M.T. Black
Hero
Each week, I send out a newsletter with 10 links to interesting D&D material I've found on the internet. Most of the links are to DM tips, but they also include things such as adventures, monsters, and other resources.
Below are 100 of the most recent links I've found, along with a bit of commentary. If you move in D&D circles, you will recognize some of the names. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and find it useful. You can find more links like this on my blog.
cheers,
MTB
These links were emailed from June 6th to August 8th, 2023.
Below are 100 of the most recent links I've found, along with a bit of commentary. If you move in D&D circles, you will recognize some of the names. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and find it useful. You can find more links like this on my blog.
cheers,
MTB
These links were emailed from June 6th to August 8th, 2023.
- The Best Books for Learning & Running Tabletop RPGs by Megan A. Connell presents a curated list of books that can help beginners and veterans alike to improve their skills.
- Improve Your Adventures and Campaigns by Focusing on Threats is a typically detailed post by Teos. He provides some excellent examples as well as valuable guidelines.
- Dr. Sarah Jane Pell, a performance artist and researcher, uses D&D as a personal and professional development tool. She shares her insights in The health benefits of Dungeons and Dragons.
- Dndspeak created 100 Ancient Holy Relics for your game. The detailed entries provide an excellent source of inspiration for quests, dungeons, NPCs, and more.
- Mr. Valor has shared his Game Aids: Conditions Cheat Sheet. It is the best conditions cheat sheet I've seen.
- Roles, Rules, & Rolls explains Why there's a dungeon under your city using historical examples as inspiration. It's a terrific little article, and I'm incorporating some of the ideas into Iskandar.
- GeekDad suggests you Add Flavor to Your D&D Game With Mini Encounters. He shares some excellent examples from his home campaign.
- Throne of Salt muses on his creative process in The Grand Art. It is a rather philosophical post, but one that rings true for me. Does it match your experience?
- Sprocket Saga argues that Ability Checks Aren't Tollbooths; They're Forks in the Road. You might also call this the "fail forward" approach. It is tricky to pull off but worthwhile.
- Sly Flourish analyzes the optimal number and difficulty of encounters in How Many Encounters Per Day? As always, he offers practical advice backed up by his vast experience.
- Interesting Terrain for Better Combat by Samuel Bennett explains how to use terrain features to spice up combat encounters. It is a very well-thought-out article!
- Check out Free Table Top Role Playing Games by Ronny Hart, where he shares a list of free RPGs he has collected over the years. It is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to try a new game without spending a dime.
- Creating Villains by Mike Shea gives some tips and tools for making memorable and engaging villains for your D&D games. As always from Mike, it is quality material.
- Direct Sun explains how to create a good D&D puzzle in Building Better Puzzles for Lair of the Lamb.
- The Pastel Dungeon explains Why I Run My Dungeons as Pointcrawls. It is an unusual approach, but it might resonate with some of you!
- Growing Your Party's Fame in 5e by Greg Marks is a fun and simple system to track and reward a party's reputation in a D&D campaign. In my experience, fame is a significant driver of high-level play.
- Justin Alexander offers some tips and tricks for managing the pace of your game sessions in Pacing for the Beginning GM. I suspect DMs of all experience levels will benefit from this post.
- Scroll for Initiative shares some ideas and examples in What Does a 20th-Level Dungeon Look Like? This topic deserves more attention!
- I've so far described two magic guilds in Iskandar, the Esoteric Fraternity of Wizards and the Wand & Robe Society. In d100 Magic Guild Demands, Chris Tamm describes some of the demands such guilds might make on their members.
- For those wishing to learn how to DM, Tomas Rioja has a slew of tips & tricks for beginners. Experienced DMs might like to keep this article in your pocket for when you are (inevitably) asked for advice.
- In You Enter the Forest Deep, The Pastel Dungeon presents a system for generating random encounters in a fascinating little forest setting. It's a good model for your campaign locations.
- The Oracular Somnambulist has constructed an Abandoned Temple Generator. It is a sophisticated and imaginative system full of good campaign ideas.
- In Curse of Vecna and the Creative Method, David Hartlage guides you through the creation of his latest adventure. Posts like these are invaluable.
- D4 Caltrops generated a list of 100 possible reasons why a dungeon has not been looted yet, from mundane to magical to downright bizarre.
- Sigve Solvaag presents a design manifesto in Brutalist Adventure Game Design. Many of these ideas resonate with me, and I look forward to seeing him develop them further.
- Mike Shea has identified Three Reasons to Fudge Monster Hit Points. It is a controversial topic, but Mike takes a typically pragmatic approach.
- Noisms critiques the lack of depth and originality in most fantasy fiction and games. It's a deep post that drills down into a bit of philosophy and will interest serious world-builders.
- In Meta-Illness and Extra-Diegetic Disease, Rook presents a system for generating more interesting fantasy diseases.
- Advice Against Quantum Ogres by Stuart Pate discusses player choice and DM fiat. I explain the "Quantum Ogre Problem" in my book, The Anatomy of Adventure.
- In A New Narrative Template for Cinematic One-Shots, Scroll for Initiative proposes a structure for creating memorable one-shot adventures and includes a sample outline. It is a very linear/railroad approach, but you might find it appropriate sometimes.
- In NPCs as Challenge Elements, Dwiz argues that we should treat NPCs as obstacles or opportunities, similar to how we approach traps or magic items. This technique contrasts conventional wisdom, which says we must create "memorable, believable, three-dimensional characters." It's a controversial idea, but it has some merit. His list of "Favorite NPC tricks" is excellent.
- Chris Tamm shares some weird and wonderful landmarks in d100 Famous City Wonders in the Age of Bronze. It's a terrific resource for urban adventures.
- The always-brilliant Paul Hughes suggests we replace the four classic elements with the five draconic elements in our D&D games. This idea is wonderful, and I'm tempted to adopt it for my Iskandar world.
- Mike Shea suggests that DMs should calm pre-game nerves with session-based character hooks. It's a simple tip to ensure you can confidently approach every session.
- Plastic Polyhedra examines how several different RPGs handle journeys in An exploration of traveling in TTRPGs. I own a couple of the games he mentions, and this article has prompted me to revisit them.
- DMMicycle suggests we treat low CR creatures as traps or environmental hazards when encountered by high-level characters. I like this idea, and it may solve that old D&D chestnut--should the town guard scale up with the characters?
- Bent Goblin Press discusses boxed text in A Different Kind of Unboxing. I enjoyed his topic exploration and was happy to advise him when asked.
- The Fallacy of Freedom claims that RPG players need autonomy rather than freedom and shows why the distinction is essential. It certainly got me thinking.
- Amplus Ordo is giving away a system-neutral adventure called Welcome to Green Valley. You'll need to bring your own monster stats, but it includes some lovely battle maps.
- For the past year, Carson Harp has released a monthly D&D magazine called QuestLine. He has just published abbreviated versions of all 12 issues for free. There is some good content here, everything from monsters to mini-adventures. The presentation in the early issues could be better, but it improves.
- Grumpy Wizard gives some advice on how to make good rulings in your games. It is a practical and thoughtful article.
- Types of Dungeons by Justin Alexander categorizes the various dungeons in fantasy RPGs. I adore articles of this sort, and the Alexandrian is one of the best at writing them.
- Stephen Bandstra says you're mapping your dungeon wrong. His main critique is excessive detail, and he introduces an alternative called the Dungeon Diagram. This idea is not exactly new, but it is worth sharing.
- Speaking of dungeon topology, Matthew J. Neagley lists the twenty-one forms of the five-room dungeon. It's a useful post to keep handy next time you create a micro-dungeon.
- Interesting forest encounters by Joseph Carro is exactly what it says. Each has a nice bit of narrative flavor, which is what you want in random encounters.
- Xaosseed lists weird and wonderful things you might find above a mindflayer world. It may seem overly specific, but I'm sure you can incorporate some of these ideas into your campaign.
- Are you interested in trying a new RPG for a one-shot session, but you don't have the time or budget for a big rulebook? Here is a list of Quickstart RPG books on DriveThruRPG. Most of them are short, and all of them are free. Myself, I want to check out the new Pendragon system.
- Kobold Press has created a concept called the "Adventure Jigsaw," which is a collection of game pieces you fit together in your campaign. Here, they present the Festival of the Silver Ribbon.
- Mike Shea shares five ways to integrate player characters into your campaign. If your players lose interest in your game after a few levels, you should utilize some of these excellent strategies.
- Finally, Star Sail Games has shared Gifts of the Demon Gods, a collection of Warhammer-inspired chaos mutations for your D&D monsters. And it's free!
- Chris Tamm provides fodder for a weird and whimsical fantasy setting in d100 Missions from the Frog Queen.
- Justin Alexander shares a DM technique called Inner Monologue Prompts. I've not heard of this before, but it looks like a powerful way to help players develop their characters.
- Dwiz describes how he runs the table, which lists some of the "soft skills" he has developed as a DM. I especially like his strategy for handling social encounters with players who struggle to find the right words.
- In 6 D&D Monster Tactics to Take Your Encounters to the Next Level, Kyle Shire shares a few ways to make your monsters more engaging. You may have seen some of these ideas before, but it is a solid article nonetheless.
- Skating On Thin Ice is a long post by Mike Bourke that shows how we can apply some of the common tricks from TV police procedurals to our RPG mystery adventures. Even if you don't read the whole thing, you can glean some tips from a quick skim.
- One of the boffins at the DM Academy has a simple piece of advice: let your players outsmart you.
- In Combo Encounters, D.G. Chapman describes one of the simplest and best tricks to create interesting encounters.
- Piccolo just shared a free 37-page guide to Potion Brewing and Ingredients Gathering. It is nicely presented and contains lots of useful tidbits.
- Ok, let's have some theory. Exploring the Effects of Exploration compares the classic D&D exploration with a new method called the "hazard die." Only click if you like flowcharts!
- An Eggcellent Adventure is a free D&D one-shot for 1st level characters. It's aimed at newbies, but anyone could use it to start a new campaign.
- Brian Rideout describes his solo play evolution with old-school D&D. He lists several resources and shares his experience with each of them. Anyone looking to play solo D&D (and I'm keen to try when I get time) will find this post invaluable.
- Metagaming is a perennial topic of discussion. Steven Bandstra offers his perspective (and some strategic responses) in The Troll Problem.
- Ryan Rose presents a collection of 100 new Fifth Edition feats. Do you really need a hundred new feats? Sure you do!
- Patrick Stuart discusses "choice theory" in the context of dark dungeon corridors. It is a brilliant and useful essay--just the sort of material I love finding in the blogosphere.
- Tabletop Joab explains how to run underwater combat in D&D 5e. You should check this out if you are doing a water-based campaign.
- Trust me, this is about RPGs is a lengthy and nicely-written piece by my compatriot Steve Dee about RPG rulebooks as an art form. Grab a cup of coffee and go on a little journey with Steve.
- Kane Driscoll suggests we spice up encounters with flavor rolls. The idea is solid, though I wish he'd included more examples or a table-generating methodology.
- In Reducing Frame Switching, Che Webster discusses the different "modes of thinking" we use when playing an RPG and how to use that knowledge to increase immersion at the table.
- Succeeding at Failing by Monte Cook explores how to make failure more interesting and meaningful in roleplaying games. There's been a lot of talk about this issue in RPG social media recently, and Monte's thoughts are always worth reading.
- Finally, OrkishBlade wins the best title of the week with I joined a cult, and all I got was this dumb t-shirt. It is all about creating useful cult boons, and it is a fantastic piece.
- Scroll for Initiative explains how to make your game badass by stealing from Borderlands. I always enjoy media-crossover posts, and this one includes a bunch of actionable tips.
- Campaign Aftercare is a thoughtful piece by Tabletop Joab on how to end a campaign well. My current party is on 17th level--the end is in sight, and I'll need to consider this soon.
- Mike Shea says you should give boss monsters awesome nicknames. It's an easy way to bring your bosses to life, and Mike includes several good examples.
- Worldbuilding Through One-Shots by Pod shows how you can use one-shot adventures to flesh out your campaign world. It's about sharing narrative control with your players, which I want to explore more in my game.
- In Humpty Dumpty Should Die, Prismatic Wasteland critiques the existing rules for falling damage in various editions of D&D and offers a neat alternative.
- An Ode to Passion Projects by Paul Beakley looks at some recent RPG releases and gives each one a WTF rating. Some titles in his list will stretch your creative muscles, and I plan to dig into them.
- Spoor & Sign or Tracks & Traces by d4 Caltrops is a handy table for generating clues and evidence of various creature types. The title might seem dull, but the content is highly imaginative.
- David McGrogan has defined thirteen ways of handling a TPK. It includes some approaches I'd never thought of - kudos for creativity!
- Thomas Manuel just reviewed several books about RPGs. I'm excited because there are some titles I wasn't aware of, and they look interesting and fun!
- The British DM has released a new, robust downtime system. If you find the 5E downtime rules lacking, you might enjoy this.
- Luke Gearing shares his detailed play report of a classic Traveller adventure called Prison Planet. This scenario gives players a genuinely open-world experience that differs from most of what you see these days. I might try to convert it to D&D.
- Epilogues & Skipping Time by the Alexandrian explains how to handle the passage of time in your game. Sounds mundane? Far from it! This article has some excellent suggestions, especially in the epilogue section.
- Watabou has created a random house plan generator. You get some funky results, but try a few times, and it will show you something worthwhile. And be sure to check out Watabou's other generators while you are there.
- Have you ever had players return to a dungeon they explored when they were lower level? What Happened to the Dungeon is a d66 table that explains how things changed during the intervening period.
- Sly Flourish takes out his scalpel and shows us the anatomy of an environmental effect. It's a good piece demonstrating how and why to include these devices in your D&D battles.
- Brian Rideout describes the OSR aesthetic. He gives a nice roundup of some of the more imaginative OSR products along the way.
- Small Gods 2 is a complete pantheon of minor deities. Very imaginative and full of adventure hooks. You can drop this right into your game.
- Bleak Corridors is a two-page adventure by Tamás Kisbali. The location is a factory complex with a dark steampunk vibe. If you are playing in the Forgotten Realms, this would fit nicely in Lantan.
- Arbrethil presents a comprehensive discussion of Intelligent Weapons. Very thoughtful and full of valuable ideas.
- People often ask me how they can access my old lists. I've just published the first 70 lists on my blog. There is a cornucopia of free, useful content there. I recommend you take some time to go through them.
- In Storytelling, The Alexandrian describes a simple technique to elevate player engagement. The setup is rather long, but it is worth reading.
- d100 City State Quests by Christopher Tamm is a helpful list of adventure seeds. Next time your party is in town, roll one of these up, pick a monster, and have a fun, improvised session.
- This item is a few years old, but I read it for the first time last week. The Principia Apocrypha describes itself as "Elementary Axioms & Aphorisms On Running & Playing Tabletop RPGs In The Old School Style." It's a quick read and well worth your time.
- Are your players dealing with the frosty winter months? If so, the Snowbound Hex Generator by the Oracular Somnambulist has you covered.
- Falling from Orbit has some excellent advice for running a political RPG adventure - that is, one with different factions and stakeholders, with different interests, at odds with each other.
- Who Was That by Ms. Screwhead is a simple tool that generates memorable NPCs. I like this a lot.
- At the other end of the spectrum, Holistic NPCs by Mike Bourke is a remarkably detailed method for creating realistic characters.
- The Pastel Dungeon loves weird monsters and thinks you should too. I've been introducing a few more weird monsters into my campaign recently, and it always shakes things up.
- Sly Flourish suggests you define six truths about your campaign world and give them to the players before you start. Those who have read my Iskandar Player's Handbook will know that I include a "Five Things to Know" section for this purpose.
- Spells Like Trouble by Kate Nicholson is a simple tier 2 adventure where the characters must stop a group of living spells. It's fast, it's fun, and it's free!
