Mage Advice

"Perhaps down the road, counting gold will go the way of ammunition and encumbrance - embraced by those who love realism, but forgotten about at most tables."

More here: buff.ly/OHjyYQl

The nice man from Amazon customer service assures me my copy of Daggerheart will be dispatched in 24 hours.

Seems unlikely, but he was far too polite for me to call him a liar to his face…

Finally got a dispatch notice for my Daggerheart back order.

Looking forward to finally getting a look for myself.

I walked down the ruins of a Roman High Street today.

You wonder if they ever imagined it could all end one day.

In last night's game, my party earned the services of an animated armour they quickly named Arthur.

I did a funny voice for Arthur and chose a mini for him.

I will now let every party member die before Arthur comes to any harm.

These “Scarab Knights” kicked ass.

Its over 2 years since I forced my brother to paint these minis for our home game and ran out of time to use them on the day.

Totally worth it when I saw the players faces as I dropped them down on the map.

Lovely formula!

I would include half feats in that debate.

Ability score improvement or feat?

Went for a walk today, spotted my new DM chair…

Adventure starter for ten...

You find a portable hole, what surprising thing is inside?

Leave your best ideas in the comments!

Summer holidays killing your regular game?

In August I'm running a free playtest of my new play by post game: Deal, Draw and Crawl. It's inspired by Dungeon Crawls and Fantasy Football.

Find out more and sign up to play here: buff.ly/3mLuIKl

#selfpromosaturday #ttrpg

I absolutely adored #Krypto in the new #Superman film.

Here's my thoughts on how to bring that magic to your game: buff.ly/OrgqPzy

#dnd #dungeonsanddragons #ttrpg #comicbooks #DC

I've seen the new #Superman.

I can confirm Krypto is the goodest boy.

I've seen the new Superman.

I can confirm Krypto is the goodest boy.

Applied for a job,
Didn't think I would get it,
Still disappointed.

Finally, make the duel feel unique. I suggested restricting to daggers only. Then we came up with an antiques auction, with cases filled with ancient weapons that are likely to break. As combat progresses you'll have to risk a charge to collect a new weapon each time yours shatters.

As a DM, do some heavy lifting with your description, and encourage players to do the same. You can't hit or miss, you slash their arm, graze their face, dance out of the way of a lunge with a spin.

First, make movement happen. Add objects and cover to give your players something to improvise with and add drama.

Then reduce damage. Sounds counter intuitive, but most games aren't optimised for 1v1, so you want to avoid the massive swings of big hits. Less damage will increase tension.

How do you run an interesting duel in your rpg?

That's the question I was asked today by a friend who is running a game this weekend.

I'll share my answer below - but I'd love to hear your ideas!

The version I wrote for group two had specific beats included for particular players in my home group.
The version for group one is a public session, so was more generic for anyone who may show up.
But group one highlighted a few elements to improve, which I'm not sure will translate.

That is the temptation!

The version I already ran was agnostic because I didn't know the party (public game).
The version I could run was written with my home group in mind.

Inspirational stuff, thankyou!

I made a terrible mistake writing two versions of the same Dungeon for two separate groups.

The first version went great with group 1, so should I just re-run it for group 2?

Or do I stick to the version I wrote for group 2 and see how it goes?

YouTube video by REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal Deborah Ann Woll Teaches Jon Bernthal Dungeons and Dragons

Today a friend at work asked me to explain #DungeonsandDragons.

This video popped into my head and I tried it. You won't believe how effective it is.

No dice, no paper, but I taught three new players how to play the game on my lunch break...

I've realised most of my adventures end with a big battle.

Which is fine, but I'd like to mix things up!

What's been your favourite alternative ending to an epic adventure?

I want a series of puzzles, in the style of Indiana Jones' trials for the holy grail.

Three puzzles for three gods representing Maiden (Dawn), Mother (Dusk), Crone (Stars). I'd like to set all three challenges to be completed against a 10 minutes countdown.

#ttrpg community - do your work!

When in doubt, trust your players Notes from Curse of Sigil - Session 9

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a party in trouble, it won’t be the last either.

The best designed encounter in the world won’t always survive contact with the luck of the dice or unexpected decisions.

When in doubt, trust your players, they’ll probably surprise you.

Read the full story👇

I dunno, I've had a few that have been plug and play with just a read through. I guess it depends a little on how they are presented and the group you are running for.
Hopefully we can agree it's less work that starting from scratch!