second edition of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''; however, much of the book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeon Master's Guide
The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' (''DMG'' or ''DM's Guide''; in some printings, the ''Dungeon Masters Guide'' or ''Dungeon Master Guide'') is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' contains rules concerning the arbitration and administration of a game, and is intended for use by the game's Dungeon Master. It is a companion book to the ''Player's Handbook'', which contains all of the basic rules of gameplay, and the ''Monster Manual'', which is a reference book of statistics for various animals and monsters. The ''Player's Handbook'', ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', and ''Monster Manual'' are collectively referred to as the "core rules" of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. Both the ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' and the ''Player's Handbook'' give advice, tips, and suggestions for various styles of play. While all players, including the Dungeon Master, are expected to have at their disposal a copy of the ''Player's Handbook'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Manual
The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for ''D&D''. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics (such as the monster's Experience point#Level-based progression, level or number of hit dice), a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the ''Player's Handbook'' and ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', the ''Monster Manual'' is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the ''D&D'' game. As such, new editions of the ''Monster Manual'' have been released for each edition of ''D&D''. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Player's Handbook
The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of rules for the game, and only includes rules for use by players of the game. Additional rules, for use by Dungeon Masters (DMs), who referee the game, can be found in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide''. Many optional rules, such as those governing extremely high-level players, and some of the more obscure spells, are found in other sources. Since the first edition, the ''Player's Handbook'' has contained tables and rules for creating characters, lists of the abilities of the different character classes, the properties and costs of equipment, descriptions of spells that magic-using character classes (such as wizards or clerics) can cast, and numerous other rules governing gameplay. Both the ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' and the ''Player's Handboo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Wars Roleplaying Game (Wizards Of The Coast)
The ''Star Wars Roleplaying Game'' is a d20 System roleplaying game set in the ''Star Wars'' universe. The game was written by Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins and J. D. Wiker and published by Wizards of the Coast in late 2000 and revised in 2002. In 2007, Wizards released the ''Saga Edition'' of the game, which made major changes in an effort to streamline the rules system. The game covers three major eras coinciding with major events in the ''Star Wars'' universe, namely the Rise of the Empire, the Galactic Civil War, and the time of the New Jedi Order. An earlier but unrelated ''Star Wars'' role-playing game was published by West End Games between 1987 and 1999. Bill Slavicsek was one of the designers of that former game as well. This game from Wizards of the Coast is currently out of print. The current official ''Star Wars'' role-playing game is the game of same title published by Fantasy Flight Games. Original and revised editions The original '' Star Wars: The Roleplay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Game Designer
Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in the form of gamification. Game designer and developer Robert Zubek defines game design by breaking it down into its elements, which he says are the following: * Gameplay, which is the interaction between the player and the mechanics and systems * Mechanics and systems, which are the rules and objects in the game * Player experience, which is how users feel when they're playing the game Games such as board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, video games, war games, or simulation games benefit from the principles of game design. Academically, game design is part of game studies, while game theory studies strategic decision making (primarily in non-game situations). Games have historically inspired ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> The Game Mechanics")
