Here we go again! WELCOME to the 2023 Scroll for Initiative Holiday Gift Guide. A few things first. This is an independent blog. There are no affiliate links here, nor am I being paid in any way to endorse these products. (Believe me, I wish I were!) As always, please support your Friendly Local Game … Continue reading The Great 2023 RPG Gift Guide
A few weeks ago, I watched a video called ‘Why Final Fantasy VII Matters’ made by YouTuber ‘Mr Itchy Wrath’. It came out a year ago and has 644k views, 7.5k likes, and well over a thousand comments – which is pretty remarkable, considering this is a video which is longer than two of the … Continue reading How to make Final Fantasy VII in D&D
In this article, I am going to look at what defines fantasy as a genre, the long history of science fantasy, and how you can inject a bit of science fiction into your game without losing what makes it fantastical.
Have you ever made a new bard character and wondered which musical instrument was a good fit? Have you ever looked at the equipment list in the Player’s Handbook and thought, hey, what even is a dulcimer? Do you want to use musical instruments to add depth and colour to your worldbuilding? If so, this post might be for you!
Back in January, there was an exceptionally good-value Megabundle for 13th Age where I picked up 19 PDFs for less than $40 (£34). It’s a game I’ve known about (and admired) for some time but never really devoted much attention to. Following the OGL debacle, I’ve been keen to diversify the RPGs I play and … Continue reading 13th Age: The Best RPG I’ve Never Played (Review)
d20 Modern was one of my favourite games of the 3rd edition era. Everyday Heroes is its spiritual successor – and it's great!
Low fantasy is gritty, grounded, and high stakes. How can we make that work in 5th edition D&D?
I have recently enjoyed watching Baron de Ropp’s YouTube videos about fantasy geopolitics, and it got me thinking about how we can do so much more with the monsters and factions in our games. I wouldn’t necessarily say that this post is ‘geopolitics’ per se, but that's certainly part of it. I think this approach … Continue reading Make Your Goblins Unique: Thinking in Depth about Monsters and Factions
Evard’s Black Tentacles. Melf’s Acid Arrow. Leomund’s Tiny Hut. Have you ever looked at these spells and thought, man, who are these people? If so, this post is for you!
Forbidden Lands does many of the things I want D&D to do - and does them better. This game feels old school but has all the elegance of a modern RPG.