As my players have led a successful revolt in the main town of our Into the Odd campaign, I thought it might be useful to publish the notes I used to run it.
Worked example of Into the Odd GM notes
Category: Campaign Setting Generation
Basic Depthcrawl Procedure
I recently learned about a procedural generation technique called a “depthcrawl”. Maybe the best known example is the Garden of Ynn, though there are a few different takes on the idea. For example, Downcrawl builds pretty significantly on the idea by introducing "volumes" (regions, I think) and more. The base technique uses the depth of … Continue reading Basic Depthcrawl Procedure
Improving point crawl maps
A couple of small ideas for improving your pointcrawl maps for accessibility and printing.
Let’s Read: Dirge of Urazya
"Dirge of Urazya" is a zine from Jack Shear (author of "Krevborna" and several other system-neutral setting books). I've given this no more than five seconds of flipping through before writing this post, so this is my initial read-through. You can read his blog posts on it as well. First Impressions Jack has produced what … Continue reading Let’s Read: Dirge of Urazya
Using Dwarf Fortress as a map generator
The previous article in this series discussed my reasons for generating a new campaign setting. This time I will discuss the maps that Dwarf Fortress generates for a new world. DF allows users to export the world maps and history in Legends mode. This creates great depth via procedural generation without requiring the world builder to design everything by hand. (I … Continue reading Using Dwarf Fortress as a map generator
Generating a campaign setting: Motivation
D&D Fifth Edition appears to use the Forgotten Realms as the default setting. For me, however, FR just comes with too much baggage: an intricate history, many novels of existing lore, and the sense that this world already has its heroes. Players will tend to see the world through their own lenses after playing through … Continue reading Generating a campaign setting: Motivation
Technoskald's Forge 