Three volumes, 1,600 pages, and one of the most ambitious campaigns ever produced. Here's what I make of it.
Gods of the Forbidden North: A Monumental Achievement
Christmas in July and a Patreon Exclusive
A short post this week, but two bits of news.
Building a New Campaign, Part 6: Weather and Encounters
Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Image Credit: Tom Fisk It’s been a while, but this is the sixth post in an ongoing series: my plan for a new campaign based around a West Marches open table for Old-School Essentials. So far, I’ve sketched out the home base (Greyhold), the megadungeon (the Drowned Labyrinth), and the hexcrawl (surrounding lands), … Continue reading Building a New Campaign, Part 6: Weather and Encounters
Building a New Campaign, Part 4: The Drowned Lands
Today, I’m focusing on the town’s immediate environs and how I can turn a loose sense of place—northern frontier with fortified outpost—into a concrete, usable hexcrawl.
Building a New Campaign, Part 2: the Starting Town
Part One Every West Marches campaign needs its own Keep on the Borderlands: a place where sessions begin and end, where plans are made, and where rumours circulate. Above all, it needs to be a safe location with useful, player-facing options. It is not an adventure site in itself; adventures always happen elsewhere. In this … Continue reading Building a New Campaign, Part 2: the Starting Town
Building a new campaign, Part 1: the one-page overview
In a vast and perilous land, ambitious treasure-hunters chart the wilderness, descend into dark places, and claim whatever riches they can carry.
Update: The Campaign Handbook
I have now completed the second part of Tier 2, 8th to 10th level. I hope you like it! Constructive feedback is always welcome. You can download it over on my Patreon (link). I see Tier 2 as the 'fun and games' section of your campaign—'the promise of the premise' where all the 'trailer moments' … Continue reading Update: The Campaign Handbook
A new handbook to help you run a complete campaign?!
I have only ever run one homebrew campaign from 1st to 20th level, and it followed a very loose structure, one session at a time. I would love to write something that helps other DMs achieve the same thing.
How many liches does your world have?
Should the world level up with the players? The question gets me thinking about the ecology of my game world. How rare is an ancient red dragon? A storm giant? A bulette? That’s really what this article is about: trying to find a framework for monster rarity.
Awesome climate and terrain: Part 2!
Last week we explored arctic, coastal, desert, forest, and grassland environments. This week, we've got a few more: hill, mountain, swamp, Underdark, underwater, and urban.