We’re almost at the end of our little series here, so before we close this book, I wanted to chat about a pillar of good gaming that I hold very dear: the art of descriptive storytelling. I believe many of us who choose to run roleplaying games do so because we have fallen in love …
We’ve written previously in this series about the importance of approaching a one-on-one 5E game as a co-creative storytelling process. At the table, this looks like the player taking on some roles of the GM and vice-versa.
Back in the summer of 2019, I wrote an article entitled “So You Want to Play in Midgard? (But You Don’t Know Where to Start),” which discussed how to use the amazing resources of the Midgard Worldbook, the online and interactive Midgard Map, and the Midgard Adventures by Level and Location spreadsheet that I maintain …
So You (Still) Want to Play in Midgard? Part One Read More »
Alternate Traits and Actions The following changes allow GMs to alter a light drake without modifying its challenge rating.
The Emerald Order is a group steeped in magic. With the Emerald Tablets holding the secrets of the universe, the devout and high-ranking members of the order can glean much arcane knowledge from them. The order also creates and collects many strange and powerful magical items, often aided by the knowledge contained in the tablets …
A GM’s work is never done, so to make things easier on you, we’re providing a series of tables to help you flesh out your encounters, your adventures—your world. This table provides 33 unique environmental encounters… not encounters of the combat sort but strange, wonderous, or disturbing things for your adventurers to happen upon while, …
Dungeon Tables: Fifty Unique Environmental Encounters Read More »
Straight from the Editorial Director’s snout, this monthly blog series provides a peek at current publications and projects headed from the warrens to gaming tables everywhere—so you’ll always know what to watch out for!
A troll in a field is dead. A troll under a bridge is dramatic. A troll in your privy is terrifying. The danger of enemies in 5th edition is based heavily on the circumstances in which they are encountered. Skirmishing doesn’t change this fact but does change the nature of those circumstances. Previously, you’d have …
It’s November, and everyone’s gaming! So here’s a fang-tastic set of wallpapers for your computer, your smartphone, or whatever electronic device you’ve got. This month, we’ve got a piece from the Tome of Beasts 2 (artist Hugh Pindur).
None living know for sure what caused the fall of the great northern dwarven kingdom. Some say that the dwarves lost their way. Forged on the adamantine anvil by the smith god Volund and the thunder god Thor, they were created to be warriors in Wotan’s battle against the wild elves of Thorn. As they …
There are a few reasons why you might choose to run a one-on-one session (one player, one GM) as part of your group game, some of which we’ll cover in depth in this post. Maybe the other members of your group were unable to meet, but you still want to play? Or perhaps one of …
One-on-One Roleplaying: Running a One-on-One Session as Part of Your Group Game Read More »
It doesn’t matter what game you’re playing: you can break all of its rules and go wild with how you want to use or ignore them. Take all of the best bits and run with them. What we’re talking about now is how exactly to begin doing that. Now, there’re no formulae for doing it, …
The 4th Pillar: Setting up an “Imbalanced” Campaign Read More »
In a previous post, I brought up focusing your traps with purpose and mentioned nonlethal traps. These types of traps are often overlooked when designing adventures, but they are equally valuable. Nonlethal traps alert guards to the presence of intruders, scare off dangerous animals, capture valuable prisoners, or hobble fleeing prey.
The Emerald Order is one of the few organizations in Demon Cults & Secret Societies that is not actively malicious. There are certainly many evil members who pursue their studies in the order for personal power and gain; however, their overall goals are not necessarily evil. In the first installment, we provided you with an …
Secrets of the Emerald Order: Emerald Order Initiate Read More »
A GM’s work is never done, so to make things easier on you, we’re providing a series of tables to help you flesh out your encounters, adventures—your world. In this round of Dungeon Tables, we present to you Instant Town! Simply roll on the charts below to create a settlement from the ground up. Then after …
From the creators of the original Tome of Beasts! Kobold Press has wrangled a new horde of wildly original, often lethal, and highly entertaining 5E-compatible monsters to challenge new players and veterans alike.