Genre Police: Staying On Track
Geek NativeIt seems like we are beginning to think about railroad in a way that is just used to critique a game where you can see the way a story is going to go or has elements you find prosaic.
Tag: Storytelling
An argument for more sophisticated Tier 1 adventures
Do too many adventures for the lower character levels in D&D lean too heavily into “an introduction to fantasy worlds” at the expense of nuance, mystique and emotional challenge?
Join the August 2021 RPG Blog Carnival – Let’s Build A Dungeon!
TomThis month’s RPG Blog Carnival theme is “Let’s Build A Dungeon”…
Genre Police: Meta-Lurgy
Sometimes people talk about characters as ‘meta’. It’s almost always used in a negative context. But one survey shows that people don’t use ‘meta’ in the same way, and sometimes it can be good to ‘meta game’.
Slaadi in Dungeons and Dragons Part 2: Batrachian Beasts From Beyond
RJD20Horrifying outsiders often invade our D&D worlds. They pillage green earth, gather frightened prisoners, and spread corruption far and wide, slaughtering, not rankling. Planar denizens run rampant as villains in plenty of TTRPG systems: devils, demons, and elementals among countless others. One outsider entity in particular haunts far fewer D&D adventures than it should: slaadi.
Canon, Your Homegrown Setting, and You
Our lives change constantly, as do our views and levels of creativity. For those of us who construct vast Dungeons & Dragons settings and worlds for our players to place their characters in and explore, this brings a dilemma. How do we stay true to all the wild escapades, heart-racing adventures, and ground-breaking campaigns that occur in our world? We all have an opinion on the role of canon in works of fiction—and we should carve one out for our own worlds as well.
Gifts of the Gods, divine artifacts, ending the RPG Blog Carnival
Sea of Stars RPGRounding up this month’s RPG Blog Carnival! Still time to join in!
The January 2021 Blog Carnival: Characters, Stories, and Worlds
The RPG Blog Carnival rolls round to another year; please take part and follow it around the blogosphere in 2021…
(When) is it OK to TPK?
Character death is part of the stakes of a lot of our games. It keeps us on our toes as players. Hitpoints or harm are often one of the resources players have to manage. There can be a great deal of drama – and satisfaction – in epic battles against overwhelming odds, even if we lose.
Creating Dynamic RPG Plots from Plot Elements
The elements in the grid and whether they are in the spotlight tells me where to focus my planning; I can draft up a couple of NPCs and a list of potential stat blocks for the Antagonists, and maps etc. for any Places I might need in the next couple of sessions. If it’s not likely to be relevant now or soon then don’t plan it! But do it in a way that can be reused in case it doesn’t become relevant immediately.