Cultured Language – a New Perspective

Characters lay on the charm while bartering for magic items with a green hag

Languages never seem to play much of a part in my D&D games. It's much easier to assume everyone speaks Common and get on with it. But how do you represent how well a character knows an area? Or how different cultures interact? Based on a proposal by Dave Clark @bedirthan, maybe we could replace "language" with "culture".

Adding a sentient magic item? Be careful!

Armoured man looking at sword. Photo by Imad Clicks via Pexels

Intelligent swords have been the stuff of fable, and in D&D since the start. I thought it would be cool, but I wish I'd known this before I started...

Revising lock-picking – an update

I have spent most of the year working on a new set of lock-picking mechanics, and I presented it to my players. This is how they reacted, and a couple of tweaks we have made as a result.

Revising Lockpicking in D&D?

Revised lock-picking rules for D&D 5e. In an earlier post, I lamented how trivial picking a lock felt in a session. I've explored alternatives and rules; time to come up with a proposal. So here you are.

What’s the chance of success?

A large number of dice on an opened copy of the Players Handbook

Have you ever wondered just how quickly the chances of success add up if you can make a check repeatedly without consequence? This post looks at d20 checks, including with advantage or disadvantage, and how this changes if there is a chance of instant failure.

How long does it take to pick a lock?

How long does it take to pick a lock in #DnD? A review of the various editions, plus real life.

Tavern – RPGaDAY 2025 Day 3

#RPGaDAY2025 Day 3 - Tavern Starting an adventure in a tavern with a hooded stranger? How cliched! But that's not necessarily a bad thing. And don't forget how much your tavern can communicate.

How do you run Mass Combat in D&D?

D&D is designed for combats with a handful on each side. So how do you scale that up to larger numbers? Here are various suggestions, from the DMG, @slyflourish, @louanders, #TalesOfTheValiant, and the #BECMI Companion set

The Joy of Consequences

How often do you let unintended consequences of your players’ actions drive a storyline? Here I talk about an unplanned storyline which grew out of thinking about what the characters had done.

Running a City (in your TTRPG)

How do you run a city? I’m not talking about advice to mayors and city councillors. This is a role-playing game blog, after all. I’m talking about making a city the centre of your campaign and adventures. Regular readers of my blog will be aware that my current campaign is based in the city of … Continue reading Running a City (in your TTRPG) →