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Wandering monster encounters are a staple of many Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. They also can be very polarizing. Some tables love the unexpected emergent play that occurs from a random encounter that feels more organic and immersive. Other tables don’t like how a campaign storyline runs the...

Terminology can be a tricky thing. Definitions drift and split as a term gets used or the thing its describing changes. Originally, the OSR referred to games that went back to earlier editions of D&D to focus on what made those rules so seminal. Now it seems to refer to games that have a certain...

The full adventure could probably go 5-10 sessions depending on how focused the crew is on finding the antidote. Though you could probably just do a "night out with the adventurers" as a one shot and generate stuff using the charts.

The tavern is just as central to the idea of fantasy role playing games as, well, dungeons or dragons. Millions of stories have spun out of a random tavern brawl, cleaning out some dire rats in the basement for room and board or a mysterious stranger selling a map in the corner. While the tavern...

This isn't made by Free League. Firelock Games is using the open license on the Year Zero engine. It's a third party game.

Role playing games have roots in historical wargaming. Gygax and Arneson were inspired to add fantasy elements to their wargame campaign which began the foundations of Dungeons & Dragons. While historical wargames have flourished, they have often struggled in the roleplaying arena. While there...

Choices make tabletop RPGs compelling. Whether the ones made before the game begins about character and setting or the ones made in the moment to steer the narrative into a different direction. Sometimes those choices are affected by the randomness of a dice roll though there are plenty of...

I'm working on a review and can confirm the starter set has women and non-Christain knights in the character pool.

Role playing games are generally inspired by other media. For many players who fell in love with worlds of fantasy, these inspirations include everything from Lord of the Rings to Conan The Barbarian and dozens of fantasy novel series since. Japanese console role playing games like Final Fantasy...

I find realism to be overrated in games. I’m telling stories with my friends and usually the games that focus on realism get dragged down in rules that make telling those stories harder. Books that add more rules to a game I like generally don’t interest me. Survivalist’s Guide To Spelunking...

Everyone is a nerd for something. Even though the worlds of sports and role-playing games seem to never cross over, it takes just a little digging to see that people can be fans of both. Even the nerd bars here in Wisconsin have Green Bay Packers games on during the football season. Storybrewers...