Dungeon Masters in D&D 5E don't necessarily have a lot of tools to manage factions, NPCs, and long-term dangers. The Dungeon Master's Guide provides lots of excellent advice on creating villainous NPCs, but I personally need more. I've used Fronts from "Dungeon World" pretty extensively as a way to organize various Dangers with their Grim … Continue reading Progress clocks in Dungeons and Dragons
Illustration by Arthur Rackham What does "success" mean for you? Why do you create stuff for RPGs, or stream your game, or whatever you do? Growth "Success" looks different for different folks, in whatever area of life. We have varying purposes and principles as we go about whatever we're doing. In my case, playing RPGs … Continue reading Success in RPGs and Streaming
I sat down this weekend and listed out the three games I currently have planned, then started thinking about what I want to do next. All of my current streams take place on the Variant Roles channel on Twitch, for what it's worth, and are archived on YouTube. "Jayemdae Tome" by Donato Giancola As I've … Continue reading Updates on upcoming streaming
Many games based on (or "powered by") the Apocalypse engine use a core 2d6 mechanic: roll two six-sided dice and potentially add a modifier (usually between -1 to +3). If the result is 10 or higher, you succeed; if it's 6 or less, the GM ("MC" in many games) gets to make a hard move; … Continue reading Powered by the Analysis: 2d6+N
Not the stat - the received body of knowledge that everyone "knows". Whether or not they're actually correct, here are some bits of wisdom for new players. Don't split the party. Even when it seems harmless, just don't.Let the Bard do the talking.Keep an eye on the Rogue (and check your pockets).Take good notes. You … Continue reading D&D Player Wisdom
I learned an important lesson on Saturday night about open table games: consider carefully how much you want the world to change based on one session. In my ongoing Dungeon World community game, some players wanted to return to the Dreaming Wood. This location used a mix of two Lampblack & Brimstone Dungeon Starters: "The … Continue reading Free Dungeon Starter: Caves of Hypnos
Ross Castle—Killarney I've been running some Dungeon World games (off stream) for members of the Variant Roles community for the last month or so. It's not a "serious" campaign, for whatever value you might attach to that word. It feels more like a series of one-shots, sometimes with recurring characters. This all stems from the … Continue reading Community Dungeon World Games
