What were we talking about again?
Ways that I’m experimenting with the games I play. These are often tested in actual play, but occasionally they’re just something I’m working around with. Use at your own risk.
The next god of the New Sun is Shaw. Shaw is a god that kind of fills a big void for me that's often missing when you look at the brief lists of gods that often appear in the Player's Handbook. He's there not so much to pick one side or the other, but for… Continue reading Gods of the New Sun: Shaw
The second god I created was Nwt. I wanted someone who could stand in stark contrast to Geb and so this is what came out: Nwt by Charles Akins When I started working on the illustration for Nwt I wanted to draw someone who was confident and felt like she could hold her own against… Continue reading The Gods of the New Sun: Nwt
One of my favorite aspects of creating a world is building up the gods. I don't know why it is, but it's something that I've always loved. To that end I've begun working on the pantheon of the New Sun. Meet Geb. Geb, by Charles Akins Geb was the first god that popped into my… Continue reading The Gods of the Book of the New Sun: Geb
Recently, I started talking to some friends about beginning a new campaign. Several of them had heard of Dungeons and Dragons, though only two of them have played before. So I'm treating this as a new experience for everyone involved and that means that I need to treat it like my first time DMing again,… Continue reading The Book of the New Sun
One of the great problems I find with clerics is that they're largely all the same. A lot of the sameness comes from the way that Dungeons and Dragons presents the class. Little wonder too, as they're trying to provide a class that will be appealing to the greatest number of people across the largest… Continue reading Making Clerics Distinct
Changing Pasture by Anton Mauve Occasionally I find myself slipping off into a bit of minutia when it comes to the worlds I'm playing with in my home games. This morning was just such an occasion. I had been working on a scene my players would be encountering in the countryside when I noted that… Continue reading How Many Cows Are There, Really?
I really wanted to have a god who felt completely different from anyone else so I designed one that reminded me of my favorite strongman competitor: Brian Shaw. Shaw is kind of an amalgam of what I like about Brian Shaw while at the same time being a bit of all the things I like… Continue reading Gods of the Book of the New Sun: Shaw
A young Dave Arneson looking to steal your girlfriend I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Dave Arneson. When I first got into role-playing games back in 2004 he was the first mysteries I encountered (and not the last). I saw his name popping up here and there but there wasn't really… Continue reading Dave Arneson on Rules in Role-Playing Games
Have you picked up a mainstream RPG book lately? Did you look at the map inside? It's utterly depressing. Map by Mike Schley from Curse of Strahd[1] All of the maps that we use now look the same. Our iconography is the same. Our roads meander meaninglessly along, in windy paths that go nowhere to… Continue reading We’ve Lost Our Way When it Comes to Maps
. . . [What’s] a good dungeon without thick cobwebs and odd stains, not to mention the screams wafted randomly on the wind? What does silence mean if there is no noise to contrast it?”Dushay Last night I was reading an old issue of Dragon Magazine when I ran across the article Sights and Sounds… Continue reading Sights and Sounds 1
One of the things that I often struggle with when I'm in the middle of a game is coming up with a community name for the various towns, districts, and cities that my players encounter. To help alleviate that issue I created this d100 City Names table that you're welcome to download from the link… Continue reading d100 City Names
1. Tax Season: 12 recipes on cooking for mole-men, the beauty of mollusk monuments, and the etiquette for guests at virgin sacrifices. +2 diplomacy at sacrificial ceremonies. 2. Games for Two Pigeons: A pamphlet on the raising, training, and racing of gigantic pigeons. It details the various breeds and their propensity for fighting the patriarchy… Continue reading d8 Street Pamphlets
A few weeks ago, I ended up finding myself in a conversation with a rather eccentric individual that has bothered me since and I wanted to take a moment to work through my thoughts on this matter here. We were talking about modifying our games. The fellow I was talking with was very measured in… Continue reading You’re the Worst – EVER!
Me, Meg, and Courtney had just sat down,” Susan said as she wiped some ash off her cheek. "And then this guy stands up and starts screaming. He grabbed his throat and tentacles shoot out of his mouth!""What did you do," Jon asked, his coffee untouched. "We ran like hell!" Susan said."Where did all the… Continue reading Breaking Up Crowds in RPGs
Occasionally as a Game Master (GM) you're going to need to determine crowd size. Now there are several methods to do this but this is mine and you're welcome to it. The first thing I do is determine how large a crowd I'm going to need at that particular moment. A small coffee shop, for… Continue reading Determining Crowd Size
Dragons Never Forget 