Ben Latham, Author at Tribality https://www.tribality.com/author/benlatham/ D&D / Role Playing Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:14:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.tribality.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cropped-logo-2020-icon@2x-32x32.jpg Ben Latham, Author at Tribality https://www.tribality.com/author/benlatham/ 32 32 Magic: First Steps into Competitive Play https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/24/magic-first-steps-into-competitive-play/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/24/magic-first-steps-into-competitive-play/#respond Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:15:11 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=8902 Today, I’m writing something special, outside of the purview of my usual work in the Eye of the Beholder. Today, I’m talking about how to pick up Magic: The Gathering, and begin to play it more actively. As a bit of background, I’m a competitive MTG (Short for Magic: The Gathering) player. I’ve played at quite a few very large events, including GP Vegas, which I wrote a tournament report for. Now, I decided to talk a little about how […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/24/magic-first-steps-into-competitive-play/feed/ 0 5 Ways to Use the Planes as Plot Devices & Settings https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/17/5-ways-to-use-the-planes-as-plot-devices-settings/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/17/5-ways-to-use-the-planes-as-plot-devices-settings/#comments Wed, 17 Jun 2015 19:57:19 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=8143 The planes are the fundamental dimensions that make up the multiverse in which a typical D&D setting takes place. The planes (typically) describe the creation of the universe, the existence of an afterlife and the breeding ground for half the monsters in the manual. It may be that you don’t want these questions answered already in your setting. It is entirely possible to have your planes be either nonexistent or undiscovered. Today, we are going to put planes in the […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/17/5-ways-to-use-the-planes-as-plot-devices-settings/feed/ 3 Eye of the Beholder: Campaign Continuity https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/10/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-campaign-continuity/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/10/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-campaign-continuity/#respond Thu, 11 Jun 2015 02:21:47 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=8411 When you sit down at a table to play a pen and paper RPG as a dungeon master, you are there because you want to tell a story. The best dungeon masters are not necessarily gifted with encyclopedic knowledge of the rules, or even with genius talent to create and balance new monsters. The best dungeon masters are those with a good story to tell, and with the skill set to tell it while having your players change it with […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/10/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-campaign-continuity/feed/ 0 Tournament Report – GP Las Vegas MAY 28-31, 2015 https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/08/tournament-report-gp-las-vegas/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/08/tournament-report-gp-las-vegas/#comments Mon, 08 Jun 2015 20:38:20 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=8266 Instead of writing about D&D, I’m doing something special. I attended GP Las Vegas (MAY 28-31, 2015), the biggest card tournament (by far) ever held. I stayed there from Thursday until Sunday, and I thought I would share my experiences playing Magic: The Gathering in a crowd of more than 8000 people. Day 1 – Thursday I stayed up all night Wednesday to make my 6 am flight on Thursday. A mistake, it turns out, because the flight got canceled […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/08/tournament-report-gp-las-vegas/feed/ 1 In the Eye of the Beholder: Skills https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/19/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-skills/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/19/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-skills/#respond Tue, 19 May 2015 12:30:48 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7949 Skills are the things that allow adventurers to succeed where others might fail. The ordinary person might not be able to fling a fireball or swing a sword as well as an adventurer, but the rigors of the road and the depths of the dungeon require crafty, skilled people to navigate. So it was with great surprise that I noticed how abused skills were in the 5e player’s handbook. They have fallen from having a whole chapter about them in […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/19/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-skills/feed/ 0 In the Eye of the Beholder: Treasure https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/13/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-treasure/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/13/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-treasure/#respond Wed, 13 May 2015 16:35:41 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7736 Glistening piles of coin, an enchanted sword shining with elvish runes, a trinket stolen from a dragon’s hoard, all of these things are treasure to your players, and they are vitally important to making a storyline set in a fantasy world dynamic. This week, we are going to put treasure in the Eye of the Beholder, and discuss when, and how, to give it to your players. Not all that glitters is gold. The first, and most common, type of treasure is […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/13/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-treasure/feed/ 0 In the Eye of the Beholder: Paladins https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/04/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-paladins/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/04/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-paladins/#respond Mon, 04 May 2015 18:57:34 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7413 Part 1: Roleplaying a Paladin Last week in the Eye of the Beholder, we looked at evil genies as a tool for dungeon masters running D&D campaigns. This week, we are going to move our lens over to the player’s handbook and inspect one of the classes. In this excellent series of articles, written by Brandes Stoddard, the histories of the classes are explored, with each edition from 1st to 5th given its due. Brandes chose to start with paladins, so […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/04/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-paladins/feed/ 0 In the Eye of the Beholder: Evil Genies https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/27/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-evil-genies/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/27/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-evil-genies/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2015 21:58:29 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7007 A genie is a planar being resulting from the infusion of a human soul with elemental energy. The resulting creature has no recollection of the soul, however it will have similar personality traits and the same gender as the soul. This week, I am going to put evil genies in the Eye of the Beholder and see how we can use them in our campaigns!

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/27/in-the-eye-of-the-beholder-evil-genies/feed/ 2 Creating an Archipelago World https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/17/creating-an-archipelago-world/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/17/creating-an-archipelago-world/#respond Fri, 17 Apr 2015 17:01:19 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=6754 It’s been a crazy week and I’m only about 50% done my the second entry in the Adventure Building series. I thought this guest post by Ben Latham would be an excellent replacement for me this week and my series will resume next week. – Shawn In this article, I will reference a great deal of other content available for free at Tribality. There will be links included below, in the description, for anything that I reference. It is no […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/17/creating-an-archipelago-world/feed/ 0 Character Creation: Background Stories https://www.tribality.com/2015/03/28/character-creation-background-stories/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/03/28/character-creation-background-stories/#respond Sat, 28 Mar 2015 18:16:36 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=6197 A guest post by Ben J. Latham My character is a first level wizard. I met my fellow adventurers a bar. Sometimes, as a DM, you will encounter characters who have written the previous line as a background story. They may come to the table with a character sheet or stat table, but lack any depth to their character. And so it falls to you, as a DM to help players create stories that will put them in the setting. […]

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