With the last post, there was a comment from Tom Harrison on Google+ that I had to ponder a bit… Tom’s input was… “Ok, so here’s my beef. Why does this NPC need a class?… Read More »Magical NPCs for Support Roles vs. Player Roles
During the creation of the Big Book of Little Spaces: Haunts (available soon!), I added a couple of ideas as appendices for NPC creation that turned out not to fit very well in the scope of that… Read More »New Products! Insta-NPCs! (*Just Add Dice)
So you have devised the perfect location, plot, or adventure for your next game session but need a cast of characters to make the setup complete. Your brain has other ideas however and is rebelling.… Read More »Ten NPCs You Bump Into In A Crowded Tavern
What do you remember most about your favorite campaigns? I bet it boils down to one of three things… characters, plot, or encounters. Maybe setting could go into that pot as well. And of course… Read More »Encounter Design: Six Elements and More
Lately I’ve been pondering strange questions as a GM and designer, so here’s my latest ramble… Have you noticed that most fantasy worlds are focused on the crowded places? The constructed places? What about the… Read More »Design Ramble: Open Spaces and Abstract Thoughts
Today’s design post is a bit of a ramble around some ideas that have been bouncing around my head of late… Names have meaning. They provide handles to concepts. Unique identifiers to attach to unique… Read More »LPC Names Design: A Few Thoughts on People and Places
While working on the upcoming Brick by Brick: Floors product (follow-up to Brick by Brick: Doors), I stumbled across a strange idea. If context is so important for everything in a game encounter, do we… Read More »Brick by Brick Design: You Are Here
Like with all projects, this one seems to be taking over my brain, so let’s take a look at some ways we can potentially structure these encounters to not only be functional, but fun, on… Read More »Encounters Design: One Approach to Road Encounters
Last week I talked about encounter design a bit and the keys to both making sure that players are engaged and the GM has measurable goals in the end. But let’s continue that thought a… Read More »Building Block Encounters
As I’ve begun work on yet another product idea, I’ve wondered at the different elements of RPG encounters. What are some of the pieces that make some encounters successful and others less so? For myself… Read More »Designing Better Encounters
