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
"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
NB: This is the adventure front after Session 1 of "From Us Came Dusk". I thought this might serve as a useful example for anyone looking to understand fronts. A video explanation can be found at the end of the post. Based on “Vault of the Blue Golem” by Dyson Logos. Additional inspiration from “Black … Continue reading From Us Came Dusk Adventure Front
I started a short mini-campaign of Dungeon World (Homebrew World) a few nights ago on Variant Roles called "From Us Came Dusk". We play on Tuesday nights at 7pm US Central for two or three hours; the game will run for three more weeks. Players include Cole, Forta, Jessie, and Jimmy. One of the nicer … Continue reading From Us Came Dusk Session 1
Lately, I've been thinking about whether I should start publishing more stuff beyond my musings here and my game sessions. I wouldn't do this for the income stream ("monetize your hobby and make it a job" doesn't appeal to me) but rather for the fun of seeing other people use what I've made and hopefully … Continue reading Create the content you want to see in the world
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
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
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
