Sample Articles

Thinking about guilds when we're so rooted in the modern world is tricky. Guilds aren't dead, they aren't labor unions, and they aren't thieves' guilds.

This post is me suddenly realizing that I could Simply Write About something I've repeatedly alluded to in replies on social media:  "If you...

How to Disneyfy Wormskin for Fun and Profit

Players encounter many types of maps in tabletop RPGs. There are maps for hex crawling, dungeon crawling, and navigating towns. There are maps for finding treasure and maps found as treasure. Maps …

NEWS: This review is a finalist for this year’s bloggies! Go check out the other finalists, there’s some really good stuff this year!***This week on The Weeping Stag I have the honor of…

Anyone can complain about the failings of something, but it takes a slightly smarter dumbass to actually propose a solution. My talked about two common cri...

It seems every other fantasy world that was published after J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings has a variation on his orcs as armies of ma...

The suspects I finished up two investigative scenarios in the last week or so. The experiences could not have been more different. I was the GM for one and a player in the other. They were in very …

Hi!  This is a TTRPG rules idea, a modification of Desks and Dorks' idea for a bridge set-piece encounter built around an incrementing 'mo...

This is an submission to DIY&dragons’ Summer LEGO RPG Setting Jam. Now, this was a fun exercise. I didn’t imagine I’d ever write a Pirates of the

I’ve been thinking about what appeals to me about the new school revolution, why I keep turning toward these quirky little games, and why I believe they have made being a GM more enjoyable.

An in depth look at the nature and goals of the Fetterers.

Often when designing my megadungeon I roll on my table and then stare at the result looking for inspiration. One of the examples I saw said ...

Here’s my process for going from an adventure you can read to one you can play at the table.

Why pointcrawl dungeons are great.

Goblin Tax Fraud is a fun TTRPG/Larp that shows how effective use of props can massively enhance a TTRPG and draw in roleplaying newcomers.

Various techniques to induce flow in your players; keeping them on target and make your games blaze on by.

Dice aren't an integral part of role-playing, but they do turn up a lot. I love a good dice roll. Or, to be a little more precise, I love that moment when...

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The Gnomunist Manifesto

In a 2010 blog post, John Harper argued that custom moves in Apocalypse World have a danger of “crossing the line” between player and MC roles. I’ve read it before, but only recently come to appreciate the actual implications of the division between the player roles. To quote the relevant passage from Apocalypse World itself (on page 109 of the first edition):

The social combat rules introduced in *The Children of Eriu* bring the same mechanical depth I love in the base game to the social sphere. ...

2024/11/28: In a cool coincidence, The Nothic's Eye also posted some dungeon gods today! I totally recommend you check them out here !   Se...

What I think these games lack, and what I hope to see more in the years to come, is specificity.  Specificity can be toothy , it gives a game well-made places, characters and items can stick with a player character for a long time and shape the adventure to come, and ideally stick the p

I played my first tabletop role-playing game between shutdowns during the Covid pandemic in late 2021. I began to play online shortly after and GMed my first...

One of the most-used ways for players to gather information about the loaction they're exploring is by searching for rumors going around settlements. It's a ...

Explore Dolmenwood's factions with goals, resources, and actions. Use a Faction Turn framework to make them dynamic participants in your campaign!