D20 Tabletop Roleplaying Game Gift Ideas that Aren’t Just More TTRPGs (or Dice)
When you are shopping for a tabletop roleplaying game obsessive, most of the recommendations are for more TTRPG books or more dice, when they probably already have plenty. Here are 20 gift ideas that aren’t just more TTRPG books or dice!
They’re Eating the Blogs
I am adding a new way for more people to read my posts, but they’ll take my blog over my dead body! I muse about the state of blogging and give some encouragement and advice for people looking to start their own.
You Got Democracy in My Medieval Fantasy!
Too many fantasy settings feature the political systems of the real world middle ages, but there isn’t a good reason for this prevalence. I make the case for using democracies in you setting from the perspective of increasing player agency and engagement in the factions in your campaign.
Horror Prologue Gameplay
Vecna Lives! has a famously poorly designed prologue but with the bold idea of showcasing the villain by killing off a bunch of high-level characters, as if it were the prologue to a horror film. I present a way to accomplish this in a way that doesn’t diminish player agency and which can be used for other monster-centric horror adventures.
Is GenCon Worth It?
I discuss whether GenCon is worth it to RPG designers, ordinary gamers, and how to make it even more worthwhile.
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.
Potion Clues
Advice for identifying the potions you find in dungeons, ideally before quaffing them.
Social Monsters
Monsters should be more than just a threat in the dungeon to your player characters’ physical health and wellbeing. Here is how to make a monster a threat to their reputation in town.
Here Be No Product Identity Monsters
File off the serial numbers, take what you want. Also, I talk about and rate some classic (some less so) monsters.
Hexcrawl Checklist: Part Two
The second part in a comprehensive guide for designing and running your own hexcrawl campaign, which focuses on random encounters, calendars, factions, history and rumors.
Hexcrawl Checklist: Part One
The first part in a comprehensive guide for designing and running your own hexcrawl campaign.
Doppelgänger Dos & Don’ts
Advice for bringing the fun of hidden role games to your doppelgänger encounters.
Dicember Blogstew
For Dyson Logos’ Dicember Challenge, I address the first 21 prompts in a single blogpost.
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.
How to NOT Run You Got a Job on the Garbage Barge
No adventure survives contact with the players. And that’s a good thing! I discuss You Got a Job on the Garbage Barge and Canal of Horrors.
A Better Approach to Deadly Games
Don’t let character death slow down your games. If you want to run a deadly game, you do not need to make it easier to die. To run a deadly game, make it easier to live.
Maybe Split the Party
A definitive guide to splitting the party or running PvP while keeping all the players at the table engaged with the action.
How to Run a Mystery in TTRPGs
Advise on running mysteries and reflections on capital-T Truth in TTRPGs. By speaking a fact at the table, you reify that as a Truth. All clues unuttered are merely potential truths, waiting their turn.