• From My Table – Hit Points Shape Experience

    From My Table – Hit Points Shape Experience

    There are many mechanics to track the health and survivability of a player character and the creatures they encounter. For the moment, I’m focusing on the Dungeons & Dragons model as it is a pretty simple system and it is mirrored in many others. Hit points, as defined in the 5E Player’s Handbook (pg. 12),… Read more

  • RPG Theory – Secrets & Clues, Investigations & Interrogations

    RPG Theory – Secrets & Clues, Investigations & Interrogations

    So the PC have captured an enemy or are hitting the library to find some clues. You’ve got your list of 10+ secrets and clues as recommended by The Lazy DM, so now what? Here are some guidelines that get used at my table for D&D, Call of Cthulhu, and Blades in the Dark. 1… Read more

  • Secrets & Clues – But your players can’t find them

    Secrets & Clues – But your players can’t find them

    There are some role playing games like Call of Cthulhu or Gumshoe where searching for clues is part of their DNA. Some RPGs focus on adventure and action, like Dungeons & Dragons or Cyberpunk, so you wouldn’t expect for clues to be a thing in such a game. I’d argue that clues and secrets are… Read more

  • Playing Victoria Day Long Weekend – Terra Mystica, Pandemic 10th Anniversary

    Terra Mystica How to play / winPlayers seek to build structures and improvements to gain victory points. Each faction has slightly different special abilities. Additionally, other special abilities can be gained through building, a draft of special actions each round, and a randomly determined bonus for each round. What I likedI appreciate a game with… Read more

  • World Building – Death of the Gods

    World Building – Death of the Gods

    TLDR – Kill the gods of your world for interesting roleplay and story possibilities. Give it a hook that makes it significant to the Player Characters but don’t limit them too harshly. Several traditional mythologies feature a battle royal between the gods and the epic forces of destruction. It might be a generational struggle like… Read more

  • Comprehend Languages & Secrets

    Comprehend Languages & Secrets

    How often as a DM do you plant some clever clues in an ancient or forbidden language, eager to drop some lore or a puzzling mystery for your players, only to have Comprehend Languages or a similar spell (Eyes of the Rune Keeper any warlock?) rip away all the mystery? The underlying premise is that… Read more

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