Tag: TTRPG

  • A Review of Write-Ups for DCC Deities

    In this post I review write-ups for DCC deities as found in the DCC RPG Annual, Knights in the North (KITN), or Clerics of the Known Realms (CKR). I compare each of their interpretations and offer my recommendations on which ones to use.

  • How to Craft a Custom Disapproval Table for Dungeon Crawl Classics

    This is the first of several planned posts offering advice on designing clerics and their deities. I know that clerics often receive a bad rap in the D&D community and its OSR progeny, but I absolutely adore DCC’s take on this classic class. Clerics are my favorite DCC class largely because of the disapproval mechanic.…

  • How to Help Your Players Investigate Rumors in an OSR Campaign

    There is a lot of advice floating around the OSR-blogosphere on how to create rumors for your campaign. The Alexandrian’s three-part series on rumors (Rumor Tables, Hearing Rumors, and Restocking Your Rumor Table) offers one of the most exhaustive explanations. At their heart, rumors are just pieces of information that may or may not be…

  • Procedurally Generating Purposeful Roads on the Fly

    Over the past year, I’ve been inspired to try solo play after watching Daniel Norton’s solo campaign, which uses his homebrew Unchained. Initially, I tried to do everything identical to him as I gathered my bearings—this included purchasing a copy Outdoor Survival to use its map. In recent months, however, I’ve wanted to try running…

  • Reimagining Rations in a Hex Crawl Campaign

    When I was younger, I used to go on hour long runs around the neighborhood. My general strategy was to run as far away from my house as possible to force myself to drag myself back home. I run West Marches hex crawls the same way. I want my players to sally forth—perhaps a bit…

  • Dioramas for Dungeon Crawl Classics

    This post showcases a diorama I created for a recent play through of Brendan LaSalle’s classic DCC funnel, “Hole in the Sky.” I have tried to avoid sharing details regarding major plot points whenever possible, but I do reveal a significant portion of the map. If you have not played this module, you may wish…

  • Motivating Players to Hexcrawl with Maps Found as Treasure

    Players encounter many types of maps in tabletop RPGs. There are maps for hex crawling, dungeon crawling, and navigating towns. There are maps for finding treasure and maps found as treasure. Maps found as treasure are especially common in Dungeon Crawl Classics funnels. For instance, players can find a treasure map in Harley Stroh’s Sailors…

  • Exploration Rules for Hexcrawls, Part 2

    In my previous post, I highlighted rules I homebrewed for hexcrawls. Apart from a desire to tinker with game design, I wanted to offer my players a means of making meaningful travel choices without showing them the complete map. To reveal the map, players need to contend with a fog of war mechanic, which they…

  • Exploration Rules for Hexcrawls, Part 1

    Earlier this year, Arnold Kemp at GoblinPunch wrote two thought provoking articles on hexcrawls, titled, “Hexcrawls Kinda Suck” and “Okay I Fixed Hexcrawls Now.” Kemp notes (rightfully, I think) that there are some pretty severe limitations to hexcrawling. That said, they offer a fun approach to running a campaign. In the next few posts, I…