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!
Treasure Hoards and Magic Items in 5e
How much treasure should your players receive in D&D? Gems, coins, art objects, magic items? The answer might surprise you.
How to make D&D challenging at higher levels
If you have played 5th edition D&D in Tier 3 or 4, you will know how difficult it is to challenge players at these levels. A well-optimized party can steamroller through encounters without breaking a sweat. So how do you stop the game getting stale?
How to run low fantasy D&D
Low fantasy is gritty, grounded, and high stakes. How can we make that work in 5th edition D&D?
The 2022 Holiday Gift Guide
Welcome to the 2022 Scroll for Initiative Holiday Gift Guide! No affiliate links, no product endorsements, just well-intentioned, thoroughly researched advice!
Make Your Goblins Unique: Thinking in Depth about Monsters and Factions
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
How to run Strahd von Zarovich as the ultimate Halloween villain
With just one week until Halloween, many of us will be getting ready to run Ravenloft again. Widely considered one of the greatest adventures ever written, the original I6: Ravenloft was updated to 5th edition in 2016’s Curse of Strahd. It’s a lot of fun, and many players and DMs have said that it’s their … Continue reading How to run Strahd von Zarovich as the ultimate Halloween villain
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?
Twelve Tips for Great Description on the Fly
Description is probably the most powerful tool we have at our disposal at the table. But it's hard. How do we get better at it?
House rules I love and loathe
Some house rules are great, some are OK, and most are unnecessary. Which are worth adding to your game?