Advice – The TTRPG Factory

Pacing your RPG

According to some stats I saw online (someone quoted them, I looked them up and confirmed, then wrote this idea in my to do list before promptly deleting any of my validation work and references…), the average D&D play instance lasts for seven, four-hour sessions. Play instance is a tem I’ll use to differentiate betweenContinue reading “Pacing your RPG”

Druid Circle of Land: Houserule

I’ve been mulling over a general dissatisfaction with Druids for some time now and I think it boils down not actually feeling like I’m in touch with nature. I landed at the idea of potentially writing a new subclass that’s really in touch with the terrain and the world around them, and got so farContinue reading “Druid Circle of Land: Houserule”

Mephits: K20 Lore

Similar to elementals, mephitis are small elementals native to a variety of elemental planes. While diminutive in size, and individually essentially not a threat, mephitis tend to gather in mobs or similar types and can be formidable in this manner. They have a tendency to be lazy, unmotivated, cheap to hire, and resilient, which makesContinue reading “Mephits: K20 Lore”

Outlanders & Explorers: 5e

For a game that coined the term “Three Pillars”, 5e sure loves to let folks ignore two of them. The exploration pillar, while not outright ignored like the roleplay pillar, doesn’t get a lot of love when compared to the combat pillar. There’s a bit about tracking overland movement in the DMG that’s pretty good,Continue reading “Outlanders & Explorers: 5e”

SR-16 Retrospective on Indie Games

SR-16, author of previously reviewed Space Street, reached out to me a little bit ago with an essay they put together analyzing a trend in indie RPGs on Itch. They focus on one of their games that followed it, where it went wrong, and another similar game that did it right (by someone else). WhileContinue reading “SR-16 Retrospective on Indie Games”

Goodliness, Godliness, and Dragons

Soapbox time. An ongoing gripe of mine, is the seemingly constant confusion around what good, godliness, and gods mean in D&D. See, many folks assume D&D works like Christianity, and the only difference is God is now the gods. The gods made the world, people who do good things get to go to a GoodContinue reading “Goodliness, Godliness, and Dragons”

3.5 House Rules

I mention that I often run 3.5 games, and we have reached an era where I can’t just assume everyone has played before. This leads to interesting conversations with folks who hear about the cool stuff I’m talking about and want to try it themselves. 3e is also notorious for DMs with reams and reamsContinue reading “3.5 House Rules”

A Game for Kids

My son loves the idea of playing D&D. He sees my home (fully vaccinated) crew play and finds as many reasons as possible to buzz through the room, or strike up a chat, or ask as many questions about the game as he can. Lately he has been asking to play, and I hear aboutContinue reading “A Game for Kids”

Playtesting Dead Man’s Land

A little peek into some of the playtesting that went into Dead Man’s Land. One of the tools used was a Same Game Test, a concept IIRC invented by a user who I believe doesn’t wish to be credited anymore. So it’s not my idea, but it’s also no ones I guess… It’s a greatContinue reading “Playtesting Dead Man’s Land”

The Beast Type

A lot of players may not realize this, unless they are playing a druid, or someone with polymorph, but 5e has a problem. DMs who do a lot of world building know it, and once I point it out, it will drive you up a wall. The Beast type is nonsensical, and if you makeContinue reading “The Beast Type”