Intro This is an old post of mine from r/dndbehindthescreen. A few years ago they did an ‘Underdark Month’, and this was the contribution I made to it. This post was originally going to be followed up with another that went into further detail on how to design encounters using the possibilities this post created. … Continue reading An Ecology of Ambush Predators: Populating the Underdark to Set Up for Encounters
Category: Articles
How To Design Puzzles Part 2: The Scrivener’s Tomb
Intro So the last part left you in the lurch a bit. I said I was going to teach you how to design puzzles, but I never actually showed you how, I just delivered to high-concept ideas and put in an example and a counter-example. As promised in the last part, this part is going … Continue reading How To Design Puzzles Part 2: The Scrivener’s Tomb
1-Year Retrospective
On March 2 2020 I made my first post on this blog. It was the first of what was at the time the ongoing 'Building Better Dungeons' series. A short while after I did a 2-month retrospective, and around that time I also reached the end of the retroactive posting of content (as in, uploading … Continue reading 1-Year Retrospective
How To Design Puzzles Part 1
Intro This one has been a long time coming. I’ve spoken at great length about taking lessons from puzzle games, and also about utilising puzzle mechanics to create incredible dungeons, but in all that something’s been missing. When I’ve brought up creating puzzles I’ve just sort of laid it out there as ‘when you make … Continue reading How To Design Puzzles Part 1
How to Keep Medicine Relevant in a World Where Magic Exists
IntroSo unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve no doubt heard of the Combat Wheelchair homebrew that’s been knocking about. Look, I’m not here to get into a discussion about that, but there was one thing I noticed some detractors saying. Go into any thread about said Wheelchair and you’ll see someone say something … Continue reading How to Keep Medicine Relevant in a World Where Magic Exists
Puzzles, Time Loops and the Clockwork Setpiece
You pull yourselves up the rigging and over the ship’s handrail. The mist hangs low over the deck. You think you can see figures moving about, but nothing is distinct.“Ah,” you hear from behind you, “I thought this might happen...”Captain Broadheart is looking at his outstretched hands as his fingers trail off into the mist. … Continue reading Puzzles, Time Loops and the Clockwork Setpiece
The Arcane Wonders of the World
This is a follow on from my Mortal-Made Wonders of the World post from a while back. If you haven't read it yet then check it out! The Loqiron Ice Springs Though this scholar argues they are more an arcane phenomenon than a wonder, the Ice Springs that appear around the Loqiron Plateau are undeniably … Continue reading The Arcane Wonders of the World
Where The F*** Are The Dungeon Crawl Rules?
This is going to be a bit of a strange one. It’s a part-rant, part-ruleset about dungeon crawling, because a few months ago I noticed something was horribly wrong with 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons. Where The F*** Are The Dungeon Crawl Rules? Back in the day the D&D core books included very clear rules … Continue reading Where The F*** Are The Dungeon Crawl Rules?
The Realism Fallacy
Intro So here’s something I’m sick of hearing. “How do you justify the existence of [puzzle element] in your world?”. I get why it’s being asked, and I do think immersion is important, but I think there is often this perception that realism is synonymous with immersion. I frankly do not believe this is true, … Continue reading The Realism Fallacy
Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 4
Intro Welcome back! I feel at this point there’s little value in preamble so I’ll just get on with the piece. To re-cap where we currently are, the last 3 parts have discussed world structures for our campaigns that are informed by puzzle game design.So if there’s one thing I wish I could go back … Continue reading Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 4
Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 3
Intro After the wait for part 2 dragged into the span of months I figured I’d best have part 3 out a little sooner, so here it is!This piece continues where Part 2 left off. We spent the entirety of that part talking about Megadungeons and a way of structuring them to fit with our … Continue reading Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 3
Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 2
Intro If you’ve been patiently waiting for this then I can only extend my gratitude. This one’s been a long time in the making. I’ve mentioned it here and there, but this whole series was effectively complete, then after posting the first part I decided I wasn’t happy with the rest and pulled the whole … Continue reading Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 2
Maintaining Technological Realism: The Industrial Pocket
Intro Hello again everyone. Today I’ve got a write-up that deals with maintaining a sense of realism when we include more technologically advanced and pseudo-industrial societies in our DnD settings. This is born from a desire by many DMs to have a mixture of early to mid industrial style technologies (like electric circuits, or pneumatic … Continue reading Maintaining Technological Realism: The Industrial Pocket
Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 1
Intro Hello again fine folks! I hinted at this already, but I’m following up my series on taking lessons from puzzle games for dungeon design with a series on doing the same thing with campaign and setting design. First, Some Definitions I’m using ‘campaign’ here pretty loosely, as really these lessons can be applied pretty … Continue reading Building Better Campaigns Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 1
My Campaigns in Lockdown
This week's post is going to be a little different. I'm going to reflect on the last few weeks of my DnD campaigns throughout my country's COVID-19 lockdown. I don't want to be doing 'campaign diary'-type posts on this blog because I've always felt them to be dry and almost 'lazy' content. So little of … Continue reading My Campaigns in Lockdown
It’s Time to Ditch Great Wheel Cosmology
There’s one thing everyone agrees on: this realm is called Midgard. Dwarves and Elves will tell you the Gods all live on Asgard, and that it’s connected to Midgard in some way, but the ‘how’ is a little fuzzy. They also talk about the elemental planes, and the sphere they make around the material world … Continue reading It’s Time to Ditch Great Wheel Cosmology
2 Month Retrospective
So far this blog has been running for 2 months (or rather just under 2 months) and I wanted to do a brief retrospective. Retro Yesterday I did something I haven't done before on this blog. I posted a piece of content here before I posted it anywhere else. So far all of the content … Continue reading 2 Month Retrospective
Seasons of Adventure: Polar Climates
This is the third and (for now) final part in a short series I’ve done on how different seasons affect your DnD settings and inform the sorts of adventures that can take place within them. I’ve so far discussed the standard 4-season cycle most of us are familiar with as well as various tropical climates … Continue reading Seasons of Adventure: Polar Climates
Seasons of Adventure: The Tropics
This post is a direct follow-up to the Seasons of Adventure post here from about a week ago. I mentioned in the comments that I was going to do a piece on Tropical and Polar climates given that their seasonal cycles are profoundly different to the standard ‘4 seasons’ cycle discussed in the original post. … Continue reading Seasons of Adventure: The Tropics
In-Universe Burnout and the 3rd Rest State: ‘Standard Grit’, the Rest Variant Compromise
Intro Hi everyone, I’m back again with a continuation of my series on Rest Variants. Once again this post is building on the foundational concept outlined in the first post. You can read it Here. There are other posts in this series too, and I would implore you to check them all out, but reading … Continue reading In-Universe Burnout and the 3rd Rest State: ‘Standard Grit’, the Rest Variant Compromise
Apothecary Press 