Photo by Anika Huizinga on Unsplash When somebody tells you "this space is closing down", there are basically two things you can do. You can fight it, or you can accept it. There are a million variations on those themes, but at some point you have to pick one. Even if it feels like absentee … Continue reading My final statement on Variant Roles
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
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
We've done it. We've finished Undermountain. The rest of this post contains some mild spoilers for the dungeon, but honestly not a lot. Instead, I want to talk about what I learned about D&D and communities. For context, Variant Roles ran the entire book as a community project, with different groups exploring different levels. I … Continue reading Thoughts on Dungeon of the Mad Mage
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
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
Technoskald's Forge 