Techniques
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Artisanal Magic Items for Luddite Referees
Mass produced products are a relatively recent phenomenon, but the evolution of the elfgame has resulted in Spell Lists and Magic Item Catalogues. It’s all very Sears, or very American Western Expansion or maybe just very industrial revolution. While it makes it easier to run an elfgame with a catalogue, it’s also just super boring, Continue reading
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Juicy Worms, Local Knowledge and Player Engagement
I think Gearing is wrong about hooks, and I think he’s wrong to say rumours are any different or better. I’m not going to go into detail here, but basically: It’s my job as a writer to make everyone’s life easier when it comes to playing in my module, my job as a referee to Continue reading
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Modifying Reaction Rolls
The prolific Dice Goblin wrote about 2-tiered reaction rolls, which, like is cool, but it was a bit clunky for me. What I like: It gives you a little more that random chance, modified by a little. What I don’t like: Confusing. But, like, could it just be a matrix, though? Our prototypical reaction roll, Continue reading
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An Overloaded Restocking Procedure
I like Chris’s procedure for its simplicity. I also like John’s procedure, but it’s too complex. Chris loses something for its lack of complexity — it requires a little too much of my input, and I want to be able to restock on the way home when I have a migraine. John’s is the opposite: Continue reading
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Double-overloading the Random Encounter Table
Over on Prismatic Wasteland, we have a very cool way to roll just 3d6 to tell you what monster, how many monsters, the distance they’re at, their reaction, and whether the players are surprised by this all. It’s elegant as heck at the front end, and takes advantage of the power of 3d6, but because Continue reading
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Reflections on a West Marches Campaign
So, a few years ago I ran an open tabled West Marches campaign in 5th edition. I did this because it didn’t seem like enough of my in person playing friends could commit to a weekly game, and a West Marches campaign seemed like a good way to get people to the table without a Continue reading
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The Three C’s of Challenges
In a recent Dungeon Regular episode, Hirward’s Task, I found a neat framework for challenge design that I’ve never seen before. This post will be an exploration of whether or not it has legs. Basically, and perhaps unintentionally, this module had three clear, built in solutions to its primary challenge, and they were clearly geared Continue reading
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Problem Stacking
I saw a TikTok (which thereafter disappeared into the algorithm) that talked about problem stacking in story writing and I was like This Needs To Be Said about module writing and home brewing adventure scenarios: Don’t give the player characters one problem. Give them many possible problems. We do this in a bunch of ways: Continue reading
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Megadungeon as an Overworld
I started a low-pressure megadungeon. It’s the opposite of Dungeon23: I don’t have to do anything on it if I don’t want to, but if I’m stuck on something else I can go and just fill out a room or a faction or add an encounter or something. It feels a lot more feasible to Continue reading
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