You’ll sometimes run across the phrase “springing up like mushrooms after a rainstorm” to describe something that makes an appearance too quickly to be pure coincidence. Mushrooms are able to do that...
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If you have run a game campaign for any period of time, it becomes apparent that the random encounter tables for your adventurers become stale-dated or dull. Even if there are variations by terrain, climate or civilization, the game-provided tables become repetitive. One solution to this...
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Beneath the soil they wait, oozing digestive juices to liquefy and absorb any edible material hapless enough to fall in their path. Silently, patiently, they spread hidden tendrils thinner than a hair under the ground, linking threads to form an invisible net below the feet of the hapless...
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Let us continue our look at the town of Foot from last article. https://drive.google.com/open?id=19aNWRgV6WbO9YFvUd0XBf1xVJFaA5laJ 7. The Carpenter. This shop smells like sawdust as soon as you enter it. There’s wood, stain, saws, hammers, levels, crank drills, chisels, and all other manner...
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In 2011 I offered to DM a 4-hour session of DnD as part of a silent auction for NAMI. My friend Toni bid on it, totally not out of pity. On the successful note of raising a whopping $20, Toni told me she wanted to play with her wife and two friends except… none of them had ever...
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The Obvious: Distraction I know a few (probably more than a few) GMs who don’t want or allow technology at their table. That’s their call, and I urge players to respect it. This is because devices, especially those with online capability, can lead to distractions in the form of text...
Read More The town of Foot is the home base of any Airy Peaks campaign. It’s a place for adventurers to rest between delves into the Peaks, pick up rumors, spend their coin, make alliances and enemies with other adventurers, find hirelings, and get caught up in an intrigue or two — especially...
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Just when you thought that the idea of a session zero wasn’t nerdy enough, along I come to show you how I recently upped the nerd-ante, hopefully to my benefit, the benefit of my players, and the game as a whole. If you are not familiar with the concept of session zero, it is basically a...
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I wanted to share my experience running micro-sessions — all under and hour — for my two teen sons. I’m using the d20 Modern system, or at least a bare bones version of it. Everyone at the table has mastered this rules set, which is something to keep in mind if you wish to mimic...
Read More As you emerge from the Pineward Forest you see the mountains known as the Airy Peaks. They loom in the north, grey, black, and unnaturally bare of snow. The Red Runner River guides your approach to the mountains and the town known as Foot. The river narrows as you come up to a stone bridge arching...
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