For starters, take these tips with a grain of salt. First, different approaches to productivity work for different people. Second, I have to be the world’s worst person at parking my butt and getting prep done. These are all things I have tried with varying degrees of success, but...
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One of my long RPG love affairs is the well. I don’t know what exactly sparked it—a video game, a novel, an RPG adventure—but wells fascinate me. No RPG village is complete without one and every one holds a secret (well, that would get old and boring after a...
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I’m trying something new. As a GM, I like it when players come up with small contributions to the game. Players like bennies. So I’ve designed and printed out a handful of 3×5 index cards that players can fill out to get bennies. Each one has a template for...
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The genius loci is a concept most people are familiar with from fiction: a spirit or intelligence of an area. It can be seen in enchanted forests, in haunted houses, in the rogue smart building. Putting a genius loci in a location in your game can be an interesting...
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In fantasy settings with sufficient magic, there is likely to be a low level spell to send a simple message from person to person. Consider that a permanent magic item with this power is essentially a one way cell phone. This is such an indispensable item that no one...
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Most fantasy RPGs have a type of fishfolk. Due to logistical concerns they don’t often see a lot of play time, so there are usually just a few varieties in any given system. While from a limited resources perspective, this is understandable, it does a great disservice to the...
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I was recently kicking around a game set in a deep forest. While it didn’t pan out, I did manage to salvage a few set pieces that can be dropped into your game as landmarks or adventure sites. The Spire: A massive petrified tree standing over the rest of...
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In math terms an extrema, the plural of extremum, are the high and low points (either locally or globally) of a function. This translates into maps as the high and low points of various features. Elevation is an obvious application, but they can also denote any number of other...
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Something that rarely comes up in fantasy games, though characters often travel through farming villages, is agriculture. Yes, sometimes there’s a fight in a field, or a possessed scarecrow, or orc raiders are burning the fields or slaughtering cattle, but medieval fantasy peasants grow the same crops that we...
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Back in 2015, we teased a project we had been considering for quite some time, a foray into writing Gamer Romance novels that focused on Gnome Centric erotica. Too long had Vampire erotica and Elven erotica taken the mainstage, it was time for the mighty gnomes to get some...
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In the comment section of my last article, reader Roxysteve commented about the random terrain generation of Source Of The Nile, one of the games on my “Great games of yesteryear” wish list. I have never read Source Of The Nile, and am only vaguely familiar with it (players...
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As I may have mentioned in the past, I am always toying with the idea of finally putting together the megadungeon promised by Dungeons and Dragons in my youth. Recently, I found this amazing series of articles on the topic and while my goals are slightly different than those...
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As George R. R. Martin is fond of saying: “winter is coming” and with it, a host of massive annoyances fun winter activities! Winter can also bring new and interesting challenges to your game. Here’s a selection of fun winter challenges and features to drop into your next session:...
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It’s time for me to amble into my garage and offer up a handful of the cursed, dusty, and cursed dusty items that I find there. It’s a bit of a post-Christmas tradition here at the stew. I have to make room for all the coal Santa keeps bringing...
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A few years back, we ran an article about evil Santas. Aside from landing all of us on the perpetual naughty list, it went over fairly well, so this year we’re happy to present a list of three of Santa’s dastardly elves. Enjoy your holiday but hope you don’t...
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