How can we apply the concept of ‘story beats’ to build a memorable single-session adventure?
A new narrative template for cinematic one-shots
Review: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (and a new ranking)
I overlooked this adventure for far too long. Now I rate it as one of my favourite 5e adventures so far.
Learning from the MCU to make your game epic
I’m probably the wrong person to write this because – whisper it – I don’t really like Marvel films. But you don’t have to love Marvel to appreciate how wildly popular they are. Since 2007, Marvel Studios have produced more than 30 films, and the MCU is now the highest-grossing film franchise of all time … Continue reading Learning from the MCU to make your game epic
Available now: Adventures in Hawk’s Rest, a love letter to low-level adventuring
Adventures in Hawk's Rest is my love letter to low-level gaming: a mini open-world hexcrawl, perfect as a prologue to a longer campaign, with fantastic maps by Dungeon Baker. Think Studio Ghibli meets the Shire meets Lost Mine of Phandelver.
Make your own megadungeon with Dungeon 23
It's 2023, and many people in the tabletop RPG space have decided to do 'Dungeon 23'. The principle is simple: a 365-room megadungeon, with one room for every day of the year. What a great idea!
How to make Halloween D&D spooky
Just two weeks until Halloween! How do you run a spooky four-hour game that's easy to run without upsetting anyone?
Coming soon: Adventures in Hawk’s Rest!
I’m disappearing for a bit but excited to share my latest project with you!
How to Balance Encounters in D&D
Encounter balance is a big worry for lots of new DMs out there. Here’s my take on the subject.
5 Ways to Make Cave Adventures More Interesting
Caves have been one of the ‘go to’ dungeons since the earliest days of Dungeons & Dragons, and some of the most famous dungeons in the game are caves. If you play through the D&D starter set, Lost Mine of Phandelver, the first and last adventure are both caves. They’re iconic. So why don’t they … Continue reading 5 Ways to Make Cave Adventures More Interesting
Awesome, free adventure hooks from the Monster Manual
Have you ever read the Monster Manual? From cover to cover? If not, you really should. It’s a gold mine of inspiration and ideas, easily my favourite of the core rulebooks. Here are 64 mini adventure hooks I found there.