Six blog posts I should have told you about last year...

Some stuff you may have missed from the blogosphere - now I'm off to find out what I may have missed since last year!

Image (cc) Kevin Dooley

I've been pointed to some interesting starting material for OSR games at Paul's Gameblog - having started D&D at 4e and disliked 3e I never experienced "the old school" and wouldn't know where to start.  There is a lot of OSR sensibility that appeals to me...

For those wanting to add some flavour to NPCs, DIY and Dragons has this fantastic link list for backgrounds and occupations.

Thinking about both Cthulhu and Blades in the Dark, and now just in time for Hallowe'en, I was happy to stumble upon this ghostly generator at Archons March On.

Against the Wicked City imagined the Warhammer universe in the context of classic English literature - and it's absolutely beautiful!

More OSR goodness over at Slugs and Silver - a collection of all sorts of great random tables (and you know I love random generators)

I have to include this plug and play dungeon room from Sheep and Sorcery just because it's such a good idea, and well executed too.

Please support the blogosphere and let me know any great finds of your own in the comments.

On Covid, Blades in the Dark, and blogging

I've been away for a while, sorry.

Image (cc) Nick Kenrick

After facing redundancy my gaming life went through a drought, then there was Covid which has brought some interesting changes to the way we play.

I'm now running Blades in the Dark, on Roll20, which is worthy of a whole review post in itself.  It's a game I have wanted to try out for some time, given my recently discovered love of Dungeon World and PBtA games in general, and while it isn't perfect it has been very enjoyable indeed.

Before that was a brief return to WFRP, a dalliance with the intriguing Monster of the Week*, and of course very little boardgaming or wargaming!

It's time to get the blog back up and running.  I've even applied to host the RPG Blog Carnival sometime.  I'm excited about getting my head back into gaming and, perhaps more importantly, gaming back into my head!

How have you all been coping, hope your gaming life has adapted to this odd new normal?  Comments always very welcome...

Random 5 Room Dungeon Generator

I had meant to do this for the August RPG Blog Carnival but missed it due to real-life problems.  However the idea stuck in my head so now it's here, hope you enjoy.

Image (cc) miszla

This generator uses the 5 Room Dungeon model, which I always think works better as themes/areas than explicit rooms so the results are designed as hooks and inspiration so it fits better into your campaign.  As always, roll a set of polyhedral dice or use the JavaScript roller at the bottom of the post...

The d20 - The entrance:

1. is up (or down) a sheer cliff.
2. has become the lair of a beast.
3. is hidden by thorny undergrowth.
4. has soldiers camped outside.
5. has sunk underwater.
6. is guarded by a magical construct.
7. was magically sealed.
8. is guarded by an intelligent undead.
9. has collapsed, is there an alternative?
10. is haunted by vengeful spirits.
11. requires a lost key (or keys) to open.
12. is guarded by the local militia.
13. is not located where the maps say it is.
14. has been infested with giant vermin.
15. can only be accessed using magic.
16. is the home of an elemental or similar.
17. is opened by machinery that is missing a part.
18. is trapped in some way.
19. is known only to a select few.
20. is one of many, the rest are decoys or deathtraps.

Populating the RPG Planning Grid, or Filling Your PANTS

Let's imagine I'm starting my new campaign, and to keep prep low and help tie all the emerging plotlines together I'm using my 5x5 grid of Places, Antagonists, NPC's, Things, and Scenes.

Image (cc) AsymmetricButterfly

I need something going on in the background, so I'm just going to roll up a random plot arc:

Crafted long ago by Lizardfolk, from the bones of a gargantuan beast to be wielded in a war against Undead, this is a spear of destiny. It makes the wielder speak in the language of the creator until attuned and is well balanced, or somehow blessed or guided, adding +1 to attack rolls. The wielder must avenge the death of the last hero who fell using it to awaken its powers, when it will become a +2 magic weapon that blazes on contact and deals an additional 3d6 damage to the intended enemies

This might be the main plot arc of the whole campaign, or it may never get any screen-time.  It doesn't matter, it matters that it gives me some elements and a vague idea for a story.  The story can (and will) change, but that's cool. That's the point of the grid.  Quickly I scribble some stuff in:

Places	The graveyard of the Gargants
Antagonists	The massing forces of the Undead
NPCs
Things	The Gargantbone Spear
Scenes

Now what about our characters' stories?

One-Roll Random D&D 5e Characters

I have been working on a procedural character generator for 5e, as I find the system isn't necessarily built around making characters interesting, but it's involving learning a new language so is taking a while.  I'll post it when it's done!

Image (cc) Mikeypetrov

SO! Here's a quick generator you can use now, with a reason to take non-minmaxed stats and a life event to add some inspiration for background colour.

Why not grab a set of polyhedrals or use the button at the bottom to generate someone interesting?

The d8 - Race

1. Human
2. Elf
3. Dwarf
4. Halfling
5. Dragonborn
6. Tiefling
7. Gnome
8. Half Elf or Half Orc

Campaign Planning Grids for Plot Components

I have been playing around with ways to make my planning easier, more dynamic, and more focused.  The idea I've hit upon is mainly inspired by Technoir's "Transmissions" and the sheets I had made to track the Enemies, Friends, Complications, Things and Places for each system in my Stars Without Number campaign.

Image (cc) Sheam Bo

I was using a 5x3 grid for SWN - one for each category for each tag I used, including the Trade tags from Suns of Gold*, and it worked well.  However it didn't feel like there was much continuity in terms of the plot, and I was keeping notes elsewhere on what was happening on and off screen. Given that the system is designed for sandbox games that's fine, but in retrospect I think I overplanned here for my needs and should only really have had one of each category for background, side plots, and local colour - but that's for another article...

Campaign Planning, Reusability, and Separation of Concern

Some important concepts from my work in computer software can definitely be applied to campaign planning. Let's talk about two of them.

Image (cc) Tim Probert

Separation of Concern

Think of any dungeon* you've seen - or have written - with a map of the layout, lists of encounters for each room, key items and notes on where they are hidden.  How many times have you, as GM, had to skip, rearrange, shuffle or rebuild parts in response to the party's actions? Exactly.

Separating the elements means more flexibility.  Generally, the dungeon map doesn't care what monsters lie within and the monsters don't care what important treasures they guard. So if we plan loosely we can make it easier to change or add things on the fly.

Starting Infinity with Haqqislam, or What I Should Have Done

Infinity is an awesome game. I love how dynamic it is and the minis are brilliant. I hate how overwhelming it is for new players, which stems from:

• Having many, many, special rules and equipment choices despite the elegance of the core rules.
• There are no bad unit choices, so it's hard to narrow things down.
• Starter boxes contain a good mix of units but these are not necessarily beginner friendly - Haqq box I am looking at you!

When I started I bought as much Haqq as I could, mainly through bulk sales on FaceBook, and a few new pieces that I wanted because they were cool or because people on the internet recommended them.  Looking at my 7-800 points of unpainted Haqq and still having things I want, I can't help thinking that - especially as a casual player - I should have taken a different approach...

Building Robots (for World Domination)

Image (cc) Cameron Daigle

I happened to chance upon the brilliant Twitter bot @doskvolscores and it prompted me to start thinking about bots and automation.

I had been playing with some of the old automation stuff the blog was set up with long ago; it seems the feed aggregators are mostly gone, as RSS has gone out of fashion, but the feeds are still going strong. They're what power a lot of the links in the sidebar as well as the blogroll, so I started seeing what I could do with them.

RPG Blog Carnival - One Roll Fae NPCs

Since my last Carnival post I've been thinking about Faerie NPCs, what sort of things they might want and what interesting trades they might offer unwary PCs … grab a set of polyhedral dice or use the JavaScript roller below to find out!

The d6 - Type

1. Dryad or other female Fae
2. Satyr or other male Fae
3. Sprite or Leprechaun
4. Pixie or Faerie
5. Wild Elf or Gnome
6. man-beast of some kind: Faun, Centaur, Kitsune...

The d4 - It has an aspect of

1. spring - bright green shades, suggestions of flower buds
2. summer - vivid colours, suggestions of flowers in full bloom
3. autumn - red / brown shades, suggestions of fruits and seeds
4. winter - grey or white shades, suggestions of bark or twigs