Calendars, Not Just Maps
Maps are important for running location-based adventures, but having a useful calendar or timeline is equally essential.
Conspiracy in the Borderlands
An evaluation of the true villains of the classic adventure: the Cult of Evil Chaos, including what they might be up to two hundred years later.
Your Taverns Need a Procedure
I propose a procedure for running TTRPG taverns less like a beginner’s improv class and more like the Mos Eisley Cantina. I also briefly describe the trend of “proceduralism” in the OSR and Post-OSR.
Luka Rejec Joins the Pubcrawl
A second project update for Barkeep on the Borderlands where I detail newly revealed stretch goals, including a phenomenal guest writer being added to our team (cf. the title).
Barkeep on the Borderlands is Funded (And Then Some!)
An update of my Kickstarter Campaign, which has just unlocked it’s seventh stretch goal! Also some thoughts from our star-studded team of guest writers.
It’s Alive! My Kickstarter
Announcing my new adventure coming to Kickstarter and doing my best carnival barker impression as I exhort the reader to go back it.
Barkeep on the Borderlands Preview: The Birdcage
How to make an adventure also serve as a modular toolkit for referees, plus a preview from Barkeep on the Borderlands.
Drinking Problems: The Trouble with Booze Rules in Games
I present my own rules for prolonged drinking after first discussing what makes rules for alcohol worthwhile in the first place.
The Secret to Realism in Games
People often ask for realism in their games but have difficulty articulating what it is they really want. If realism is understood as a world that reacts to player-character actions in a logical and consistent way, it enhances the verisimilitude of the fiction and the player agency in the game.
Dicember: Parting Thoughts
For Dyson Logos’ Dicember Challenge, I address the final prompts for the month, but up the challenge by pairing the prompts together.
Dicember Blogstew
For Dyson Logos’ Dicember Challenge, I address the first 21 prompts in a single blogpost.
New Kid on the Blogck: My Path to the OSR
I commemorate the first anniversary of my blog by detailing my path to the OSR (and list my top 10 posts thus far).
The XP Bowl and XP Bubbles
I present a new way to award XP that doesn’t disrupt your game or require bookkeeping.
The Basic Procedure of the OSR
Most OSR and Post-OSR games run on a core, often unspoken procedure of questions and answers. This post interrogates ways this is similar (and dissimilar) from story games and synthesizes the approach.
Do the Monster Mashup
I mashup several classic Halloween monsters to create ten new spooky monsters, and discuss how I would use them in games.
The Keep on the Borderlands is Full of Lies
The Keep on the Borderlands is not what it seems. This reinterpretation of a classic module presents a more vibrant world, ripe for player choice.
Apolitical RPGs Do Not Exist
An brief exploration of why games are political by their very nature.
Rating the Deck of Many Things
I rate all the cards in the original Deck of Many Things, as presented in the Greyhawk supplement. All ratings are final and irrefutable.
When to Hold ‘em, When to Roll ‘em
Dice are for divination, a tool that gives final say to fate. When you roll the dice, respect the result. But when you know what the result should be, don’t roll the dice.