We're playing through the old X2 Castle Amber module (converting to 5e using XXX as a guide), and the party were going after the Sword of Sylaire. Note: This post contains minor spoilers for X2 Castle Amber. If this might be a problem, stop reading now and direct your GM here instead. They had met … Continue reading How a moral dilemma turned a mediocre battle to an engaging session
Category: Preparation and Gamesmastering
RPGaDay2019 Day 31 – Last
It's August 31st, day 31 of #RPGaDay2019, and the Last day, following Connection yesterday and a whole month of posts. And the inspiration today, appropriately enough, is Last. This seems like an appropriate time to have a retrospective on the season. But first, I claim the triumph of completing it, and not only completing it, … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 31 – Last
RPGaDay2019 Day 30 – Connection
How are your characters connected? Connection is the inspiration for day 30 of #RPGaDay2019, following Evolve yesterday. I've had quite a few random musings posts recently, and tomorrow's probably will be too, so I'll go concrete today. I'm going to talk about a suggestion I came across when I was starting my new campaign a … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 30 – Connection
RPGaDay2019 Day 26 – Idea
What's the Big Idea? That's the inspiration for day 26 of #RPGaDay2019, following the combined Triumph and Calamity yesterday. I have come to realise I definitely prefer running my own homebrew campaign to running a pre-published adventure. This means I have to come up with the idea for each encounter, session, location, setting and story … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 26 – Idea
RPGaDay2019 Day 24 – Triumph and Day 25 – Calamity
Triumph and Calamity. Those are the inspirations for days 24 and 25 of #RPGaDay2019, following Surprise yesterday. And I'm going to take advantage of being a little bit behind to consider them together. After all, they are flip sides of the same coin. They are both significant events in the story of the campaign. Without … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 24 – Triumph and Day 25 – Calamity
RPGaDay2019 Day 23 – Surprise
Surprise. That's the inspiration for day 23 of #RPGaDay2019, following Lost yesterday. How much should you try to surprise your players? On the one hand, you don't want the story to be too predictable, and for everything to always run the same way. You want to keep the players on their toes a bit, otherwise … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 23 – Surprise
RPGaDay2019 Day 21 – Vast
Vast. That's the inspiration for day 21 of #RPGaDay2019, following Noble yesterday. I love the vastness of the world now called Mystara, particularly the Known World. It is so vast in both scope and extent, particularly once you add the later adventures such as X4/X5 Master of the Desert Nomads, the journeys of the Princess … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 21 – Vast
RPGaDay2019 Day 19 – Scary
Scary. That's the inspiration for day 19 of #RPGaDay2019, following Plenty yesterday. How do you make your sessions scary? It's not something I've had much success understanding. It certainly doesn't seem to relate to the difficulty of the battle. I've had the characters face battles which came very close to TPKs, and I think I … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 19 – Scary
RPGaDay2019 Day 18 – Plenty
Plenty. That's the inspiration for day 18 of #RPGaDay2019, following One yesterday. How often do we consider the implications of things being plentiful? I know D&D isn't meant to be an exact simulation of the world and that's one of its strengths, but anything common becomes inherently less valuable. In the BECMI days, 80% of … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 18 – Plenty
RPGaDay2019 Day 13 – Mystery
Mystery. That's the inspiration for day 13 of #RPGaDay2019, following Friendship yesterday. How do you run a good Mystery in D&D? I've tried it once. It's a very different style to a dungeon crawl. With a dungeon crawl, you have a setting, you have encounters within it, and you (hopefully) have a goal to achieve … Continue reading RPGaDay2019 Day 13 – Mystery
