TTRPGs

I Don't Run Session Zero

Sep 10, 2022 · 5 min read · RPG Theory

'Session 0' is the pre-game evening to talk about the game, without having the game. I don't see any reason for five people to lose an evening, planning future evenings. I want to run through the standard arguments, just to give solidity to the feeling of wasted time prompted by the phrase 'session zero'. People should …

Balancing White Wolf

Sep 5, 2022 · 4 min read · RPG White Wolf

Character Creation While I'm remaking the World of Darkness Combat system, I'm starting to feel that Character Creation could stand to be a lot more balanced. But it's more of a Storytelling system. This isn't about killing trolls for gold pieces - it's adult story-crafting. ...that's what I hear the books echo back to …

System Realism Matters

Sep 2, 2022 · 2 min read · RPG Theory

A hundred paces down the dark tunnel, you see dozens of goblins dancing round a fire and singing about eating anything that moves. At this point the crew begin to plot. Could we just stay here and shoot at the goblins? We should be able to get a load of arrows off in three rounds. If we run back to where we avoided …

Two Ubiquitous Fantasy Characters

Aug 18, 2022 · 3 min read · RPG Theory

Every fantasy work has two characters: magic and the landscape. Landscape In Earthsea, the water compartmentalizes the locations. Here, Ged grew up. There, he learnt about magic. And every time we want to know more about this land, water provides punctuation to the story and isolates the area. Middle Earth has a very …

My Session One

Aug 11, 2022 · 2 min read · RPG Theory

Pre-Game Post a link to the pdf (but assume nobody will read it) Get snacks (or make dahl if you're feeling fancy - everyone loves dahl) Put water and glasses on the table Dice, rubbers (or 'erasers' in American), pencils, and coins Plan smoke-breaks (even if you don't have smokers) Intro Hide the beers until the …

An Alternative OSR Style

Jul 23, 2022 · 3 min read · RPG OSR Design

I feel like the Old School Renaissance ('OSR') games could achieve their goals easier. The exact goals vary, but it's something along the lines of: like old D&D don't fill the character sheet with 1,000 special skills simple rules lethal game-play, forcing players to be clever Rather than ditching feats and …

Finding the OSR

Jul 22, 2022 · 4 min read · RPG OSR Theory

My recent background-watching videos covered the Old School Renaissance ('OSR'), which looks to revive a lot of old-school D&D-style play. I started with Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, so a renaissance intrigued me. Strange Premises While I've not heard of some of the more egregious rules returning (thieves …

Highlights from the WoD Contest Game

Jul 13, 2022 · 6 min read · RPG White Wolf

I've made an alternative World of Darkness system, where players enter Contests instead of Combat. Here are the highlights from a campaign. Setting In Belgrade (in Hungary), in the year 1130 AD, four people fell to the Cainite embrace in a church, and were forced to survive the political machinations of the existing …

Show, Don't Tell

Jul 8, 2022 · 2 min read · RPG Theory

Radio dramas often have their characters speak so as to indicate their actions. Does anyone have an extra blanket? If I get cold I'll wake up with a bad back. Hearing this, we know The group is sleeping outside, the speaker is old, and the speaker wants to sleep. I wonder if the group adopting this habit might enhance …

A Better Combat System for White Wolf

Jun 30, 2022 · 13 min read · RPG Theory White Wolf

I've been testing out a new combat system for White Wolf games, such as Vampire: The Masquerade. The Old System White Wolf games opined about how the system was simple - roll a number of D10's equal to your Strength + Athletics (or whatever), and count all the dice which land on 6 or more. The player then reads the …