I follow Paper and Dice's interesting blog "Writing and Rolling", which mainly reviews creatures (including possible campaign hooks) and provides conversions of creatures from older rulesets to 5e. A month ago he very kindly branched out and posted a detailed review of Ragnar's Keep. He has put a lot of effort into it, which I … Continue reading Ragnar’s Keep Review
Are you a GamesMaster for a fantasy role-playing game? Do you struggle to make your settings feel real? Do you need a castle home base? Or a castle for the players to attack? Or a refuge from the dangers on the road? Maybe some NPCs in a wilderness stronghold? Ragnar's Keep is a detailed castle … Continue reading Ragnar’s Keep – a mediaeval castle setting for fantasy RPGs
It's been a while since I posted the previous call for reviewers for Ragnar's Keep, and over a month since I sent out the first drafts for review, so I thought it was time for an update as to where I've got to. The castle has detailed descriptions for ground floor, basement, and two and … Continue reading Ragnar’s Keep update on progress
I'm currently working through Castle Amber, as mentioned in previous posts. However, I've got bored of just running the encounters and rooms in the module, so I've started to go off-piste.This is a room I added in place of the Green Man - area 41 - and the empty room where they have to find … Continue reading Water trap puzzle – an encounter for 5e
This is an encounter I created for the Darokin adventures, but it is completely generic. It adds an interesting 3D aspect to the encounter. The group were guarding a caravan along a wilderness trail, and I was introducing a new player. This was set up as a rescue scenario for her. It is based on … Continue reading Spiders’ Cavern – an encounter for 5e
How do you cope with the fact that players can do anything? Your carefully laid plans get ruined by the players reacting in a way you don't expect. I've had a couple of near TPKs as a result of thinking things through too carefully in terms of a particular approach from the players and not … Continue reading Preparing with situations and characters
These are a set of encounters I created to flesh out the raiders' camp in Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Thanks to Slyflourish (Mike Shea) for inspiration with his version. Encounters: The Banshee Cougars A sharp set of 15 mercenaries in black leather jackets and trousers sitting on boxes around a camp fire between four … Continue reading HotDQ – raider camp encounters
Ragnar’s Keep has stood on this rock outcrop on the outskirts of the town for well over a hundred years. Who Ragnar was is now lost in the mists of time, but it is a defensible location near a river and good farmland, and so it has been continuously occupied ever since and a town has grown up around it.
