W. F. Smith 10/8/24 W. F. Smith 10/8/24

So Many Free Taverns for Your Games: Barkeep Jam Retrospective

Going through the 32 entries for the Barkeep Jam and summarizing the contents so you know which ones to pick up for your pubcrawl adventuring needs, with some commentary on adventure design sprinkled throughout.

W. F. Smith 8/20/24 W. F. Smith 8/20/24

Which Sacred Cow Doth I Kill?

The worst part of the otherwise excellent "Roll Under" system is that rolling low on a d20, contrary to popular conceptions, is a good thing. Can we keep the bones of roll under while bringing it into conformity with mainstream worship of the natural 20?

W. F. Smith 8/8/24 W. F. Smith 8/8/24

Is GenCon Worth It?

I discuss whether GenCon is worth it to RPG designers, ordinary gamers, and how to make it even more worthwhile.

W. F. Smith 8/2/24 W. F. Smith 8/2/24

GenCon: This IS My First Rodeo

Your intrepid reporter in the field presents the latest on-the-ground news from the first day of GenCon.

W. F. Smith 7/2/24 W. F. Smith 7/2/24

A LEGO Jam Retrospective: Trouble in Paradisa

In which I talk about how to write an adventure in a weekend and a method for connecting NPCs in a web of relationships.

W. F. Smith 6/25/24 W. F. Smith 6/25/24

Endangered in Dungeons

Oops, you hunted the random encounter to extinction. What comes next?

W. F. Smith 5/30/24 W. F. Smith 5/30/24

The TTRPG Cooking Minigame

A simple minigame for cooking, monsters or otherwise.

W. F. Smith 5/14/24 W. F. Smith 5/14/24

Between Two Jams

In which I implore your participation in two game jams this summer: the Lego RPG Setting Jam and the Barkeep Jam. I extol their virtues and cajole all creators to join in the fun.

W. F. Smith 5/8/24 W. F. Smith 5/8/24

Wizard Diss Tracks

Wizards are petty creatures, prone to getting into arcane beefs with their fellows. I present rules for wizards researching diss spells to further their beefs along with a d66 random table for origins of the beefs between wizards.

W. F. Smith 4/25/24 W. F. Smith 4/25/24

We Live Again

Rules for resurrection, soul transference, reincarnation, and cloning (in roleplaying games. If I knew how in real life, would I really be spending my time pretending to be an elf?)