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
Tag: Articles
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
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
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
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
Seasons of Adventure
Often DnD exists in a kind of seasonal vacuum. The climate is always ‘generic adventuring climate’ and the weather is whatever the plot needs it to be. But there is an opportunity to get more out of the environment and the cycle of seasons in our DnD campaigns. This piece is going to go into … Continue reading Seasons of Adventure
The Active Dungeon vs The Passive Dungeon
Intro Hi everyone. I’m back again with something that came up in one of the discussions spawned by my Puzzle Game series. I figured I’d cover it while I finalise my series on using puzzle game design to help build campaigns and narrative arcs (yes that’s still in the works). This post is going to … Continue reading The Active Dungeon vs The Passive Dungeon
The ‘Heroic State’: Epic Heroism, Immersion and Realism
The Apothecary hands the Paladin a vial of murky green liquid. 'This will push you beyond your normal limits, but for a price.' He crows. The Paladin does not hesitate. Lives are at stake. He downs the bottle. His blood pounds loudly in his ears, thrumming like the beating of a dragon's wings. His chest … Continue reading The ‘Heroic State’: Epic Heroism, Immersion and Realism
Building Better Dungeons Using Puzzle Game Design: Appendix
Intro Hey guys, I’m back with a short follow-up to my recent 5-part series on using tenets of puzzle game design to help with dungeon building in DnD. I felt there were a few pieces of wisdom related to the overall concept that I could not fit into the series, so I wanted to release … Continue reading Building Better Dungeons Using Puzzle Game Design: Appendix
Building Better Dungeons Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 5
Intro We’ve really been through a lot together by now, and I like to think we need no introductions between us. Still, I will at least provide the courtesy of recapping the series so far and outline what this final piece will discuss. This series has focused on using lessons from puzzle game design to … Continue reading Building Better Dungeons Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 5
Building Better Dungeons Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 4
Intro Welcome back! And this time I’m not going to apologise for the previous part. If you’re coming in to this fresh, first of all you really ought to read the previous posts to get properly up to speed, but in a nutshell this series is focusing on using lessons from puzzle game design to … Continue reading Building Better Dungeons Using Puzzle Game Design: Lesson 4
The Gold Problem, and Solving it with Rest Variants
This is an immediate follow-up to my most recent post here where I discussed the notion of switching between different modes of resting that changed the exact times while preserving relative time difference. I mostly discussed this in the context of pacing play and also managing your encounter quota. However, those are not the only … Continue reading The Gold Problem, and Solving it with Rest Variants
Rests, Realism and the ‘Dungeon State’
Today I'm posting one of my more successful submissions to DnDBehindTheScreem. It shares the lessons of one of my more recent undertakings as a DM: Gritty Realism and how to make it work for you (imagine that as the title of the corny self-help book you just grabbed off the shelf). Intro Firstly let's talk … Continue reading Rests, Realism and the ‘Dungeon State’
Apothecary Press 