Pokémon Is OSR
I elucidate the ways that the Pokémon games embody several principles of the OSR playstyle, which is maybe unsurprising when you consider the history of JRPGs.
Into the Oddish is Heistfunding Now
Pre-Order Into the Oddish, a Pokémon tabletop roleplaying game parody of Into the Odd, and Vileplume Mountain, a parody of the classic funhouse dungeon that is compatible with Cairn and other Into the Odd-likes.
Bandwagon: The Map is Not the Territory But It is the Topic
Announcing a new blog bandwagon! This time you have 80 days in which to write something on your blog about maps and/or to annotate/remix/expand a map drawn by the esteemed Amanda Lee Franck!
All Along the Clocktower
Are you using overloaded encounter dice to track time? Clocks like from Blades in the Dark? Here is a more tangible, toyetic alternative method for tracking progress of anything in TTRPGs from time to damage, and a few ways you might use it: the Clocktower.
Playtest Early, Playtest Often
To design a game, you have to break a few eggs and discard some rules or completely rewrite them. But you won’t know what to discard and what to rewrite until you feed those eggs to your players.
The Rankin Bass Hexmas Crawl
A Christmas-themed hexcrawl setting with 60 hexes written from bloggers across the blogosphere.
Castle Claus: The Keep on the North Pole
A Merry Hexmas location: dungeoncrawl through Santa Claus’ castle. Whether you lead an elf and reindeer uprising is up to you!
PAX Unplugged: How to Cram A Month’s Worth of Gaming Into One Weekend
I played Seven Party Pact, Paranoia, Planet of the Apes RPG, Monty Python RPG, Break!!, Barkeep on the Borderlands, and Escape from Atlantis and am reporting those experiences to you from a wholly neutral and accurate perspective.
Review: Honey in the Rafters
A short and sweet review of a starter adventure for Mausritter.
I’d Rather Be a Mouse Than an Elf
I love pretending to be an elf just as much as the next guy, but it pales in comparison to the joys of pretending to be a mouse with a sewing needle sword at my side.
Blogwagon Announcement: Merry Hexmas
A new blog bandwagon where everyone writes a hex for a winter wonderland hexcrawl and posts it on their blog, linking to blogs that have adjacent hexes. This announcement has all the information you need to know to participate!
Bare Bones Survey of Skeletons
Embracing the silly origins of skeletons and why it makes them one of the more refreshing undead horrors to use in your games.
Moonlight Glitters upon Weregild
Lycanthropy is played out. Instead of using another werewolf in your game, try some weregilt.
Pedantic Wasteland - Outlaws of the Iron Route
Reviewing one of the earliest adventures for 5th Edition D&D: how I would improve player agency and how my proposed fixes grind up against the play culture of 5e.
Pick Two Inspirations and Combine Them
I present a cheat code for breaking through writer’s block and coming up with a gameable idea from all the cultural detritus that has built up inside your brain.
Dumpster Deep Dive: You Got a Job on the Garbage Barge Prep Example
An example for our I prepared to run a (great) published adventure.
AI and Empty Art
On the perils of artificial intelligence when it comes to the tabletop gaming medium.
Lego Rock Raiders as Space Horror
You are stranded on a hostile planet, but fortunately its subterranean tunnels are rich with the fuel you need to get back home. Less fortunately the tunnels are also home to hulking monsters that can break into your ship and drink its fuel.
Killable Peoples
It says something about your game’s setting if orcs can be killed on sight by “good” characters just as it says something entirely different if you can wantonly slay bandits without remorse. I detail lots of different potential targets for violence and what they might say about a given campaign setting.
Ennies Good?? Also, by Total Coincidence, I Am Nominated for Some
Look, I’m just as surprised and delighted as I’m sure you are.