Your last three sessions have felt like a mini-campaign, bursting with mystery and possibilities. Now that we've captured the baron, how did he get all those goblins into the basement? Did we miss some hidden door to the underdark? Or was the smuggler we got that magic scroll from involved? 1 "No, it was …

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RPG dungeons often presume a lot of separation between rooms. Anyone starting a fight in this dungeon would immediately tip off all creatures. We can excuse our way around it with oozes, deaf goblins, et c., but it's a heavy restriction that seems to receive less attention than it should. It also seems odd to find …

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When looking at RPG Attributes, one fact returns to me constantly: Olympic Athletes cannot compete in every sport. Top wrestlers are stocky, and cannot compete in basketball. Top basketball players move quickly, and cannot compete in weightlifting. Weight lifters cannot compete in climbing events. A certain amount of …

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When making things, once in a while you spot a pit-trap laden with spikes, and screech to a halt to think about the route ahead carefully. When making chairs, I guess people test by sitting in the chair. Writers and RPG designers can't get this kind of snappy feedback, so I guess we're all a bit fumbly when testing …

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The following is a list of all open source RPGs I've come across: Chronicles Chronicles is a completely open source RPG, written in Markdown. The plain text base allows it to output to epub, pdf, and html. Knave While Knave has a licence compatible with the GPL, and other open source licences, Knave, like many other …

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My favourite image from A,D&D's monstrous manual is the nymph. The write-up leaves no surprises to anyone who knows A,D&D. Gygax et alia created a genre, which entails a lot of making-shit-up-on-the-fly, which tracks well for a DM. He took a standard mythology creature, and introduced it to a Lord of the Rings …

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RPGs with a shared narrative mechanic - where players and the GM both come up with interesting people, results, and situations - come with a cost. They pull focus away from the puzzle elements of the RPG, and that's my favourite element, so I can't see myself enjoying shared narration mechanics. Let's start with an …

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I've decided against having online printing available for BIND. This may change, but here's the thinking so far: Printing means I need to have the book mailed to me, but posting to Serbia means a whole bunch of faff. Of course, a voice in my head reminds me I could always find a way. Send the book to a friend, and have …

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I've enjoyed Ravenloft more than any other A,D&D setting, and the 3rd Edition expansion gave it a lot more life. Despite that, a lot of the best themes seem under-used. Beginnings Ravenloft began when A,D&D was busy asking 'what else can we do as an RPG?', and someone said 'horror'. Specifically, 'Hammer …

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