Gabe as DM

How cool would it be to have an artist like Gabe from Penny Arcade be your DM? Tycho and Gabe have been documenting Gabe's recent interest in DMing his very own campaign in their most recent strips and Gabe himself posted the illustrations he did for each of the party members. Very cool.

Actually, my group has a budding artist too. Pati, the DM's wife, drew and colored stand-up placards for nearly the entire group. They're really good; it's become as much ritual to prop up your player card as opening up the bag of Twizzlers or lining up the night's dice.

Having played 4.0 for nearly six months now, I still enjoy the latest iteration more than 3.5. But I think some of my companions yearn for the complexity and challenge that the previous edition offered. I know Craig, the DM, is frustrated by the party continuously bitch slapping his monsters. He blames the system for the lack of crunchy challenge. I had to remind him that 3.5 has gaping holes in its game system that you could drive a Mack truck through. He nodded agreement, but I don't think he was convinced.