• Play Pen and Paper Games Online

    How to play Dungeons and Dragons Online 

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    If you've been looking for a place to play traditional pen and paper style role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, or Shadowrun you've come to the right place. The members of the Tangled Web all have one thing in common; we love to play RPGs. We have two different ways to play your favorite systems and settings with friends around the world.



    The best way to play online RPGs by far is via a Virtual Gaming Table like OpenRPG or MapTool. These virtual game tables allow you to play Dungeons and Dragons online and remain as true to the face to face style of play as possible when you are separated from your friends by thousands of miles. ...
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    Why I like DnD 4e 

    by
    samsmartjr
    Published on 08-14-2010 04:27 AM

    Well, I’m Sam Smart and this my blog. And I thought I would start it out with celebrating my favorite RPG to date: D&D 4e.

    I can sum up the reason why I enjoy 4e so much in one word: simplicity.

    Compared to many other RPGs, 4e is pretty simple to learn and understand the rules for. The major value that increases your character’s rolls is half his character level. Attacks, AC, Defenses, and Skills are all based on character level. Yes, there are other ways to increase these - proficiencies, armor, Skill Training and other feats. But those are usually picked up later in campaign. For new players with a level 1 character, the 4e mechanics make it very easy to start playing and pick up the nuances as the campaign progresses.

    Another bonus to 4e is the use of general skills instead of specialized skills. No longer is Spot and Listen separate checks, and neither are Hide and Move Silently. They have been combined into Perception and Stealth, and so covers all instances of when those skills could be used. This is an advantage mechanically, since it saves on the number of feats and so forth you have to invest in skills and also saves up on time since you roll that one skill for a number of scenarios. This makes gameplay go by faster, which means there’s more time to actually play.
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    The Dragon Tamer - or When did my players become awesome? 

    by
    Teksura
    Published on 07-28-2010 12:51 AM
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    Do you see that guy? That is a Catastrophic Dragon. This is an Adult Earthquake Dragon. It is a level 14 Elite Soldier from Monster Manual 3. It exists for the purpose of being absolutely badass, and being incredibly effective at the role of Soldier. It has an Aura that will grow from 1, to 3, to 5 over the rounds. If you make an attack in this aura that does not include the Dragon, you take 10 damage and fall prone. When this aura is at 5 at the start of its turn, it gets a free attack against all enemies in the aura. It does not have time to listen to what you have to say.
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    Perfecting Your Game 

    by
    Count_Dreadstone
    Published on 07-23-2010 10:37 PM
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    We've all been there. DM or player, it doesn't really matter; after half a dozen dungeon crawls and miscellaneous quests for stolen heirlooms, you start feeling like you've been here before and done that already. Alas, roleplaying is now in your blood. How do you jump start your game so it doesn't feel like any one of your past five campaigns?

    If you have the time and energy for it, you can write an epic quality setting with epic villains and supporting characters and epic locations that stir the blood and get readers stamping their feet and chanting war songs. While you're at it, you might as well go ahead and write the novels for that and make some money doing it.

    Assuming you don't have the time or energy to build that kind of story driven epic fantasy, there are still several things you can do to spice up your plot and setting.
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    What Inspires Me To Play DnD? 

    by
    Ao
    Published on 07-21-2010 02:30 AM
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    Why do we play this accursed game that carries such a harsh social stigma? Why do we play a version of pretend for grown-ups?

    For me, it's the freedom. Sure, I enjoy a good game of chess. Checkers has its moments too. Monopoly, Sorry, Trouble, these are all great games for a group.

    However, a pen and paper style roleplaying game is different. My playing piece or pieces are not confined to a simple board. I'm not limited to a narrow set of rules that govern play. I have an entire world to manipulate. Of course, there are boundaries... the Gamemaster sets these. The Gamemaster, however, isn't so limited as a software RPG. Oh no. A Gamemaster provides a much richer experience ...
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    OpenRPG vs Maptool 

    by
    Auspician
    Published on 05-26-2010 03:17 PM

    I'll get this new forum started. Having played virtual tabletop for about 5 years now, I have had the opportunity to clock hundreds of hours both as a player and GM of both OpenRPG and Maptool. I started virtual tabletop with OpenRPG, which I quite liked. It allowed the storage of macros, online dice rolls, and overall was a rather swell program. However, I was highly dissatisfied with the 'map' section of the tool, both in lack of quality as well as in the frequent crashes that happened trying to use the more advanced features.

    Then I came across maptool. Maptool had none of the issues of the OpenRPG maps, but I still enjoyed OpenRPG for its die rolling method and nested macros. I decided to start using both programs together; OpenRPG for the main game, and Maptool for the map. As time passed I was asked why I didn't simply use Maptool exclusively. My answer was simple; I enjoyed having each monsters macros in an easily accessible chart, where I could pull up one monster at a time but they were all there ready and waiting for me. This is when I was introduced to the idea of token-macros in Maptool.
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    The random vat of unknown magical goo 

    by
    Teksura
    Published on 05-21-2010 02:45 AM
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    Strange things happen when I am unable to properly plan out my game. Don't get me wrong, I don't railroad my players. I simply prefer to have at least a general idea what I will be doing in an upcoming session. Usually, this involves me asking my players what their characters intend to do next after a session ends. Often this means I have a number of monsters set aside as a backup plan if they should go in a way I do not expect them to. A monster encounter is very time consuming, and can often take an entire session, which gives me time to work on what is behind the next door.

    A few sessions ago, the players progressed through their combat encounter faster than expected. They made it to a portal which I had expected to be the mark of the end of the session... However, there was 4 hours left in our game. I did not even have a map prepared for what lays beyond the portal.
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