At one of the PAX Unplugged panels on racism in TTRPGs this weekend, something was said that sort of crystallized some thoughts I've had floating around in my head about making sure my games aren't all white folks. it's not enough to do an "open call" - I need to reach out specifically to folks … Continue reading Thinking about active invitations
Blades in the Dark preparation
NB: The following is based on a comment I wrote on The Gauntlet forums. That thread has other people's advice as well and is worth reading! Photo by Isis França I do very little prep for my Blades in the Dark campaign, Doskvol Dalliances. Before the game, I take a look at any existing faction … Continue reading Blades in the Dark preparation
My first look at Ghost/Echo
Last night, I played "Ghost/Echo" by John Harper with some friends. The video is embedded at the end of this post, but I'll explain a bit about the game first, because it's not what most people might expect. The actual Ghost/Echo page says: GHOST/ECHO is presented as an 'oracle game'. It provides only a starting point … Continue reading My first look at Ghost/Echo
Pacing for Blades in the Dark
I've now run three sessions of Blades in the Dark for my "Doskvol Dalliances" campaign. The first two had some serious pacing problems in various ways; the third session finally started to get the pacing I want. The short version of this is that you should leave plenty of time for the Downtime phase. In … Continue reading Pacing for Blades in the Dark
From Us Came Dusk – Campaign Review
Last month, I ran a short four-session campaign of Dungeon World using the Homebrew World hack in a science fantasy world. For the aesthetic, think the new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power or Breath of the Wild or Horizon Zero Dawn. I've previously written about some of the sessions and prep, but this post … Continue reading From Us Came Dusk – Campaign Review
Doskvol Dalliances: Session 1
My new Blades in the Dark streamed campaign launched this weekend! The video is at the end of the post, but I'll summarize things here. Doskvol, by John Harper, based on "Shipping on the Clyde (1881)" by John Atkinson Grimshaw First, we ran through safety tools. We talked about the CATS method: Concept, Aim, Tone, … Continue reading Doskvol Dalliances: Session 1
NPCs with motivation and agency
If nobody in the game world wants anything, why even play? Player characters usually have some sort of motivation, whether that's "save the blacksmith's daughter" or "get treasure" or "seal away the ancient horrible evil before it can be unleashed upon the world". NPCs and monsters need to want things, too. What are the owlbear's … Continue reading NPCs with motivation and agency
