Taking Notes from a Player’s Perspective
I’ve always stressed the importance of taking notes as a DM. There’s a lot to keep track of between player…
Using Secrets to Add Depth to NPCs
In my latest Shadow of the Demon Lord session, the party met a family that was ambushed during their move to a…
An Introduction to Hexcrawls
Hexcrawls are a type of adventure that focuses on macro-level exploration. They give the party a more freeform way to…
After the Campaign Ends: Writing an Epilogue
Some time ago I wrote an article about ending a D&D campaign. I was under the assumption that my campaign was coming…
How to Encourage Roleplaying, the Loresmyth Way
Hi all! Today’s guest article was written by Chris Mahon and Chris van der Linden from Loresymth. Loresmyth is an…
Taking a Look at Shadow of the Demon Lord’s Corruption Mechanic
After the flurry of the holidays, business trips, and other such real-life distractions, my group was finally able to get…
D&D Monster Monday: Shadow
A chill runs down your spine as you turn the corner in the sepulcher. Suddenly you begin to feel weak….
Using Player-Owned Property to Generate Plot Hooks
Recently in my Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign, I opted to run a premade module for the party’s latest adventure. I wanted to do…
Tabletop Tactics: Pillars and Spider Climb
This past week I ran perhaps the greatest boss fight I’ve ever created in D&D 5e. While the homebrew version of Lolth…
Using Spells to Maintain Battlefield Control
Battlefield control is an important factor in beating an encounter in D&D 5e or any TTRPG for that matter. Preventing…
Retiring a Player Character Before a Campaign Ends
Like it or not, if you’re playing a tabletop RPG such as D&D 5e, there is a story that your…
I’ve Changed My Mind About Milestone Leveling
The more I play Shadow of the Demon Lord the more I enjoy the system. I feel like a broken record saying…
Tabletop Tactics: Using a Door to Create a Chokepoint
Sometimes the party does something that, while not anything exciting, ends up being a genius tactical maneuver. For example, simply…
The Pros and Cons of Playing on a Virtual Tabletop
A virtual tabletop such as Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, Astral Tabletop, etc. is a modern-day solution to a modern day problem. That problem is,…
How to Play an RPG for the First Time
I love D&D, but there are tons of itches that it just doesn’t scratch compared to other RPGs out there….
Ruling Yourself into a Corner and How You Can Escape It
Let’s be honest, even if you read a rulebook cover-to-cover, you’re probably not going to memorize every single mechanic or…
How To Do an RPG Session Recap
Unless you have an impeccable memory, you’re probably not going to remember every detail in the last session of your…
Using an Unreliable Narrator in an RPG
An unreliable narrator is someone who is telling a story or a tale to an audience, but with the caveat of their…
What Does Prepping for an RPG Session Look Like?
I see a lot of people online talk about how they don’t prep for the games they GM/DM. They show…
I Stopped Fudging Rolls and My Games Became More Fun
Fudging a dice roll is the act of rolling a die and then announcing the result to be something other…
How to Run a Long-Term RPG Campaign
One of the first things I noticed when I started writing Dungeon Solvers was that people have a seriously difficult time finding…
What is Metagaming and How Do You Avoid It?
Metagaming is a common phenomenon that occurs in a lot of tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs) such as Dungeons and Dragons. Simply put,…
Leveraging NPC Relationships in Tabletop RPGs
People love to talk about how Tabletop RPGs (TTRPG) are different from video game RPGs because the world is “alive” or…
Skill Checks: The Good, The Bad, and the D&D 5e
D&D 5e is hands-down my favorite tabletop RPG. I’m big into combat and dungeon delving and those are arguably two…
How to Keep Everyone Focused During Your RPG Session
RPGs are ripe with ways to derail a game session. A funny scenario, or a daring stunt that actually works…
Why Your Group Should Always Have a Session 0
Every tabletop RPG game (TTRPG) I’ve ever run or played in has always started with everyone making their characters as…
How to Deal with Unresolved Plot Hooks in an RPG
Nothing is worse than spending hours creating an interesting dungeon and having your players never touch it. While you can…
Theater of the Mind vs. Battlemaps for Combat Encounters
When it comes to combat encounters in tabletop RPGs there are two methods of describing the encounters. One is to…
Making Battlemaps with Dungeon Painter Studio
I’m going to preface this post by saying that I’m not affiliated with Pyromancers.com or Dungeon Painter Studio in any way. I just frequently…
The Illusion of Choice: The Quantum Goblin Problem
The party comes to a fork in the road. On the right-hand side is a goblin encampment encounter you’ve spent…
Is Inkarnate Pro Worth It?
I’ve previously talked about Inkarnate and how it is an excellent free cartography tool. I’m not an artist by even the loosest…
RPG Session Prep: How Much Time is Needed?
I find that the more experienced I get at running table top RPGs, the better I am at picking up…
One-Page Dungeon Contest Week 3: Encounters
Last week I showcased the map I made for my 2018 submission for the One Page Dungeon Contest. I’m proud to say…
One Page Dungeon Contest Week 2: The Map
Last week I brainstormed and outlined the basics of my One Page Dungeon Contest 2018 submission. This week I decided to focus on creating…
One Page Dungeon Contest Week 1: Brainstorming and Outlining
I’ve previously mentioned this in one of my more recent posts, but I am participating in a dungeon creation contest. Specifically,…
Roll20 Dynamic Lighting Tutorial
I’ve mentioned how Roll20 has enhanced my tabletop experience for me and my friends recently in my music in RPGs post. However, that is only…
Using Music to Describe Your RPG’s Setting
I love using Roll20. With it I play about 2-3 different tabletop RPGs a week. Without it, I would play 0….
