I’ve been reading a lot about worldbuilding and map-making for a while now, so I thought I would put some of my notes in one place.
How to build an awesome fantasy world with climate and terrain
Seven twists to make your D&D world unique
D&D diverges from our own world in seven major ways. How would our games be different if we moved away from these core assumptions?
How to make Final Fantasy VII in D&D
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
What Are the Best Dungeon Denizens by Level?
According to Appendix A of the 2014 Dungeon Master’s Guide, around half of the chambers in a given dungeon will be inhabited by ‘monsters’, and of these, around a third will be the dungeon’s ‘dominant inhabitants.’ My question: who are these dominant inhabitants? For the purposes of this article, I am thinking mostly about humanoids. … Continue reading What Are the Best Dungeon Denizens by Level?
How to make your game badass by stealing from Borderlands
Today’s post might seem like an odd proposition, but Borderlands has considerable shared DNA with D&D: its most significant forerunner is probably Diablo, which itself is based on roguelike dungeon-crawlers and ultimately . . . yep, D&D.
What does a 20th-level dungeon look like?
That’s it. That’s the article. The simple truth: I was thinking about this earlier in the week and thought it would be interesting. If you don’t like this article, I have others! For most of us, this is essentially a thought experiment. Very, very few games get to 20th level. My Mad Mage campaign didn’t; … Continue reading What does a 20th-level dungeon look like?
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
The Complete Guide to D&D’s Musical Instruments
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!
Enhanced Description: Unlocking the Power of Tier 2 Vocabulary
My real-life job is an English teacher on a secondary school. In the last few years, something we’ve been talking about a bit as a profession is the idea of Tier 2 vocabulary, and in this article I want to explain how it is relevant to your tabletop RPGs. According to this model, there are … Continue reading Enhanced Description: Unlocking the Power of Tier 2 Vocabulary
How To Make A Compelling Backstory
Do you need a character backstory? Here are the questions that are worth answering.