Rpgs

Below are all of the posts with the Rpgs tag. A post tagged with Rpgs means that it is about Rpgs. If a post references Rpgs but does not have the tag, then the post will not be in the list below. If a post has the Rpgs tag or mentions Rpgs, then it will be in the Glossary for "Rpgs".

I have ordered the posts from newest to oldest:

2026-08-26 The (Subtle?) Brilliance of Mythic Bastionland’s Time
As an #RPG about heroic and mythical knights, #MythicBastionland necessarily considers time. Both fairy tale logic as well as heeding the admonition for creating a “meaningful campaign.”
2026-08-10 First Session of Running Mythic Bastionland for Others
The start of a new age and a new campaign for a pair of knight tenants.
2026-07-26 Questions as Flashback Tech
In preparation for my #Stonetop #ttprg session, I wrote several questions to walk through a flashback sequence. I felt it was a rewarding experience keeping the story in the present, yet giving access to the past actions.
2026-07-22 System Hacks: The Long Defeat
Part of game culture is re-mixing and accumulating a toolbox of cool tech.
2026-07-17 Back to Powered by the Apocalypse
Reflections and thoughts on running #Stonetop and thus revisiting #PbtA games, having remembered some of the past challenges.
2026-07-17 Stonetop Session 1 Preparation
My thoughts for building up my questions for the first session.
2026-07-10 Session Zero of Stonetop
Preparing for a face to face game of Stonetop, and considering how to approach the game and inevitable note taking.
2025-12-21 Game Procedures as Bridges from Potential to Actual
Considering the great utility of procedures and tables as a means of developing the fictive world, passing from potential to actual.
2025-12-21 Forged From the Worst: Session 5
In which the Knights learn of a blood feud and yet another Myth plaguing the realm.
2025-12-19 Forged from the Worst: Session 4
In which Sir Weydlyn confronts his fear and makes a solemn promise to Beatrice.
2025-12-16 Mythic Bastionland Map Play Aid Emacs Package
Generating the canonical game map while encapsulating its state and revealing information through functions that interrogate the map. That is, I the player can ask Emacs to answer questions about the campaign map that a referee would know.
2025-12-16 Forged from the Worst: Session 3
In which Sir Weydlyn continues his trek towards the castle, learning of a fate perhaps worse than death.
2025-12-10 Forged from the Worst: Session 2
In which hard-lessons are learned after witholding information.
2025-12-09 Mythic Bastionland Session Reflection
With one #solo #rpg session in the books, I take a bit to assess and reflect on my experience. Will there be more sessions? I’ll need to Ask the Stars.
2025-12-08 Forged from the Worst: Session 1
In which we establish our realm and we first meet Knight-Errant Sir Weydlyn, his helmed steed Ingot, and Squire Kelwum.
2025-12-03 Musing about Dolmenwood
Looking at recently arrived books and feeling a sense of exploration and desire to play.
2025-03-19 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 13
Duinhir finds a bit of rest then sets about helping those in Isengard.
2025-02-07 Forever Ago…Remembering to Dance
A gift unwrapped, a book finished, and a hobby remembered…all of which is to say our stories and myths are important.
2024-12-08 Reflecting on "Weavers and Deceivers" by Kris Swank
Reflecting on an academic paper discussing Le Guin’s spiders and how reading that paper rekindled memories of an Apocalypse World session.
2024-10-30 Reflecting on Ironsworn: Starforged
A blog post long in draft now given life. It’s a few reflections on the “Ironsworn: Starforged” system. Hint: It’s really good!
2024-10-14 The Great Pendragon Campaign: Year 490
A lengthy post of my play through of most of the first year of the Great Pendragon Campaign. I reflect on the rules and procedures, finding this a wonderful meditation on game play.
2024-10-05 On Starting a Solo Pendragon Campaign
This post is a walk through of books I’m reading to start another solo campaign. And how, for this Pendragon campaign, I’m intending to use paper character sheets, notebooks, and PDFs to journal. I also reflect on times when my local gaming scene were able to prioritize many long-running games, and how the generational aspect of Pendragon would’ve very much been in-line with our play style and preferences.
2024-09-22 Building a Family History for Pendragon
I used the Book of Sires to establish a knight’s family history; seeing how the Book of Squires is a great Session 0 toolkit; while looking at Pendragon as a great candidate for exploring solo play in the milieu of the legends of childhood.
2024-07-31 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 12
In which Duinhir, after 3 weeks on the road, arrives at Isengard with a message from Gandalf.
2024-05-21 The Fugitive’s Forge: Session 4
In this session, Andrei gathers some information about finding Nika’s former crew. Therein he swears a few vows and wonders when his luck will run out.
2024-05-19 Adding an Emacs Command to Summarize Headlines with Chosen Tags
In this post I talk about using Emacs to help facilitate a session. I then introduce a function that helps summarize my notes for quick review.
2024-05-15 The Fugitive’s Forge: Session 3
Andrei and the Luminous Sorrow engage in some bold and foolhardy subterfuge to break the blockade around Marrow. The dice are rather favorable and we close a chapter on Andrei’s vow to bring supplies to a forlorn orbital station.
2024-05-14 The Fugitive’s Forge: Session 2
Andrei sneaks Nika out of Paradox as the Clans Authority arrives. Caught in an uncertain situation, they begin their jump to Marrow. During transit they find some allies and launch a plan to smuggle supplies into Marrow.
2024-05-06 The Fugitive's Forge: Session 1
In which Andrei seeks help from a retired pirate who’s loyalties ensure that there’s no simple answers.
2024-05-04 Session 0 of The Fugitive’s Forge
A quick overview of the opening of a solo campaign set in Ironsworn: Starforged.
2024-05-03 Creating an Emacs Helper Function for Incrementing a Game Clock Track
Some double nerd action where I do symbolic arithmetic via Emacs Lisp.
2024-02-24 Emacs Function to Assign Org-Mode Property to Matching Criteria
Some Emacs Lisp to help me populate random information into my Campaign Status document. This delves into the org-element-map function and some querying of information to pick the right elements.
2024-02-23 Update on the Campaign Status Document
In this blog post, I go into a deep dive into the details of my status document. Discussin the the structure, functionality, modes of usage, and providing both code snippets and screenshots.
2024-01-17 Lore24 - Entry 017: The Sunken Mountain Grasslands
A scarred land of leechlike wyrms thirsting for hearts blood; this land lies between the Company and their destination of the mines.
2024-01-17 Lore24 - Entry 016: A mountain hermit as way-finder in the Shadows of Mont Brun
Rumors regarding the mines as well as the odd hermit who lives near there, with a mouthful of madness, now cracked and worn yet wise to what follows.
2024-01-15 Lore24 - Entry 015: Delving into the history of the Duke of Savoy
Synthesizing and narrowing down events surrounding the historical Duke of Savoy during the 1620s.
2024-01-14 Lore24 - Entry 014: Ancient Memory of a Past Bishop of Chamrousse
Connecting to a historical event and some folk-lore to begin working through the origins of the Roman gold in the mine.
2024-01-13 Lore24 - Entry 013: A Refugee from Fraconia now Settled in Saint Egréve
Exploring the background of a recently encountered NPC; while relying on game oracles to answer questions regarding the nature of the character and events surrounding the lore learned at the table.
2024-01-13 Lore24 - Entry 012: Considering the Badeux Family Relation to the Malévols
A bit of lore regarding a village leader and a captive who happens to be of a notable family; esablished by consulting solo-gaming oracles.
2024-01-11 Lore24 - Entry 011: A Count of the Holy Roman Empire Seeks Refuge from a Catholic Reclamation
A historical minor figure in the Holy Roman Empire, seeking safety from the ravages of the Thirty Year War.
2024-01-10 Lore24 - Entry 010: A Bit of Village Lore and a Mountain Creature
A bit of lore about a villager’s encounter with a mountain monster, loosely statted up for Old School Essentials.
2024-01-09 Lore24 - Entry 009: Rumors of Roman Treasure near the Village Saint Egréve
A rumour of Roman gold in a nearby mine paired with needing to make right with the law regarding illegal religious ceremonies will seed the next adventure.
2024-01-08 Lore24 - Entry 008: Two of the Many Beings Whom Answer the Petitions of the Santémagîtes
A quick bit of lore regarding two beings whom respond to the petitions of the Santémagîte heresy. From here, I’ll need to write up more about each of these two Covenants; but for now this short post will do.
2024-01-07 Lore24 - Entry 007: Rumours in Saint Egréve
Three rumors to kick off tomorrow’s downtime turn for our Errant campaign.
2024-01-06 Lore24 - Entry 006: A Discovery is Made in the Shadows of Mont Brun
This post connects a character’s past action to a possible future downtime discovery; namely the accidental creation of a healing grove. I also discuss the quantum nature of lore. Only when we encounter something in play does it truly “exist.” Up until then, it’s only a potentiality.
2024-01-05 Lore24 - Entry 005: Villager Criticality, Piety, and Quarrelsomeness
In this post I walk through three attributes for describing a villager’s integration with their village: criticality, piety, and quarrelsomeness. These attributes work alongside the reaction roll for how a villager initially interacts with the characters.
2024-01-04 Lore24 - Entry 004: Scourge of Religious Zealotry
A quick reflection on “The Last Witch of Langenburg” through the lens of my Errant campaign and the procedures for Scourges. And then writing up the Scourge of Religious Zealotry.
2024-01-03 Lore24 - Entry 003: Random Encounter within a French Alps Village in early 17th Century
A quick random table for village encounters as well as some design goals.
2024-01-02 Lore24 - Entry 002: Persona Gratis of Saint Egréve
Sketching out the administrator and preacher for the village of Saint Egréve. It is here where the Company will take their first downtime turn. I’m also musing how I might create procedures for folks that live in these small villages.
2024-01-01 Lore24 - Entry 001: Religious Affiliation of Settlements
My first entry for Lore24 is to create procedures for determining a settlement’s religious affiliation.
2023-12-31 Reflecting on Morale and Reaction Rolls
Please include Reaction Rolls and Morale Checks to your games. The orracular chaos will enrich your game. More hostages, alliances, and opportunities for recurring villainy.
2023-12-27 Preparation for Lore24
How I plan on initially creating for #Lore24 as well as some supporting functions for when I hit a mental roadblock/speed bump. All in service of removing decision points to get me more directly to the creative endeavor.
2023-12-24 Today I learned about Lore24
Sharing the #Lore24 project for next year.
2023-12-22 Developing Campaign Questions: Using History and Fiction to Frame How One Might Make Sense of That Which Wasn’t There
I look at the books I’m reading, so that I might inform my campaign approach. And from there frame the tenants of Law and Chaos. The campaign philosophy and underlying questions to explore. And the singular framing of a heresy that creates space for the myriad of potential directions that random tables could take.
2023-12-17 Introducing Extensibility with a Macro, a List, and a Reducer
A walk through of adding a new feature to an Emacs package. I layout the original state and walk through the three concepts that improved the code cohesion and also improved it’s maintainability and extensibility.
2023-12-10 Responding to the Internet Office Hours “Fighters and what to do with them?”
A quick response to a podcast discussion between a few table-top role playing gamers. I offer up some quick fighter examples from different systems (e.g. Whitehack, DCC, Errant, and 5E) and look to the guiding principles of having the fighter be the most accessible class/archetype for new players. And in my assessment I find Errant to be my recommendation for the best Fighter class for beginners; while maintaining interest for veterans.
2023-12-10 Random Tables for Errant Campaign
This post provides four tables, two mundane and two fantastical, for random encounters and local events for a region outside of a “magical/mythical” castle.
2023-12-09 Test Driving a Campaign Status Document
In this post, I give a quick overview of my campaign status document; inspired by Justin Alexander’s “So You Want to be a Game Master.” I’ve modified the default headlines adding a few more; as my software helps me orient to this larger bit of information. I also explain some of the functions that are part of my note taking process.
2023-12-09 Updates on My Errant Campaign
An overview of what I’m loving and where I’m floundering in our Errant campaign. In particular there’s a session report that highlights some of the nuance of Errant’s combat system. Overall, I’m loving Errant and it’s procedures. They are contributing to an emergent campaign world that started based on one idea but already organically drifts and shifts.
2023-11-26 Errant Campaign Set in Helvéczia
Summarizing last Monday’s session 0, in which the players picked adventuring in Castle Xyntillan. A decision that spawned further research and exploration.
2023-10-16 What Has Me Excited about Gaming?
I’m looking forward to starting a new campaign; the creative process of designing situations and providing rumors to those situations. And from there sharing in the gaming experience with a few friends.
2023-10-15 Preparing for a Face to Face Campaign
Some preliminary notes for an upcoming campaign using Ava Islam’s “Errant”; including rumors to several opening adventures.
2023-10-03 Testament of Tambor
The Testament of Tambor is a covenant for Errant’s Zealot class. Tambor seeks to fan the flames of passion and love, sharing secrets, and bringing ruin to duplicitous adulterers and those who would spurn love.
2023-10-01 Calculating Default Stat Arrays for Errant
A quick post about default attribute arrays for pre-made characters and determining what that array should be for Errant’s attribute generation of rolling 4d4 four times. Hint, it is 12, 11, 9, 8.
2023-09-29 Announcing “Errant Encumberance, Speed, and Movement Dice Calculator”
Sharing a small single page HTML+Javascript page for helping calculate some Errant statistics.
2023-09-27 Emacs Function to Calculate an Errant's Movement Dice
In this post, I share Errant’s Chase procedure. I then write out the mathematics of calculating the movement dice. And from there provide an Emacs function for calculating movement dice. The chase subsystem is too interesting to ignore the movement dice. The underlying question is “should we care about the movement dice in combat?” I think so, because those dice add to the unpredictability of the game.
2023-09-25 Quick Overview of Errant’s “Combat” Sub-System
My summarization of Errant’s initiative, attack roll, armor, weapons, movement, and morale systems. All of which builds towards chaotic combat in which folks are cheering and jeering at the highs and lows of the combat rolls.
2023-09-01 Reflections on Game Stores and Serendipity
Reflecting on the loss of the magic of discovery and serendipity in this era of product awareness and promotion. I miss the magic of the unknown.
2023-09-01 Listened to the First Two Episodes of “Into the Megadungeon”
A quick shout-out to “Into the Megadungeon”; a podcast that interviews folks who have created or run mega-dungeons. And how these mega-dungeons and the procedures of original D&D overlap and create the emergent “story.”
2023-09-01 Amplifying “Rival Parties and Replacement Characters”
A reflection on the campaign-level benefits of playing a “hirelings and henchmen” style game: increased campaign durability, easier scheduling considerations, and quicker incorpation of players joining a game with a new-to-them character.
2023-08-27 Considering Errant's Turn Random Table
Thinking about how Errant’s Event Die table can be applied to Old School Essentials.
2023-08-25 New Campaigns and the Quest for Novelty
A reflection on the promise of a new campaign. Namely RPG player’s seeing the potentiality of mechanics as a means for the glorious and serendipitous moments of artistic bliss.
2023-08-25 On GM Notebooks
A short reflection on GM Notebooks, once hard-copies, now digital binders; and how they represent the creative accretion of ideas and dreams.
2023-08-25 Listening to 3d6 Down the Line’s Actual Play of “The Halls of Arden Vul”
A quick rundown of some of the podcasts that I listen to. Then diving into 3d6 Down the Line’s actual play podcast of the “Halls of Arden Vul” and some of the joys of OSR-style play.
2023-08-21 Extracted the Random Table to an Independent Package
Introducing random-package.el, recently extracted from my personal Emacs configuration.
2023-08-20 Adding Rudimentary Handling of Math Operands in Random Table Package
Explaining new functionality added to my random-table.el package. This explanation includes the Emacs Lisp code and some explanation. Ultimately, building these random tables grows my personal GM notebook; encoding logic and making it readily and consistently available (when I have my computer).
2023-08-20 Adding Optional Dice Roll Prompting to my Emacs Random Table
Adding dice rollers that allow for either programatic randomization or prompting the user to manually roll dice and enter the results. A side benefit, is that this feature can help with debugging.
2023-08-19 Further Into My Random Table Emacs Proto Package
This post walks through encoding a new random table using my Emacs proto-package “random-table.el”. To get the tables working, I needed to do a bit of light refactoring. Ultimately, this example further demonstrates the flexibility of table composition.
2023-08-19 Spotlight Management in Old School Games
My take on spotlight management in role-playing games and corporate meetings; namely it is about checking in with the people whose voices you aren’t hearing. Giving space publicly and privately to learn if they are looking to contribute/participate different.
2023-08-17 Emacs Proto Package for Random Tables
A walk-through of a set of Emacs functions that I’ve written to allow for defining and rolling on random tables in my text editor. This involves quite a walk through and quite a bit of emacs-lisp code.
2023-08-12 Testament of Arioch
A Testament to Arioch for the Errant RPG. In which we learn of Arioch’s Blessings, Doctrines, Beneficences, and how to Gain Favour.
2023-08-04 The Bespoiled Augur of the Unbound Wyrd: Session 4
Arheash fails his birth-bound companion Monash. And learns of his family.
2023-07-31 Until It Happens at the Table Backstory Remains in a Quantum State
Writing about solo-gaming and improvisation by way of having agendas and procedures for your game.
2023-07-30 The Bespoiled Augur of the Unbound Wyrd: Session 3
Arheash recovers from most of his wounds, but jeopardized his birth-bound companion. And we learn that the jungle is not a place for true rest.
2023-07-25 The Bespoiled Augur of the Unbound Wyrd: Session 2
In Which the Past Catches Up
2023-07-23 The Bespoiled Augur of the Unbound Wyrd: Session 1
So the Story Begins
2023-07-23 The Bespoiled Augur of the Unbound Wyrd: Session 0
A Black Sword Hack Solo-Campaign
2023-07-14 In response to "Do blogs still have relevance?"
From a Maintainability Standpoint, I Think So
2023-07-13 What I've Been Reading
And Some Gaming Material
2023-03-12 A Post-Apocalyptic Caravan Campaign Using Worlds Without Number
Drawing Inspiration from Reading and Listening
2023-03-12 Invoke Patron, a “World without Number” Form
Drawing Inspiration from the Elric Saga
2023-02-12 Sitting Down and Reading “The Atlas of the Latter Earth”
A Quick Summary of a “Worlds without Number” Campaign Setting
2023-02-12 Trying to Find My Way Back into Tabletop Role-Playing Gaming
How to Rebuild a Hobby Habit after the World Changed?
2023-02-05 Ran Dungeon Crawl Classics at PopiCon 2023
To Once Again Play Face to Face
2023-01-28 PopiCon 2023 Game Convention in South Bend, Indiana
A Local to Me Game Convention
2023-01-22 Enshittification Anti-Pattern and the Ongoing D&D Licensing Debacle
How a Corporation is Looking to Create a Platform
2023-01-22 “Cities without Number” stretch goal to include licensing
Yet More and Varied Reactions to OGL Antics
2023-01-21 Ongoing Bad Faith Actions of Wizards of the Coast
An Ongoing Attempt to Shift the Legal Field Beneath Creators
2023-01-19 Revisiting Section 15 Copyright Notice of the Open Game License
An Odd Little Section Containing Such Odd Signatures
2023-01-15 On Safe Harbours, Shareholder Obligations, and Fey Contracts
Precedence, Common Rules, and Licenses
2023-01-10 The Open Gaming License and Potential Attempt at Revocation
Bearing Witness to Alienation and Seeing a Familiar Pattern
2023-01-01 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 11
Once More to Isengard
2022-12-24 The Wastelands of Discord and the Fall of Twitter
Ever Collapsing Channels of Digital Communication
2022-12-23 Other Hands and Other Minds Fanzines
Stumbling Upon a Fanzine Sparks Memories and Reflections
2022-12-21 Campaign-Level Questions for a Solo Campaign
Building a Mystery
2022-12-18 Get to Know Me: Table-Top RPG Edition
Twenty Questions and Some Answers
2022-12-14 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 10
Prowling Around the Outskirts of Tharbad
2022-12-12 Random Non-Player Character Generator for The One Ring
Responding and Building from Other Prompts
2022-12-11 The Purpose and Joy of Role-Playing Subsystems
Modeling the Guide Posts of Expectant Play
2022-12-10 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 9
Of Gathering Herbs and Revelations
2022-12-08 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 8
Convincing a Group of Elderly Dwarves of Duinhir’s Qualities
2022-12-08 Reflections on Sessions 1 through 7 of the Travels of Duinhir Tailwind
The Joys of Solo Gaming
2022-12-07 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 7
Unexpected Discoveries En Route to Tharbad
2022-12-05 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 6
The First Fellowship Phase for Duinhir
2022-12-03 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 5
A Return to Bree with Three of the Kettlebar Family
2022-12-03 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 4
Family News Delivered
2022-12-01 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 3
Initial Meeting of the Kettlebars and Wondering If There Is More to Gandalf’s Request
2022-11-29 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 2
The Lure of the Barrow Downs and Chance Meetings along the Causeways
2022-11-28 The Travels of Duinhir Tailwind: Session 1
Exploring the Solo Play Rules of “The One Ring”
2022-06-26 Core Pirates of Drinax: Session 1
A Letter of Marque from a Court Now Primed for Intrigue
2022-06-01 Using Ruby to Merge Traveller and Stars without Number System Generators
Or How to Use Your Hobby to Keep your Professional Skills Sharp
2022-05-31 Pitches for an Upcoming RPG Campaign
A Preponderance of Options
2022-05-30 On Gathering an Online Group for Gaming
Following up on a Reader Submitted Question
2022-05-25 "DayTrippers GameMaster Guide" by Tod Foley
An Impressive Book Furthering the Art of the RPG
2022-05-23 Gearing up to Run Creative Options Role-Playing Engine (CORE)
Seeking Free and Open Source Systems
2022-04-20 What's Bringing Me Joy in Game and Play
It’s about the Conversations
2022-04-19 Burning Locusts: Session 13
An Inspiring Escape and a Heated Exchange
2022-04-18 Burning Locusts: Session 12
Asking Campaign Questions Around the Game Table
2022-04-17 Burning Locusts: Session 11
Further Attempts to Track Down an Elusive Insurrectionist
2022-04-03 Burning Wheel's Factions Doctrines and Rituals from the Anthology
A Quick Exercise to Further Flesh Out the Campaign
2022-03-12 Burning Locusts: Session 10
A Few Dossiers, a Street Chase, and a Warning from a Concerned Friend
2022-03-12 Burning Locusts: Session 9
Fleshing out Scintillante One Circles Test at a Time
2022-03-01 Trait Vote Sessions in Burning Wheel
Sometimes Talking About the Game is More Important than Playing the Game
2022-02-26 Burning Locusts: Session 7
Arson, Ambush, and Art Sales
2022-02-26 Note Taking with Org Roam and Transclusion
Ever Improving my Personal Note Taking Process
2022-02-23 Burning Locusts: Session 6
More Art Theft and a Socialite Party
2022-02-22 Burning Locusts: Session 5
Haggling, Hoarding, and Help
2022-02-20 Burning Locusts: Session 4
Further Exposition as We Learn of an Art Theft Scheme and Hiring Personal Mercenaries
2022-02-20 Musing about Failure Consequences in Role-Playing Games
Let Failure Open More Pathways
2022-02-12 Building via the Wises of Burning Wheel
A Mechanic for Player Pushback and Involvement
2022-01-29 The Alt-Right in Gaming and Outlining the Pipeline
Empathy and the Reflex of Victimhood
2022-01-17 Burning Locusts: Session 3
Social Engagements and Contracts
2022-01-09 Using PlantUML to Model RPG Relationship Maps
Leveraging Open Source Software for RPGs
2021-12-30 Burning Locusts: Session 2
Laying the Foundation for Future Sessions
2021-12-16 Burning Locusts: Session 1
Disruptions at Villa di Mari
2021-12-12 Session 2: The Mistimed Scroll an Eberron Campaign
Crossing Paths on the Way to New Cyre
2021-12-10 Burning Locusts: Character Creation
A Campaign Building and Character Burning Session
2021-12-06 Session 1: The Mistimed Scroll and Eberron Campaign
Humble Beginnings
2021-11-06 The Mistimed Scroll: Character Brainstorming
Laying Out Some Next Steps
2021-10-17 The Mistimed Scroll: An Eberron Campaign
Establishing a Situation for Character Creation
2021-09-27 Eberron’s Kalashtar for Burning Wheel Gold
A Minimum Viable Set of Lifepaths and Trait
2021-09-19 Playtesting Eberron Shifters for Burning Wheel
Putting Forth Some Preliminary Designs
2021-09-19 Further into the Crucible of Burning Wheel
This Is a Game that Rewards Player and Character Engagement
2021-09-18 Revisiting the Dragonmarks for a Possible Burning Wheel Campaign
Writing Down Just Enough of an Idea to Proceed
2021-09-02 Working through the Fallout of a Moldbreaker Artha Award
Something Must Change, Let’s Do Some Digging
2021-09-02 Do I Now Favor Online over Face to Face?
Regarding Table-top Role-Playing Games, I Think I Do
2021-08-31 Crafting an In-Game Letter with Player Commentary for a Burning Wheel Game
Letter from Viscount Nentres Rhydulf to Count Rhydulf
2021-08-29 To Link Test or Not in Burning Wheel Gold
Balancing Decision Fatigue, Time Budgets, and Fictional Pacing
2021-08-26 The Circles Subsystem of “Burning Wheel Gold”
A Higher Order Reaction Roll
2021-08-24 A Wonderful Cascade of Tests in Burning Wheel
The Dice Helped Tap Some Amazing Narrative Beats
2021-07-20 Burning Wheel and What’s the Deal with Wises
Or Hey Where’s My Investigation Skill?
2021-07-11 Using the Eberron Setting and “Worlds without Number” System
Doing Just in Time Translations
2021-07-10 Interrupting the Game to Refocus
Diversions Are Fine but Sometimes You Need to Stop and Clarify
2021-06-29 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-29)
RSS, Procrastination, and Chipping Away at Boundaries
2021-06-27 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-27)
Not Much But Figured I’d Write Something
2021-06-20 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-20)
Alternatives, Balance, and Jargon
2021-06-19 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 7)
Shaky Plans, Shared Meals, and Desperate Bargains
2021-06-18 The Steadfastness and Mutability of Fiction
We are the Light that Illuminates the Stories
2021-06-17 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-17)
Campaign Play, Mystery, and Group Mythology
2021-06-13 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-13)
2021-06-11 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-11)
Campaigns, Bingo, and Breakinig Changes
2021-06-10 Embracing Tropes while also Substituting an Ingredient
More than Just Amplifying the Blogosphere
2021-06-10 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-10)
Railroads, Scholarly Research, and Worldbuilding
2021-06-09 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-09)
Old School Adventures and Maps
2021-06-07 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-07)
A Mix of Old and New Gaming and Software
2021-06-06 Revisiting the “Red Hand of Doom”
Reflecting on Campaigns Past as Fuel for Campaigns Future
2021-06-06 Amplifying the Blogosphere (v2021-06-06)
The Comingling of Gratitude, Inspiration, and Sharing
2021-06-06 Hiatus: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
2021-05-22 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 6)
Joining a Grand Scheme
2021-05-16 Burning from Within
Starting a Burning Wheel Campaign in the Warhammer Fantasy Setting
2021-05-08 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 5)
Leaning on Circles and Wises to World Build
2021-04-19 Session 16: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
A Short Session with some Information Gathering
2021-04-10 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 4)
When Law-wise is the Workhorse Skill
2021-04-03 Let's Read “Worlds without Number: Tales of the Latter Earth”
Framing Expectations of Genre and System
2021-03-17 Let's Read “Worlds without Number”
An Old School Inspired Fantasy RPG
2021-03-15 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 3)
Forgery, Failure, and Feeding Horses
2021-03-08 Session 15: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Prosthetics and Petty Thievery
2021-03-03 Playing in Seneschal Facilitated by Brad Murray
Building up a Game’s Ruleset One Turn at a Time
2021-02-28 Recontextualizing my Relationship with Burning Wheel
Community Requires Governance and Accountability
2021-02-27 Giving Platform
That Which I Give Energy Invariably Owns Me
2021-02-21 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 2)
Prognostication, Scavenging, and Coveting the Written Word
2021-02-21 Session 14: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Digital Forensics and Oracular Skulls
2021-02-14 On Game Balance
It Ain’t a Noun; It’s a Verb
2021-02-13 Preamble to Session 14: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Exposition
2021-02-11 Posts that Caught My Attention
Two Dots Daring Me To Connect Them
2021-02-07 Session 13: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Charting a Course through the Intersection of Future and Past
2021-02-07 Sending some Interstitial Love Letters to the New Vistas Crew
Dear Player Characters, Tell Me More
2021-02-07 Session 12: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Skullduggery and Explosions
2021-01-30 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 1)
Of Mutton, Brandy, Shark Teeth, and Love Letters
2021-01-29 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Alternate Character Creation)
Burning Up a Different Character
2021-01-24 Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Character Creation)
Positioning a Character for the First Session
2021-01-23 Strategies for Cold Opens of Impromptu Games
Also Applicable for Getting Any Game Going
2021-01-03 A Situation and Adventure Design Process
An Approach that Works for Me
2020-12-31 A Refinement to the Ubiquitous Initiative Procedure
Increasing the Unpredictability of Combat
2020-12-30 Discussing the Open Gaming License
Poor Clarity of Open Game Content Sucks; And Doubly so for the Aggressive Product Identity Declarations
2020-12-29 Session 11: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Fleeting Thoughts and a Gunfight in a Library
2020-12-28 Probability of Stabilizing the Dying in “Stars without Number”
Another Foray into Probability and Computations
2020-12-25 Session 1: A Grain of Truth in the World of Ardu
Investigating Descrepencies in Provincial Reports
2020-12-21 Thinking Through Group Rolls for Stars and Worlds without Number
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Everyone Rolls
2020-12-21 Session 10: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Stacks of Papers, a Medical Facility, a Pre-Tech Workshop, and a Psychic Hazard
2020-12-17 An Initial “Worlds without Number” Situation from the Ministry of Harvest
Beginning a Campaign in the Latter Earth
2020-12-17 The Geemit - A Worlds without Number Demihuman
A Sentient Species of Amoeboid Storytellers
2020-12-15 Using the Organization Generator from “Soft Horizon” with a “Worlds without Number” Campaign
Drawing Inspiration from the Collision of Varied Randomization
2020-12-14 Session 9: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Shots Fired, Lab Entered, and Talking with a Rock
2020-12-13 The Kvarzflett - A “Stars without Number” Sophont
A Rock and Lichen-Based Psychic Creature
2020-12-12 Tweaks in “Worlds without Number” to the “Stars without Number” Engine
Refinements to the Sine Nomine engine
2020-12-08 Revisiting Hydra Menu for Org Roam Lookup in Emacs
A General Solution (Thusfar)
2020-12-07 Session 8: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Bringing Chekov’s Gun to a Recon Party
2020-12-06 Adding Hydra Menu for Org Roam Lookup in Emacs
Pre-Populating ‘org-roam-find-file’ to Help Topic Lookup
2020-12-05 Creating a Post-Human Ethnicity for a “Worlds without Number” Campaign
The Konuk, One of the Governing Ethnicities of the Latter Earth
2020-11-30 Session 7: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Detectors, Escapees, and Beauracratic Moles
2020-11-27 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” - Example Character Creation
Rolling up a quick and random character
2020-11-09 Session 6: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
A Quick Meeting at a Public Tavern
2020-11-09 Using Emacs While Running Online Games
These Are The Tools I Use for Table Top Gaming
2020-11-06 Session 5: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Back from Haitus with Subterfuge and Reconaissance
2020-10-29 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Piecing Things Together”
A Few Random Tables to Launch a Campaign
2020-10-28 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - The Sindal Sector”
A Quick Overview of a Third Imperium Sub-Sector
2020-10-27 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - World and Universe Creation”
Procedures Make the World Go Round
2020-10-26 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Trade”
Worldbuilding Through Random Commerce Tables
2020-10-25 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Psionics”
Even Mind Powers Abide by Conservation of Matter
2020-10-14 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Common Spacecraft”
Quirky Ships and Isomorphic Maps
2020-10-13 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Space Combat”
For Sci-Fi RPGs, I Envision Spaceship Combat
2020-10-10 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Space Operations”
Space Ships Ain’t Cheap and There’s a Lot to Them
2020-10-08 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Vehicles”
Plains, Trains, and Automobiles
2020-10-04 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - A Fourth and Final Example of Character Creation”
Having Loads of Fun Rolling Up Characters
2020-10-02 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - A Third Example of Character Creation”
Because Rolling Lots of Dice is Fun
2020-10-01 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Equipment”
Gadgets, Augmentations, Weapons, and Armor
2020-09-30 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Encounters and Dangers”
In Space, Dangers are More Varied
2020-09-29 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Combat”
Quick and Dangerous with Some Nice Skill Additions
2020-09-28 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Skills and Tasks”
Mechanics for Characters to Take Action
2020-09-26 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - A Second Example of Character Creation”
More of the Traveller Character Creation Mini-Game
2020-09-25 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - An Example of Character Creation”
Playing Through the Traveller Character Creation Mini-Game
2020-09-24 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook - Character Creation”
A (Deathless) Mini-Game to Create Your Character
2020-09-23 Let's Read “Traveller: Core Rulebook”
A New Look for an Old School Game
2020-09-18 Session 4: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Many an Interview Leads to a Reveal
2020-09-13 The Player Characters (and new Alien) of New Vistas
Not a Warrior Amongst Them
2020-09-02 Session 3: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Archaic Laws and Arms Sales Gone Wrong
2020-08-16 Thel Sector System Overview
A Systems Overview from New Vistas
2020-08-12 Session 2: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Making an Arms Deal and a Contact
2020-08-05 Session 1: New Vistas in the Thel Sector
Into the Utopic and Pastoral Past
2020-07-21 Once More, a “Stars without Number” Campaign
Getting Started with a Campaign and Repurposing Past Work
2020-05-15 The Court Procedure from Lavender Hack
Social Encounters Deserve Procedures
2020-05-10 Upcoming Dungeons and Dragons Game
Playing a Wood Elf Druid
2020-05-08 Desperate Role-Playing Moments
Shared Fictional State with Clear Tightening Consequences Build Desperation
2020-05-06 Highlighting Posts from my RSS Feed
Noodling on 3 (of many) Posts That I Found Interesting
2020-05-05 Pushing Simplicity Around
Or the Old Adage: There’s No Such Thing As a Free Lunch
2020-05-02 Online Playtest of Lavender Hack by Phil Lewis
Playtesting and Gaming via Google Docs and Zoom
2020-04-27 The Resolution System of Soft Horizon
Exploring Soft Horizon’s Uniform Conflict Resolution Procedure
2020-04-26 Free Time During a Pandemic: Three Weeks Later
Writing Software, Retelling Folktales, Reading Camus and Leiber
2020-04-17 Seeking Inspiration
Finding inspiration in “The Silk Road” and “DCC RPG Annual”
2019-12-13 5th Edition House Rules: Ray of Wounding
2019-12-11 Precognitive Prep - A Divination Spell for 5th Edition
2019-12-11 5th Edition House Rules: Modified Injury and Recovery - Take 2
2019-12-08 5th Edition House Rules: Modified Injury and Recovery
2019-12-05 “Five Torches Deep” by Sigil Stone Publishing
2019-10-13 It Finally Happened: A Doppelgänger Infiltrated the Party
I’ve been playing for 31 years and this was the first time a doppleganger infiltrated the party.
2019-09-09 Playstorming a Burning Wheel Fight using Twilight in the Duchy Verdorben stat blocks
2019-09-02 Burning Dragonmarks - Design Thoughts on Dragonmarks
2019-09-02 Burning Warforged - A New Stock and Lifepaths for Burning Wheel
2019-08-25 Once More Into the “Tomb of Annihilation”
2019-08-23 Playstorming a “Stars without Number” Space Combat - Take 2
2019-08-22 Playstorming a “Stars without Number” Space Combat
2019-08-20 A New Fighter Class Starship for “Stars without Number”
Stripped of a spike-drive, the Owl-class Sentinel remains a versatile system ship or a compliment to a Carrier. With extended stores, its crew can spend longer in space. Combining its extended stores and emission dampers, the Owl can observe a hardened system entry-point without tipping its hand. If it chooses to break cover, its Fractal Impact Charge brings a dangerous punch.
2019-08-16 Session 2 exploring the Thel-Sector of “Stars without Number”
This week, for the second session of our Thel Sector campaign, the PCs snapped into action. They met up with a contact who was part of the rebellion and enlisted an Ózu to travel to Ilios (on the pretense of participating in a game show).
With an Ózu on the team, they cased an administrator’s house. Launched a daring plan. And murdered the administrator of the Compass Sodality, obtaining a Pretech artifact.
When a capital fleet entered the system, they hid in Fog of Alcazar. With the help of a half-dozen Ózu, they broke into a Pretech compound, fought a warbot (and lost). They woke up a few days later, but something changed.
2019-08-15 Session 1 of a “Stars without Number” Campaign
2019-08-08 Preparing a Short-Term “Stars without Number” Campaign
2019-08-07 Adding a “Stars without Number” Dataset for gm-notepad
2019-07-26 Introducing GM Notepad: A Command Line Tool for GM-ing
2019-07-23 Just Arrived: “Dungeon Crawl Classics: Lankhmar”
My kickstarted copy of “Dungeon Crawl Classics: Lankhmar” arrived yesterday. While I haven’t run nor played DCC in almost 2 years, the box set still thrills me.
I love Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar, and look forward to reading a deep dive into Lahnkmar lore.
2019-07-23 Keith Baker announces “Project Raptor”
At noon today, Keith Baker announced Project Raptor, a new sourcebook for Eberron.
In coordination with this announcement, Manifest Zone dropped a special episode KB Presents: Project “Raptor”).
I have not yet had a listen, but any new content from Eberron’s creator excites me. From what I’ve gathered, I can look forward to Keith Baker further exploring the planes of Eberron. And I’ll get a nice new hardcover for Eberron.
2019-07-22 Guess Who's Coming to Graywall
2019-07-20 Situation Mining: It Begins in Graywall
Once part of western frontier of the kingdom of Breland, Graywall now lies 50 miles outside the Brelish border, within the monstrous nation of Droaam.
This blog post establishes some framing mandates and questions that could be used to kick off a Droaam campaign.
2019-07-19 Revisiting Eberron: Why I am Excited to Explore the Campaign Setting
2019-07-17 Random Eberron Regional Origins
2019-07-14 The How and the Why of Indices of Game Crunch
I posted my Index of Allowed Classes, Races, Cultures, and Backgrounds on Reddit. And someone asked the following:

Am I missing something here? This is just a list of various races and subclasses for use in your game? Maybe something about why you chose these would be good.
Good question, let me go over the why and the how.
2019-07-14 Index of Allowed Classes, Races, Cultures, and Backgrounds
A set of three tables detailing the available classes, races/cultures, and backgrounds for my flavor of Eberron.
You could use these tables as an index for other 5E campaigns.
2019-07-13 Rite of Admixture - A Ritual for the Dark Six of Eberron
Invoking the Rite of Admixture, the Night of Thirst offers homage to the Dark Six of Eberron. On the Night of Thirst, followers of the Dark Six celebrate cunning, victories, passions, death, knowledge, and the power of nature.
2019-07-13 Eberron Resources
2019-05-07 Grinding through the Tomb of Annihilation
In case you thought I focused solely on opening Fables Bookshop, rest assured, I’m still running my Tomb of Annihilation game.
In our last session, the players split the party, though not entirely by choice.
Warning: Here there be spoilers
2019-03-30 Daniel Collin's “Book of War”
2019-03-17 Better World Books Closing Goshen Store
Better World Books closing its Goshen Indiana store at the end of March 2019.
2019-03-15 Finding Cartographic Inspiration
2019-03-12 Let's Read “Codex of the Black Sun” - Seeds of Stranger Fruit
2019-03-11 Let's Read “Codex of the Black Sun” - Black Stars Uncounted
Codex of the Black Sun’s first chapter, Black Stars Uncounted, discusses mixing sorcery into sci-fi. The opening paragraph frames the entire conversation of the book: What are the considerations for adding sorcery to your Stars without Number’s campaign?
Codex of the Black Sun positions itself as a suite of optional components to add to your game. Kevin Crawford discusses creating a new campaign or adding to an existing campaign.
2019-03-10 Let's Read “Codex of the Black Sun”
2019-01-19 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Game Master Resources
Stars without Number: Revised Edition ’s Game Master Resources chapter discusses common complications, interstellar trade, converting prior from edition, house rules, name generators, and one-roll generators.
First a discussion about ensuring the game is played and prepared for your table.
2018-12-27 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Factions
2018-12-26 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Xenobestiary
Stars without Number: Revised Edition ’s Xenobestiary chapter sets the tone by reinforcing a sandbox-style play. The following paragraph opens the discussions about encounters; Give players notice about looming hellbeasts; Street thugs won’t likely fight until the bitter end; And most importantly, reiterating that combat is dangerous!
From here, Stars without Number: Revised Edition dives into the Reaction Roll: its usage and importance—“they help a GM adjudicate a situation in a potentially surprising or interesting way.”
2018-12-24 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” - Adventure Creation
2018-12-23 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” - Sector Creation
For this section we’ll dive into Sector Creation: the wheelhouse of all Sine Nomine products.
Where there are starships, there are sectors and star systems.
Stars without Number: Revised Edition provides a procedure for populating an 8×10 hex map. You’ll place 20 + 1d10 systems on random spots on this 8×10 map (roll a d8 and a d10 to determine location).
2018-12-22 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” - The History of Space
For this section we’ll dive into The History of Space. Unlike prior chapters, the History of Space is very much a “fluff” chapter.

The default setting of Stars without Number: Revised Edition is a far future age in which the sprawling, glorious domain of human space has been reduced to a scattering of squabbling powers and long-lost worlds. The ancient domain of humanity has shrunken with the collapse of the psi-powered Jump Gates that once stitched the remote regions of the frontier into the teeming worlds of the human core.
Now, almost six hundred years after the catastrophe that ended the Golden Age of Man, new hope rises from the wreckage of a fallen empire.
2018-12-21 Own Your Game System
2018-12-19 Dreams of Adventure: Classes
2018-12-19 Helmets and Halberd Podcast
This morning, my RSS feed told me that Alex Schroeder started a podcast.
I have long admired Alex’s contributions. I did some ad-hoc editing for his Halberds and Helments RPG. The layout of Halberds and Helmets inspired me to go and learn about the Tufte style, which I have since adopted for my blog.
2018-12-19 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” - Starships
2018-12-19 Diving Further into Embarkation
2018-12-18 Playstorming Embarkation Tweaks in Adventures in Middle-earth
I’ve been on a deep dive into the Adventures of Middle-Earth. Originally attracted to the Journey rules as something to consider for Tomb of Annihilation, I’m wondering about the design goals of the Journey system.
Let’s review the Journey Rules
2018-12-17 Adventures in Middle-earth is in the Bundle of Holding
2018-12-02 Three Book RPG
Prompted by DIY & Dragons post Dungeons & Decorators as a #3BookRPG, I chose three books for a campaign.
2018-11-28 Using Adventures in Middle Earth procedures for Tomb of Annihilation
2018-11-28 Ten Influential RPGs (for me)
My list of the top 10 influencing RPGs as well as why.
2018-11-27 Marching through the Sandbox
2018-11-27 Procedures for the Liberation of Sir Uravulon Calcidius
At the start of each session after leaving the Tower of the Stargazer, have the player with the unluckiest character pick a number between 1 and 16. Then have them roll a 1d16. If they roll their number, something or someone has freed Sir Uravulon Calcidius.
2018-11-27 Looking to the Horizon
2018-11-09 Everything I Ever Wanted in an RPG
2018-11-05 Medieval Demographics Made Easy
2018-11-05 Following-up on Character Attachment
If your game has a long character creation (or you put a lot of time into your charatcer creation), make sure you understand the durability of your character. As written, characters in OSR games are not durable, 5E characters are more durable, and Burning Wheel characters are more durable than both.
2018-11-04 Premature Character Attachment Disorder
2018-11-01 Reviewing Top Content from My Old Wordpress Site
2018-10-31 Kibitzing Burning Beards, Or Thinking Up Consequences for Failure
2018-10-28 Witchburner in Burning Wheel
2018-10-28 Witchburner by Luka Rejec
2018-10-26 King of Feathers Brings the Chomp
2018-10-18 Keeping the RSS Fires Burning
2018-10-17 That One Session of Dwimmermount
2018-10-16 Discovered an Unknown to Me Sibling of the Old School Primer
2018-10-12 My Response to an OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire
2018-10-10 Burning Wheel Lifepaths Inspired by Warhammer Fantasy
Recently, I’ve been reading through the First Edition of Warhammer Fantasy RPG. The character creation is rather spectacular. Encoded in the career descriptions is a vibrant setting, and a clear antecedent to Burning Wheel.
2018-09-26 Rethinking the Failed Climb Check
2018-09-16 The Stage is Set for an Epic Battle in Omu
Building from the previous session:
- The warlock, as an eagle, carried a silenced rope kept close to the King of Feathers.
- An aging (now hasted) Tabaxi, bent on a glorious death, lead the King of Feathers on.
- A Tabaxi rogue/ranger nimble and fast, provided flanking support.
- The sorcerer, barbarian, and cleric, followed several steps behind.
2018-09-09 Steelhart
2018-09-02 Plan for Complications - Tomb of Annihilation
2018-08-21 Behind the Screen
For the last 9 months or so I’ve been running a 5E campaign using the Tomb of Annihilation.
I cannot emphasize enough how much I hate the 5E WotC adventure format.
2018-08-03 Doom of the Savage Kings - Review
2018-07-28 Polymorph, Wild Shape and the Barbarian Rage
2018-07-17 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Equipment and Vehicles
2018-07-16 Do you prefer your RPG Combat as War or Sport?
2018-07-15 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” - “Systems - Hacking, Advancement, and Hazards”
2018-07-14 Tomb of Annihilation - a quick update
2018-07-12 Let’s Read “Stars without Number” – Scenes, Saves, and Skill Checks
2018-07-11 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Combat and Healing
2018-07-10 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Psionics
2018-07-09 Let's Read “Stars Without Number” - Character Creation
2018-07-08 Let's Read “Stars without Number” - Into the Waiting Light
2018-07-07 Let's read “Stars without Number”
2018-07-05 Random Encounter Table for Bitterweed Barrow Region
Random encounter tables for traveling through the Bitterweed Barrow region.
2018-07-04 Barrow Wife - A DCC Monster
2018-07-03 Chip - Plague Ensorcelled Corpse - A DCC Monster
2017-10-22 Randomizing My Way Through Tomb of Annihilation
2017-09-13 Celebrating 17 Years of the Open Gaming License
2017-08-13 The Known World Thusfar
Today, I broke down and bought Cecil Howe’s Hex Kit. I already had the base tiles, and wanted something to make my campaign map.
I started with the following hand-drawn map (with some later modifications)
And with a few hours of campaign planning, I created the following with Fog of War style obfuscation.
2017-07-04 Blades in the Dark by John Harper
2017-06-06 Blades in the Dark Probabilities
I received my copy of Blades in the Dark. Curious about the probabilities, I wrote up a ruby script to generate the dice pool results from 0 dice to 6d6.
I’ve tabularized the output for easier reading.
2017-05-28 Ruins of the Dwarven Delve [Session #9]
2017-05-21 Facilitating better RPG combats
2017-05-21 Raiding the Ziggurat of Dis Pater
2017-05-08 A Slow Path to Dungeon Crawl Classics
2017-05-07 Making Their Way to Steelhart
2017-04-30 The Campaign Timeline Thusfar
The campaign began in the 172nd year of the common calendar.
Sessions that I ran are not in real world chronological order. They instead reflect my efforts to incorporate players with funnel survivors into the over-arching campaign.
In reviewing the calendar, I’m noticing that there are not enough farmers now in the fields, because people are seeking wealth and riches.
2017-04-30 The Portal Under the Stars at International Tabletop Game Day
2017-04-30 Heeding Gygax's Admonition
2017-04-28 Closing out the Tower of the Stargazer [Session 6]
2017-04-25 Expanding on My Procedures for Open Table Gaming
2017-04-23 My Procedure for Facilitating Open Table Gaming
2017-04-23 They're Coming to the Barrow
2017-04-21 Trauma and Forced Retirement in DCC
2017-04-19 Guess Who’s Coming to Bitterweed Barrow?
2017-04-11 Preparation for Session 2 of DCC Better World Gaming
2017-04-07 Dungeon Crawl Classics - Tower of the Stargazer [Session 5]
2017-04-04 Random Tables to Help Preparation for the Unexpected
2017-03-25 Concluding the Doom of the Savage Kings [Session #4]
2017-03-19 Exploring Ruins of Ramat for Game Day
2017-03-17 Dungeon Crawl Classics - A Deal is Made [Session #3]
2017-03-12 Dungeon Crawl Classics - Going Beyond the Funnel
2017-03-11 Dungeon Crawl Classics Agenda and Advice
2017-03-03 Play Through of Nebin Pendlebrook's Perilous Pantry
2017-02-28 Running DCC at my Friendly Local Book and Game Store
2017-02-27 Campaign, Rulings, Descriptions, and Questing
2017-02-26 The Rise (and Fall) of Session 0
2017-02-26 Randomness, I Forgot that I Needed You
2017-01-31 Have Fun Storming the Castle
2016-12-20 FLGS Quick Start
2016-12-19 Skeleton of Referee Section for Basic Fantasy RPG
Building on the previous post regarding skeleton rules for RPG, here is additional details.
2016-12-18 Skeleton of Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game
2016-12-13 Some Questions and Answers with James Spahn of Barrel Rider Games
2016-12-12 White Box Gothic by Barrel Rider Games
2016-09-18 Burning Sanctuary - Session 1
2016-09-15 Further Work on Beliefs for Burning Sanctuary
2016-09-12 Working Through Beliefs for Burning Sanctuary
2016-09-09 Dungeon Crawl Classic: Portal Under the Stars
2016-09-06 Burning Sanctuary - Session 0
2016-09-01 Life During a Wartime Random Table Redux
2016-08-28 Situation Mining: To Save a Would Be King
2016-08-28 Situation Mining: The Bargain of Burgundy
2016-08-27 Situation Mining: Dwimmermount
2016-08-25 Gearing up for a Dungeon Crawl Classic
2016-08-24 Situation Mining: the Black Plague
2016-08-21 Burning Sanctuary
2016-08-15 What Makes a Good Role-Playing Session (for me)?
2016-08-13 Additional Burning Wheel Procedures
Over the past few months, I’ve been looking at OSR rules and procedures. With the arrival of the Burning Wheel Codex, I wanted to map some of the OSR procedures to Burning Wheel Gold.
2016-08-12 The Disservice of Modern Dungeons & Dragons Initiative Systems
2016-08-12 Playing at the Game Store
2016-07-30 World of Steve - Session 2
2016-07-28 Exhuming My Dungeons & Dragons
2016-07-25 Adding More Mortar to the Three Pillars
2016-07-21 Features of Burning Wheel That I Enjoy(ed?)
2016-07-20 Campaign Random Encounter: Library of Ancients and Surrounding Village
2015-11-08 Early Experience running Out of the Abyss
2015-10-21 Out of the Abyss - Session #1
2015-09-29 Wrath of the Autarch by Phil Lewis
2015-09-10 Running a Fifth Edition Character Funnel
2015-08-26 Musing about Upcoming Campaign (and System)
2015-08-23 Fate Point Economy: All the Glories of Accounting and Fiduciary Obligations
2015-01-25 Circle of Hands Clash System Shout Out
2015-01-11 Tables in the DMG and their Page Number
A list of Tables in the DMG and their Page Number
2015-01-11 House Rules for upcoming D&D 5E campaign
2015-01-10 Building a Set of D&D House Rules
2015-01-05 An Upcoming Campaign Map with Tech Tomfoolery
2015-01-03 Back on the Gaming Treadmill (maybe)
2015-01-02 An Incomplete Catalog of Random Tables for Future Reference
2014-12-30 A Random Book Name Generator
I wrapped up my organization task. In doing so I figured I’d post a random book title generator based on some of the books in my personal library; pluralize the nouns as necessary. And as with so many random tables, when you roll a result, cross it off and add a new one.
2014-12-28 End of Year Organizing
2014-12-15 Working and Creating within Constraints
2014-10-19 Porting Apocalypse World style moves into D&D 5E
I love the Apocalypse World engine moves. These moves are discreet rules that are portable from one AW Engine game to another.
But I’m exploring using the moves in other systems; In particular 5E. Dungeon World has the following probability
2014-09-22 Apocalypse World: Dark Ages Session Report
2014-09-21 Apocalypse World: Dark Ages Playtest and Observations
2014-09-07 Wondering About Adventure Presentation Format
2014-08-30 Dragonknights - Session #1
2014-08-03 Thulian Echoes by Zzarchov Kowolski
2014-07-30 Why I am a Tabletop RPG Cheerleader
2014-07-23 Dangerous Space Jail by Phil Vecchione
2014-07-21 Seeking a 2015 Ennies Nomination
2014-07-18 The Gnomes of Levnec by Zzarchov Kowolski
2014-07-17 Scenic Dunnsmouth by Zzarchov Kowolski
2014-07-14 Fond Memories of the Kenku
2014-05-29 Fascination with the Flame Princess
2014-05-25 Getting the Band Back Together
2014-01-28 Backing Project: Dark by Will Hindmarch
2014-01-14 Translating Old School Items to Dungeon World
2014-01-11 Saving Throws or Defying Danger
2014-01-07 Random Relationship Graph Builder
2014-01-07 Torchbearer with the kids
2014-01-03 Random Clergy Generator
I’ve been kicking around an idea for a campaign that involves a monastery. As I’ve explored the campaign, I figured that I might as well create some potentially useful generators.
This is heavily influenced by Roman Catholic tenets and organizational structures . Much has been drawn from LordsAndLadies.org and Wikipedia.
2013-12-29 Observations of Dungeon World at Michiana Board Gamers
2013-12-29 Dungeon World at Michiana Board Gamers
2013-12-11 A Collection of Short Session Recaps
2013-12-07 Burning Wheel or Dungeon World
2013-12-06 Fade into Fey – Session 2
2013-11-25 Torchbearer: An Inaugural Run
2013-11-13 Why the Fantasy Genre
2013-09-22 Fade into Fey - Session 1
2013-09-13 Evil Wizards in a Cave by Johnstone Metzger
2013-09-11 Dashing Hero by Jacob Randolph
2013-08-30 GenCon's Apocalypse World KristaCon Event
2013-08-25 How to Hack Apocalypse World with the AW Hacker All-Stars hosted by Pete Figtree
2013-08-21 A Spark in Fate Core by Jason Pitre
2013-05-20 Take on the Lower Depths
2013-05-19 Forgotten Years - Dungeon World Campaign Session 1
2013-05-08 Dungeon World Campaign Playbook
2013-05-06 Dungeon World Playbooks
2013-05-05 Inverse World - A Dungeon World Sourcebook
2013-04-28 Bracers of the Bound - A Dungeon World Item
2013-04-06 A Preview of Things to Come
Two Dungeon World monsters I’ve worked on this morning: the Hydrodæmon and Mageiadæmon.
2013-02-08 Dungeon World Update and Some Resources
2013-02-05 An Ongoing Thought Experiment for an Adventure Conversion
2013-01-24 The Role Playing Games of the Goshen Game Day
2013-01-20 Remember the Reaction Roll
2013-01-11 A Father and Son Night of Marvel Heroic RPG
2013-01-09 Just Arrived - A Thousand and One Nights
2013-01-02 Random Bonds Generator for Dungeon World
Having started out several Dungeon World games, one thing that I think may grow stale is the starting bonds.
2012-12-30 Ice Mummer - A Dungeon World Monster
2012-12-15 Dungeon World Zine for January 2013
2012-11-29 Moleskin Maps II by Matt Jackson
2012-11-14 Dungeon World PDF is Available!
2012-11-07 Take On Establishments
2012-11-05 Gaming Violence and Children
2012-11-04 Dungeon World is Jeopardy the RPG
2012-10-24 Transitions in Table Top RPGs
2012-10-19 An Odd Duck that Dungeon World
2012-10-15 Take on Magic Items – A Dungeon World Magic Item Compendium
2012-10-15 Thornburg by J.B. Mannon and Jeremiah Shepersky
2012-10-07 Helping Other Gamers With Consideration for the Visually Impaired
2012-09-28 Examining the RPG Sessions That I Ran and Think Were Awesome
2012-09-24 World of Steve - Session 1
2012-09-24 Dungeon World - Google Hangouts Session 3
2012-09-19 Moleskin Maps: Volume 1 by Chubby Monster Games
2012-09-11 Dungeon World, Google Hangouts, and Tabletop Forge
2012-09-02 School Daze by Tracy Barnett
2012-08-26 Coordinating a Game Day
2012-08-26 So GM Burnout has Happened
2012-08-24 Cthulhu Dark – GenCon 2012 Edition
2012-08-23 Dungeon World – GenCon 2012 Edition
2012-08-20 May Not Haved Played A Lot of Games at GenCon…
2012-08-07 Wampus County Honorable Mention
2012-08-07 Follow-Up to First Play - Marvel Heroic Role Playing Game
2012-08-06 First Play - Marvel Heroic Role Playing Game
2012-07-29 An Arrival Entirely Unexpected - Wampus County Edition
2012-07-21 A Bizarre Ritual of Mine
2012-07-20 Just Arrived - Monster of the Week by Michael Sands
2012-07-08 Diaspora Character Creation – Alexandros Teleman
2012-07-08 Nostalgically Wishing I Would've Been Part of the Old School
2012-07-07 Who Knew the Apocalypse Would Spawn So Many Games
2012-07-05 Just Arrived – Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
2012-07-05 Microscope Session – New Force Changes Society
2012-06-28 Dungeon World Denizens of the Moathouse
2012-06-25 Adventures in Adventure Conversion
2012-06-10 Success and Failure in Role Playing Games
2012-06-09 Just Arrived – Skyward Steel and Darkness Visible
2012-06-06 World of Dungeons by John Harper
2012-06-04 Kick In the Door…Dungeon World Kickstarter is Live
2012-06-02 After a Few Dungeon World One-Shots
2012-04-16 At the Intersection of Work, Play, and Learning
2012-04-06 Preparing for Diaspora
2012-04-04 Dungeon World Custom Moves for Ziggurat of the Sun Princess
2012-04-01 Floundering Around the Burning Wheel
2012-03-31 Dining with the Baron
2012-03-12 What Should the Game Master Fight For?
2012-03-11 Make a Decision Already
2012-02-20 Dual Duel of Wits and Dangerous Stakes
2012-02-13 Liberating the Village only to Stumble into the Dungeon
2012-01-22 …And Finally, Bloodstone
2012-01-22 Survey of Methods of Advancement
2012-01-20 Advancing the Timeline in an RPG Campaign
2012-01-19 GM Questionnaire
2012-01-16 The Wheel is Burning My Mind's Eye
2012-01-15 Border Crossing and Culinary Explorations
2012-01-15 Interview with Robert Bohl
2012-01-14 Misspent Youth by Robert Bohl
2012-01-13 Just Arrived - Loviatar
2012-01-11 A Circles Epiphany - Burning Wheel
2012-01-10 Deluge by VSCA
2012-01-10 What Makes a Game So Hackable?
2012-01-09 The Now 400 Pound Gorilla Has Awoken
2012-01-09 Rules Lite Games and the Open Game License
2012-01-08 Keeping Aspects Interesting
2012-01-08 Acceptable Weight of Conflict Resolution
2012-01-07 Apocalypse World moves in the Fellowship of the Ring
Earlier I wrote about Dungeon World’s moves as seen in Empire Strikes Back. This time I’m going to look at the Lord of the Rings through lens of the Apocalypse World moves.
2012-01-06 Necromancers' Maze
2012-01-03 My Present Gaming Group
2012-01-02 Survey of Conflict Structure in RPGs
2012-01-02 A New Year's Eve Tradition - The One Shot
2012-01-01 RPG Bucket List Or Gaming Resolution for 2012
2011-12-23 Carcosa by Geoffrey McKinney - PDF Edition
2011-12-15 Bloodstone Observations
2011-12-13 Bloodstone Session #4
2011-12-09 Assassin Lifepaths for Burning Wheel
Bloodstone was written for AD&D 1st Edition. Assassins are used rather frequently as opposition. In fact, the leader of the opposition is named the Grandfather of Assassins.
Below is my take on what it would take for the Grandfather of Assassins to rise to his current power. I did draw initial inspiration from Luke Crane’s Jihad: Burning Sands, the H-Series of Bloodstone, and the OSRIC reference document.
2011-12-01 Stealing Cthulhu by Graham Walmsley
2011-11-27 Part-Time Gods by Third Eye Games
2011-11-24 Never Split the Party - Worst Duel of Wits Compromise Ever
2011-11-22 Inn Witch They Pig Out
2011-11-19 Contributions to the Rolemaster Standard System
2011-11-18 The Enjoyable Chaos of Scripted Actions
2011-11-16 Irv the Mole
2011-11-14 Bloodstone Session #3 Recap - It's Always More Interesting When a Cuddling Instinct Comes Into Play
2011-11-11 Burning Wheel Gold - Connecting BITs and Artha
2011-11-10 In Which They Find Their Tub
2011-11-08 A Wedding and a Wyrding
2011-10-31 Playing Burning Wheel Gold With The Kids
2011-10-21 Hacking Together a Burning Wheel Conflict Resolution on the Fly
2011-10-20 FoRK-ed off
2011-10-18 A Missed Opportunity for Burning Wheel - Duel of Wits
2011-10-13 Life During a Wartime - Random Village Generator
2011-10-11 The Butcher, the Baker, and the Candlestick Maker
2011-10-04 Family Role-Playing and Unexpected Events
2011-09-27 Gamemastering by Brian Jamison - A Behind the Screen Look
2011-09-26 Bloodstone Character Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits
2011-09-13 Bloodstone Character Questionnaire
2011-09-12 Bloodstone Party Composition
2011-09-12 Interesting, Albeit Pointless Stats for My Blog
2011-09-11 Weird Fantasy - Lamentations of the Flame Princess
2011-09-05 Cribbing Ideas from Apocalypse World and Dungeon World for Bloodstone
2011-08-31 Contemplating Scene Economy with Seven Players
2011-08-30 Running and Playing Bloodstone in Burning Wheel
2011-08-26 Burning Wheel and Bloodstone
2011-08-25 Bloodstone Campaign Introduction
2011-08-20 Bloodstone - It Is Time
2011-08-18 GenCon Games on Demand - Bulldogs!
2011-08-17 Burning Wheel Gold - Initial Impressions
Burning Wheel Gold’s core system is straight forward. Wrapped around that core is a masterwork of game craft.
2011-08-16 GenCon Games on Demand - Dungeon World
2011-08-15 GenCon Games on Demand - Lady Blackbird
2011-08-14 Random Notes from my Burning Wheel Campaign Journal
2011-08-13 Translating Empire Strikes Back into Dungeon World Moves
2011-08-12 Character Creation Session for Family Bulldogs Adventure
2011-08-11 GenCon After Hours - Savage Worlds
2011-08-10 GenCon Games on Demand - Hollowpoint
2011-08-08 Ran my First Game of Dungeon World
2011-08-02 Hollowpoint - Player vs. Game Hack - Take 1
2011-08-01 Hollowpoint Review
2011-07-31 Hollowpoint Session Observations
2011-07-30 Using Hollowpoint to flesh out our Diaspora campaign
2011-07-30 Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #5
2011-07-29 Customer Service - Evil Hat Style - It is Fabulous
2011-07-28 Change of Plans - GenCon Edition
2011-06-28 Converting Star Frontier's Vrusk into Bulldogs!
2011-06-26 Bulldogs! Pre-Release Review
2011-06-26 What a Difference a Year Makes
2011-06-20 Master of Bandwidth
Years ago, I religiously read Ray Winniger’s Dungeoncraft column. It is a treasure trove of insights into GMing Dungeons and Dragons, with many relevant insights for other RPGs.
Ray Winniger names the three responsibilities of GMing:
- Providing effective descriptions.
- Determining how to resolve the outcomes of the characters’ actions.
- Deciding when you should automatically reveal information and when you should force the players to specifically ask for information.
2011-06-17 Good News Everyone…Bulldogs! RPG is Here!
2011-06-15 It's Only a Model
2011-06-14 Diaspora RPG Cluster Creation
2011-06-09 Loading Chekhov's Gun
2011-06-09 Role Playing Games I Want to Play at GenCon
2011-06-05 Planning Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #5
2011-06-03 What is the favorite character that I have played
2011-06-03 Breaking the Stonewall with Vincent's Admonition
2011-06-02 Finally, Dogs in the Vineyard
2011-05-11 Apocalyptic Casting of the Pods
2011-04-29 Diaspora Spacecraft Rules Addendum #1
2011-04-29 Z is for Zebullon's Guide to Frontier Space
2011-04-28 X is for Xizors
2011-04-26 Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #4
2011-04-26 V is for Versions
2011-04-25 U is for Underdark
2011-04-22 S is for Scales of War
2011-04-22 R is for Red Hand of Doom
2011-04-22 Q is for Queen of Spiders
2011-04-21 O is for Obanar
2011-04-21 Planning Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #4
2011-04-18 N is for Night Below
2011-04-13 K is for Kickstart
2011-04-11 Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #3
2011-04-11 J is for Jaiman the Land of Twilight...kind of
2011-04-09 H is for H-series The Bloodstone Pass Saga
2011-04-05 E is for Eberron
2011-04-04 D is for ...
2011-04-02 B is for Burning Empires
2011-04-01 A is for Alpha Dawn
2011-03-28 Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #2
2011-03-28 Diaspora military campaign
2011-03-26 Planning Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #2
2011-03-25 T1 System Ships of the Exxon Theocracy
2011-03-24 Pondering a Social Conflict in Diaspora
2011-03-24 A Couple of T2 Intended to Traverse Hostile Regions
2011-03-23 Two T1 Diaspora Spaceships
2011-03-21 A Handful of T2 Diaspora Spaceships
2011-02-28 Diaspora: The Precious Few, Session #1
2011-02-09 Discussing Layers of a Role Playing Game
2011-02-03 Cluster Creation Diaspora
2011-02-02 Fate Points for Burning Wheel