After a long wait, the third tier of The Campaign Handbook is out! It’s the biggest instalment yet—70 pages packed with ideas for high-level adventuring!
The Campaign Handbook: Tier 3 is Here!
Table energy: what boosts and drains your DM?
It isn’t just the DM’s prep that keeps a game alive: it’s the rhythm of the table. Some things energize the session and keep things flowing, but others quietly drag it down. If you’ve ever left a game feeling weirdly drained, this post might help explain why.
Amazing advice from the 3rd edition DMG
I know it’s not a particularly glamorous topic, but the rhythm of the adventuring day is key for establishing an appropriate sense of threat. If encounters are too easy, the game feels trivial; too hard, and every combat becomes a slog. Get the ratios right, and the players feel like badass heroes.
Almost great: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (a review)
The Wild Beyond the Witchlight was released three and a half years ago in September 2021 and was something of novelty for Wizards of the Coast, especially coming on the back of Rime of the Frostmaiden and Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, two quite dark and horror-themed sourcebooks. Witchlight promised to be the exact opposite, … Continue reading Almost great: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight (a review)
Tired D&D clichés: which ones need to go?
We had a fun session last weekend (a brief sojourn to Tomb of Annihilation via a fairy ring), and one of my players made a comment that stuck with me: ‘Sometimes, you just want a dungeon and a dragon.’ It made me think about tropes: the conventions of a genre that you see over and … Continue reading Tired D&D clichés: which ones need to go?
Encounter balance in 2024: better or worse?
Is encounter-building that a big deal? In short, yes. So how has it changed in 2024?
A simple checklist for writing awesome adventures
I thought it would be cool to have a kind of flowchart or checklist to help DMs design adventures around its principles. So: I made one!
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
Loot by environment
This is probably going to end up as an appendix of The Campaign Handbook, and if you think I've missed anything, I could do with your help!
The Complete Guide to Charms and Enchantments: Part One
A couple of weeks ago, Sly Flourish recently featured my pass without trace article on the Lazy RPG Talk Show (which you should definitely watch). As part of the discussion, he mentioned similarly problematic spells like charm person, and I thought: yes, that’s my next article!