#tabletop gaming tips

[legionofmyth]

Absolute Power: Which Weapon Would You Choose?

Unleash your inner hero! 💥 From impossible weapons to sleek armor and high-tech gadgets, Absolute Power’s gear system is packed with iconic items to power up your characters. Whether you’re a player or Game Master, this video is your guide to maximizing the tools of justice—or chaos. What will your hero wield? 📺 Watch now! #AbsolutePowerRPG #TTRPG #SuperheroGear #TabletopRPG #RPGWeaponsAndArmor

Absolute Power: Book 1: System Absolute Power: Book 2: Essentials Tri-Stat Core Unleash the full potential of Absolute Power with a closer look at its incredible weapons, armor, gadgets, and items! Don’t miss this in-depth exploration of the tools your heroes need to succeed. Absolute Power by Dyskami Publishing Company is a superhero RPG packed with iconic gear to enhance your gameplay. In this…

[chacaillejdr]

How to write a remarkable NPC for your campaign ?

Let’s say you’re writing an RPG campaign, or even a one-shot. You absolutely can have a scenario where the PCs are alone in a deserted or abandoned place, or are exploring a dungeon full of non-speaking monsters, then you won't have to ask yourself how to populate it with Non Player Characters. But there are many occasions to create NPCs, and it’s not always easy to give them remarkable personalities. There are many methods to give life to these creatures, and I’m here to suggest a few that I use.

The first thing to do is to determine the importance your NPC has in your scenario. You won’t use the same techniques if they appear for three sentences giving directions or if they’re going to help (or fight) your players for a 80 hour campaign. We’ll divide them in three categories : the Silhouettes, the Utilities and the Actors.

The Silhouettes are NPCs that only appear because you need someone present. They’re just a voice, and you know your PCs won’t meet them again. They’re the easiest to improvise, and you only need to know four things about them : their name (because you can be sure if you haven’t prepared one your players will ask for it), why are they here (no more than one sentence !), what they know (only about your scenario), and two or three adjectives about their tone.

For example : the PCs came to witness a political assembly as simple onlookers, but none among them has a background allowing them to identify the speakers. They’ll then be searching the crowd for « someone who seems to know anything about it ». So here’s the following Silhouette : Charles Abernatty, an aspiring reporter who’s writing an amateur paper about conspiracy theories, who knows the names and affiliations of every politician present, and who is bubbly and speaks fast and miiiiight be stalking some of the senators here on his free time. In a few lines the character is sufficiently developed to be used to move the plot forward.

Then come the Utilities. These NPCs will have more complex interactions with the PCs, and can come back multiple times in the scenario. For those the writing will be a little more complete. You’ll still have to find them a name of course, but also the following éléments : - a physical description - a background (one paragraph might be enough), so you’ll have in advance some elements to use in their dialogues to make them more alive - their role (what they know and what they want) : every character wants something in your scenario (whether it be to simply live a simple life, or to find the lost magic sword of their uncle, or whatever it’s your story guys). This will allow you to know their place in your story, and explain how and why they may have a recurring rôle. - the roleplay, including indications for the voice and the posture (so that you’ll be coherent from one occurrence to another) but also typical reactions (will they be protectors towards an injured PC, or disapprove the use of foul language, etc.)

As you can see, these elements are roughly the same as for a Silhouette, but way more defined.

Finally you have the Actors. These are NPCs with a pivotal role in your scenario, and who have multiple apparitions. They are written the same way as Utilities, but with two more things : - their role will be expanded, not only containing what they want and know, but also their implication at every level of their respective storyline, and may have their opinion on a few subjects - their three motivations : your Actors will have three levels of motivation. The first one is the affirmation, what the NPC will openly tell as their objective. The second is the secret, what the NPC is really after but won’t display. The third is the buried one, what the NPC doesn’t consciously know they desire but is motivated by nevertheless. For example a pirate captain may have as an affirmation to amass a fortune to afford a palace, as a secret to have enough bounty to reclaim the family house taken by an usurer, and as a buried motivation to prove themselves of value in the eyes of their family who disavowed their pirate ways. These three motivations will ease the creation of a coherent character arc for your NPC through the scenario, but also to allow them to reveal themselves to your PCs, through slips or confessions. You can also prepare for your Actors some key scenes with pre-written lines. It is not mandatory at all, and can even be problematic if it is done too often, but it can be useful if you want to use misdirection in your formulations, or if you have an NPC with a complicated way with words or a difficult accent.

With these techniques, you should have deep enough NPC to avoid the syndrome of « wait, who’s this guy again » PC reaction, while still giving your players the information you want. Well, you’ll never be immune to this, but every little bit helps ! I’ll post other tips for RPG writing, so… stay tuned !

Index

[notetakers-blog-of-holding]

D&D Tip:

A shield only gives a measly +2 to AC

But a HUMAN shield can give you up to +5 AC

[vintagerpg]

What a pure delight this book is. This is Keeper Tips (2021): “Collected Wisdom on Running Games,” published in celebration of Call of Cthulhu’s 40th anniversary. The idea here is for a group of esteemed keepers and game designers to offer short snippets of advice. Those snippets were then organized into thematic groupings — Horror, Inclusivity, Monsters, Props and so on.

There is no attempt at uniformity. All the contributors run (and write) very different sorts of games, so their advice runs the gamut, sometimes one paragraph of advice being contradicted by the next. Better: all of it is uncredited in-line. They become, in aggregate, like Buddhist koans to ponder, puzzle over, embrace or discard.

Because that’s the thing, right: it’s all valid! Every group at every table has different needs and wants, so there isn’t a “correct” way to play or run any game, just the best way in the needs of the moment. That’s perhaps the wisest lesson of Keeper Tips.

[greyplainsttrpg]

More Greypains Campaigning Insight

Hello. My last post actually talking about Greyplains got more notes than I expected, so I will make another post about a current situation developing in the Greyplains TTRPG Discord Play-By-Post adventure which is relevant to talk about.

The situation is that they are in a tide-pool cave hunting eldritch dream-monsters. It seems that the monsters have domesticated Oozes (the larger family of Slimes, Blobs, and Cubes), and that their residue is mildly luminescent (and oily). Investigating the cave, they found a narrow passage that one character can crawl through. At the end of this passage, there is a large blob-slime that is encased around a treasure chest. Based on an earlier Arcana (Monstrology) check, the party knows that there are a few ways to handle Oozes. Each method has pros and cons in the situation.

Incinerate: Causes magically toxic gas to aerosolize and likely kill everyone who breathes it.

Freeze: Takes a lot of "cold energy" to accomplish. If successful, there is now a giant block of thick ice between the character and the treasure chest, and there is not a great way to generate the amount of force to break it apart from the chest.

Electrify: Destabilizes the electroconductivity of the Ooze from a semi-solid blob to a liquid. Now there is magically corrosive liquid spreading around where the Ooze used to be.

The player decides to go ahead and shock it. They get pulled back with a rope they were holding and narrowly avoid cracking their skull on the way out of the tunnel.

Now, there is about 500L of corrosive Ooze fluid sitting on the top of a pool that the party needs to enter later on. In the "unofficial channel," one of the players asks, "Would it eat through my bucket too quickly for it to be of any use?"

In Greyplains, Luck (specifically Luck->Chance->Subskill) is an important mechanic which exists to answer these sorts of questions. Players can choose to invest into Luck to make these kinds of questions result in a more favorable universe for their Character. In this case, the Player is asking whether or not the material of the inventory item, "Bucket" happens to be made of a material that is resistant to the corrosive. However, neither the player nor the Character knows what that would be. As a result, if they were to roll their Chance (Object) Check now, the challenge would be much higher than if they found out about a specific material that resists the corrosive that their bucket could be made out of. So the ideal question is not "what are the odds I happen to have the perfect bucket," but rather "is my bucket made out of X." Of course, they will need to play the game to find out what X is, and there are clues to determine what kinds of materials would resist the Ooze puddle.

Now, you might say that, technically speaking, I'm getting this backwards. Strictly, there are more things than X that resist Oozes, so mathematically it would be more likely for the bucket to be made of anything that resists it INCLUDING X as X is part of the category of things that resists the Ooze. While mathematically true, that is not how "wishes" work in fiction. All "wish"-like mechanics should be treated as a monkey's paw. The more specific the ask, the less likely for things to go terribly wrong. It's the difference between "I wish for a good night's sleep" and "I wish to personally have a good night's sleep that I wake up from tomorrow perfectly safe, healthy, and where I expect to be." The more bounded a wish is, the more likely that it will go off without major failure. While the less specific request could imagenably go wrong in all sorts of ways. Greyplains allows for this to be determined probabilistically based on the Player's choices in Character Creation vs. a Challenge number (which is itself variable, don't worry about it) set by the GM. The "going wrong" in the case of the bucket is "no, it's made of wood" to be a far more likely outcome if they ask the less bounded question. As the GM, encouraging my players to learn about what materials resist the Ooze is fun, compelling gameplay as the players pilot their characters to adventure and test various materials.

As a side note, the relationship between the quantuum and the narrative is why I argue that Greyplains in not really a "simulationist game" despite being interested in reality, physics, etc. The point is still the narrative, the universe is flexible to the Player's discretion.

I feel like a lot of GMs in most other systems would find this sort of gameplay frustrating and/or not supported with the system. However, in Greyplains, this kind of goofy magical physics v. contrived reality shenanigans IS the intended gameplay.

More importantly, by the player specifically withholding asking the question formally in the "official" channel, where actions and requests are burned into the reality of the fiction, they give themselves the opportunity to solve problems as the natural consequence of gameplay.

This really gets at the heart of why I like my own systems (and why I built them in the first place). It has a set of checks and balances built into the mechanics to engage with the fundamentally quantuum nature of a TTRPG session/world. Imagine this situation as a courtroom. The player is the prosecution arguing their case. They can get a better charge if they wait to bring the case to trial once they have more evidence. The GM is the judge and determines whether the arguments themselves make sense and that the evidence they bring to court are valid and in order. The Challenge works as the Defense, the barrier to clear in the case for the charges to stick. The dice (or the Character's Proficiency) is the jury. Ultimately, they decide whether the case of "is my bucket immune to Ooze corrosion" goes through with the conviction of "You wouldn't believe it, but yes." This isn't a perfect analogy because the GM does also determine the Challenge number and can give the Player Advantage/Disadvantage based on the context, but the book provides guidelines for how to set the Challenge and dole Advantage/Disadvantage based in the context of fair and reasonable probability.

Compare that to a story I got the other day from a player in a Numenera adventure. The situation was "door is locked." The solution was "my character is a werewolf, so I turned into a werewolf and broke down the door." I'm not saying that this is bad. I am saying that engaging with material science over the exact constitution of a bucket is more interesting to me, and I think to my players, than "push werewolf button and break down door."

[thirteene42]

if you're struggling to find a way to reward your players for silly things they do as a DM, make them Xbox achievements. If you look up Xbox achievement maker on most browsers it's at the top. they love it. it's enrichment in their enclosure.

[madfishmonger]

Character Death in TTRPGs

Before you begin a new game session with a group, discuss how you plan to handle character death before you begin play. Waiting until a character dies is a bad time to bring it up as some people get attached to their characters and can get emotional. But before you discuss death, it helps to discuss the intended tone of the game. Are the players expecting a drama? Epic adventure? Comedy? Horror? A combination of two or more themes? Discuss this with the group first, as it will set the stage for choosing a theme-appropriate way to manage character death. A wacky cartoon with permadeath might be off-putting, or an epic adventure game might be less challenging without killing off characters, so knowing the intended tone gives you a good start. Sometimes the theme can shift as the game develops, but it's good to start in the same general mindset.

Here's a list of options for character death management to present to your group. You can choose one or several which can apply depending on the situation.

This list can also be used by a GM to consider alternatives to permadeath when the scenario presents itself.

When a character gains the dead condition as per the rules of the game...

the character dies, player creates a new one (permadeath)

the character dies, but with effort the party can resurrect them*

the character isn’t dead, but badly injured and needs time to recover before being playable*

the character goes out in a blaze of glory, dying in a way that helps the party and/or plot, the player makes a new character

no characters die, they are knocked out and can wake after a set time has passed (such as overnight)

no characters die, they are knocked out and pop back up at 1 HP after combat

the character loses a body part or ability due to the injury, but it is replaced with an alternative (e.g. a cybernetic leg or magical vision)

the remaining party band together in a dramatic and novel way to save the downed character

*The player gets to play some NPCs while they wait for their character to recover so they still get to participate.

The group/GM may occasionally want to revisit the rules under certain circumstances and allow for (consensual) exceptions.

For example, your game is a no-permadeath game but this particular boss fight sets a character up for a perfect blaze-of-glory death and the player is fine with it (the player may even initiate it), the GM can allow a permadeath for that scene, then go back to no-permadeath for the rest.

In another example, a new player joins a game with permadeath, but is killed in their first battle. The player put a lot of effort into this brand-new character and is very unhappy. The GM can choose to allow the character to survive so the player has a chance to actually play the character they worked on and continue the game.

I hope this helps, and if there are any other options for character death that you've played with, let me know! Edit: Just added two thanks to some feedback.

Obviously this doesn't apply to games like Die Laughing where your character is supposed to be killed off, but I think having this discussion (about the theme if nothing else) when you start a game can help prevent some issues later on.

Happy gaming!

[professionaldragonlord]

ROGUE SUBCLASS RATINGS/GUIDE FOR THE UNINFORMED AND THE INFORMED: PART ONE - THE ARCANE TRICKSTER

   Now that I have your attention, let me point your way to the mythical class that is the rogue. Originally titled the “thief,” the rogue is something every 13-year-old just starting out playing DnD is intimately familiar with. But, my dear readers, there is more to life than the basic ‘thief’ subclass (no hate to this subclass, it has its uses) and I’m here to show you it. I’ll be covering the Arcane Trickster subclass, the Mastermind subclass, the Assassin subclass, the Soulknife subclass, the Swashbuckler subclass, and the Thief subclass within the coming installments.

    As for today, we’ll be covering the Arcane Trickster. This subclass has a special place in my heart, having killed many a DM on the spot with all of my infuriating little tricks and goofs (and gaffs).  Find all needed info on this class here. 

Spellcasting- 4/5

Upon reaching your third level, one obtains the ability to cast spells. By your 20th level, you will have access to fourth level spells. Not very exciting? Well, consider the fact that you will now be wielding both a rogue’s damage and trickery alongside base-level magic- which ensures you don’t end up like this. This includes the one true god of the Arcane Trickster- the mage hand- but we’ll speak more on that later. Spellcasting also opens up many, many more routes for rogue-ish sneaking and thievery- the possibilities become endless, trust me.

Mage Hand Legerdemain- 3/5

Also upon reaching your third level, you can use your mage hand spell (see Versatile Trickster) to do small additional tasks with your bonus action provided by your Cunning Action- such as pick locks, steal items, and disarm traps. This is useful, but only for so long until expertise rules your sneaking world.

Magical Ambush- 3.5/5

By the ninth level, this allows one hidden from an unknowing victim to plague them with disadvantage from your oncoming spells. While useful for a sneak, I do believe there could have been more added to support the class (specifically regarding the weaponized use of mage hand). 

Versatile Trickster- 5/5

Now, here’s the real meat of this subclass- your mage hand spell. Reaching the thirteenth level allows you to distract others with your mage hand, leaving them open to the most furious of sneak attacks. By the thirteenth level, this will be a whopping 7d6 of extra damage- with every attack! Now, the rogue can only attack once, yes, but mixing this with another class, such as the fighter, can allow you to attack twice (or even three times with action) surge, leading to you doing- at the least- 13d6 damage a turn. This has proven to be an absolutely LETHAL headache towards enemies for me.

Spell Thief- 4/5

And finally, we reach the end of our journey with the last Arcane Trickster installment coming in at the seventeenth level. While a basic concept, being able to steal an enemy’s precious spells (specifically if it is a boss) can prove useful, as you take that spell out of the fight completely. I believe that would be my primary use for it, unless it was a homebrew spell that I could particularly abuse and benefit from stealing. Its downside is that you can only use it once per long rest- to me this would be particularly great if it was at least three times per long rest.

          So, we have reached the end of my Arcane Trickster ratings. Now, I am aware that more in-depth ratings exist, such as RPGBOT’s, but these haven’t always satisfied my needs. Personally, I wanted to create a ranking that actually communicates how useful subclasses will be from a gameplay standpoint- as someone that’s played DnD for six years now, and tabletop roleplay games for at least ten. So, I hope you got what you came for, and feel free to shoot me an ask if you have questions (anonymous or not), and have a lovely evening, courtesy of the dragon lord.

See my own personal Arcane Trickster below vvv

[a-cool-stick]

DM tip to handle horny bards

Introduce fantasy STDs and STIs

This could be things that result in serious consequences or deal damage or they could be silly things that add a slight challenge or make for interesting roll play and the way it can be cured and how easily also depends on you

I have things like Genital Lycanthropy where you start rapidly growing hair on your genitals that won't stop unless cured and the rate of growth drastically increases during a full moon

You could have your players roll a constitution saving throw and on a fail, roll to see what they get from a list you made

Things can get very silly or very dangerous depending on what you come up with

Happy DMing

[thatsgeeky]

Building a Legendary Dungeons and Dragons Campaign: A Guide to Worldbuilding and Adventure Writing

Creating a compelling and immersive world is a crucial part of playing Dungeons & Dragons. As the Dungeon Master, it's your job to bring your world to life and make it feel like a real place that your players can explore and interact with. Here are some tips for building a world that will captivate your players:

This may be quite a long list so we advise you to grab a pen and paper to jot down any information that you find relevant.

Start with a Concept

Start with a central conflict: A great way to create a compelling concept for your D&D world is to start with a central conflict. Think about the main struggle or tension that exists in your world, and how it affects different characters and factions. This conflict can be anything from a war between kingdoms to a struggle between good and evil.

Consider the scope of your world: Before you start creating your world, it's important to consider the scope of your project. Are you creating a small region or a vast continent? Are you focusing on a single city or exploring an entire world? Understanding the scope of your project can help you create a concept that is manageable and focused.

Incorporate player input: Your players are going to be the ones exploring and interacting with your world, so it's important to incorporate their input into your concept. Ask them what kind of world they want to explore and what themes and tone they are interested in. This can help you create a concept that is tailored to their interests and preferences.

Use inspiration from other media: If you're struggling to come up with a concept for your world, don't be afraid to draw inspiration from other media. Books, movies, and TV shows can provide great inspiration for your world, as can real-world history and mythology.

Focus on unique elements: Finally, when creating your concept, focus on unique elements that will set your world apart. Think about what makes your world different from other D&D settings, and incorporate those elements into your concept. This can help your world stand out and provide a fresh experience for your players.

Create A Map

Start with a basic outline: Begin by sketching a basic outline of your world. This can include continents, oceans, and major landforms.

Add details: Once you have a basic outline, start adding details such as mountain ranges, rivers, and forests. Think about how the geography of your world affects the climate and resources of each region.

Consider the cultures: Think about the different cultures and civilizations that exist in your world, and how they relate to each other. Consider their languages, religions, and customs.

Create landmarks: Create unique landmarks such as ancient ruins, magical towers, and important cities. These landmarks can serve as points of interest for your players to explore.

Add labels: Once you have created your map, add labels for different regions, cities, and landmarks. This will help your players navigate your world and understand its geography.

Populate Your World

Create different races and cultures: Populate your world with different races and cultures, each with their own unique customs, languages, and history. Think about how these races and cultures interact with each other and the impact they have on the world.

Develop unique characters: Populate your world with unique and interesting characters, both good and bad. Think about their personalities, motivations, and how they fit into the world.

Create organizations and factions: Create different organizations and factions that exist within your world, such as political parties, religious groups, and guilds. Think about their goals, methods, and how they interact with each other.

Add supernatural elements: D&D is a fantasy game, so don't be afraid to add supernatural elements to your world. This can include magic, mythical creatures, and powerful artifacts.

Create A History

Consider history and lore: Populate your world with a rich history and lore. Think about important events and figures from the past, and how they have shaped the world your players are exploring

Incorporate player backstories: Consider incorporating the backstories of your players' characters into the world. This can help make the world feel more personal and relevant to the players.

Start with a timeline: Begin by creating a timeline of major events in your world's history. Think about important battles, wars, and alliances, as well as significant cultural and technological developments.

Consider cause and effect: Think about how different events in your world's history have impacted the present. Consider cause and effect relationships, such as how a major war may have led to the rise of a new empire.

Incorporate mythology and legends: Incorporate mythical elements into your world's history. Create legends and myths that explain the origins of your world and its inhabitants.

Add complexity: Avoid creating a simple, black-and-white history for your world. Instead, add complexity and nuance by including different perspectives and motivations. This can make your world feel more realistic and interesting.

Create significant figures: Create significant figures from your world's history, such as legendary heroes, conquerors, or religious figures. Think about how their actions and beliefs have shaped your world's history.

Incorporate player backstories: Consider incorporating the backstories of your players' characters into your world's history. This can help make the world feel more personal and relevant to the players.

Use real-world history as inspiration: Draw inspiration from real-world history when creating your world's history. This can help make your world feel more grounded and believable.

Add Magic & Monsters

Create a magic system: When adding magic to your world, create a system that explains how magic works. Consider the limitations and costs of magic, and how different spells and abilities are learned and cast.

Add magical creatures: Populate your world with magical creatures such as dragons, unicorns, and griffins. Consider their origins, behavior, and how they fit into your world's ecology and mythology.

Consider the origins of magic: Think about where magic comes from in your world. Is it a natural force, or does it come from a specific deity or source?

Create magical artifacts: Create powerful magical artifacts for your players to discover and use. Consider their history, powers, and the consequences of using them.

Create magical locations: Create magical locations such as enchanted forests, ancient ruins, and hidden temples. Consider the history and purpose of these locations, and the dangers that may lurk within them.

Use existing lore and mythology: Draw inspiration from existing lore and mythology when creating magic and monsters for your world. This can help make your world feel more grounded and believable.

Write Adventures

Create clear objectives: When writing an adventure, create clear objectives for your players to achieve. Think about what the players need to do to complete the adventure and what obstacles they will face along the way.

Develop interesting NPCs: Populate your adventure with interesting non-player characters (NPCs) that your players can interact with. Consider their motivations, personalities, and how they fit into the story.

Include puzzles and challenges: Add puzzles and challenges to your adventure to keep your players engaged and interested. These can be riddles, traps, or obstacles that the players need to overcome.

Add twists and turns: Keep your players on their toes by adding unexpected twists and turns to your adventure. This can include betrayals, unexpected enemies, or sudden plot twists.

Create memorable moments: Create memorable moments that your players will remember long after the adventure is over. This can include dramatic battles, emotional scenes, or epic encounters with powerful monsters.

Consider player agency: Give your players agency in the adventure by allowing them to make meaningful choices that impact the story. This can include different paths to achieve objectives, or moral choices that impact the outcome of the adventure.

Keep it flexible: While it's important to have a clear objective for your adventure, be flexible in how the players achieve that objective. Allow the players to come up with creative solutions and don't be afraid to improvise if necessary.

Conclusion

In conclusion, worldbuilding and adventure writing are essential components of creating a memorable and engaging Dungeons and Dragons campaign. By taking the time to create a detailed world, populate it with interesting characters and creatures, and craft engaging adventures, you can create an immersive experience for your players that will keep them coming back for more.

Remember to be flexible and open to the unexpected, as player agency and creativity are key to a successful campaign. By following these tips and exploring more resources on our Tumblr blog, you can hone your skills as a Dungeon Master and create unforgettable gaming experiences.

And if you're looking for even more ways to express your love for Dungeons and Dragons, don't forget to check out our Etsy store "thatsgeeky" for a wide range of D&D-themed merch.

[harpershigh]

Difficult Person Test

"Difficult, you say? Well, balance was never meant to be easy, was it?"

Tagged by SEVERAL PEOPLE, YOU ALL WANT SOME DIRT ON JAHEIRA WHAT'S THAT (I only remember @shimmerbeasts and @silvertiefling , sorry)

Tagging @starsofnyx (Morena), @rubistella , @average-bard , @menzoberranzanprincess , @infernalapparatus , @demonwebs , @darkurgc (Nine-Fingers), @bhaalurged (Duri) and YOU, TAG ME SO I CAN SEE THE RESULTS

[legionofmyth]

Absolute Power: Are Your Items Powerful Enough to Change the Game?

What’s a superhero without the perfect tools? 🛠️ Absolute Power’s item creation rules let you craft gear tied to attributes and skills that bring your character to life! Whether you’re designing a tech-savvy genius or a mystic warrior, this video will teach you how to balance creativity with gameplay. Ready to elevate your game? 📺 Watch now! #AbsolutePowerRPG #TTRPG #TabletopGaming #SuperheroRPG #RPGGearCreation

Absolute Power: Book 1: System Absolute Power: Book 2: Essentials Tri-Stat Core Discover how Absolute Power’s item creation rules let you forge the perfect tools for your superhero adventures! Learn how to craft iconic items tied to attributes and skills that bring your character’s powers to life. Absolute Power by Dyskami Publishing Company provides an innovative system for creating unique items…

[chacaillejdr]

How to write a location for your TTRPG

An important, and for some people fastidious, part of writing a TTRPG scenario is to fill the universe. Some improvise this part, and I admire them (from afar, they scare me), but others like me need to prepare things. I suggested in a previous article some techniques to write NPCs, let me share here a few others to write places, you never know, it might come handy.

Before even starting to look at individual places, a technique that I really like and that helps a lot for players' immersion, and for giving a coherence to your universe, is the regionalization technique. It consists in dividing your universe in zones (regions, city districts, or even time periods or sociological groups) and give each a few minor characteristics. For example the houses in a given region are built from a local ochre stone, little pale blue flowers grow in another, architects from a given time period always placed the kitchen on the left just after the front door, or people from a given origin use furniture from a recognizable style.

These are purely cosmetic elements, but for one they’ll regroup your places as part of the same world, and then they’ll give you substance to fill your descriptions in a credible and easy way.

Once the regionalization is done, let’s focus on individual places. The first thing to do is to determine what is the function of your place, to place it in one of three categories : the passage location, the quest location and the recurring location.

The passage location is a place that only serves as a background for a one-off scene, for example a shop or a campsite. Your focus point for this type of place is its atmosphere. You must describe it to your players for their immersion’s sake, but mustn't dwell on it lest they might get distracted from the scene. I’ll give you advice that would make a lot of literary professors’ blood boil : use chichés. You want to build an ambiance in a few words ? That’s what stock expressions are for. Why describe a whole waterfront when “Dream beach with coconut trees” exists ? Or “Dusty crypt” ? Or “Cutthroat alley” ? Just sprinkle a bit of regionalization on it, and it will even become a unique place !

I’d tell you not to abuse clichés but… on a larger scale don’t abuse passage places. You’d get a very generic and blank universe if you did.

Now let’s see the quest location. It’s a place where a challenge occurs (puzzle, NPC discussion, battle, even a whole dungeon). While the passage location focused on the ambiance, here you’ll have to prioritize the gameplay. You have to determine what will serve the challenge, and only then will you be able to furnish the environment. Will your NPCs move on walkways over a chasm ? Will there be acid lakes around them ? Are rocks flying in the air ? Those are the main elements of your background.

Once you have your gameplay elements, the trick to avoid pulling your players out of immersion is to make them coherent in your universe. Why is the place built like this ? Is it realistic for the function it carries ? How does it work ? You actually only have to answer one level of precision, it is enough to maintain the immersion. The walkways over the chasm may decay rapidly and be difficult to repair, so their great number may be a redundancy and the players will find them at different degradation states. The acid lakes may be a natural resource and extraction equipment can be spotted since the prices for this specific acid are high on the market. The flying rocks may have a glowing mushroom growing on their underside, giving them their antigravity properties. Not only will this enrich your universe, but it may also give ideas to your PCs to exploit the environment and, in the end, play with your world instead of just going through it. Another pinch of regionalization and you’re good !

One last tip specifically about dungeons : if you don’t use a battlemap covering all of it… then don’t make a map at all ! It will only lengthen the exploration part of your adventure without giving anything to your players. It will be easier to make a logigram, with blocks for every important room and lines to connect them. It would also allow you to make your dungeon modular to adapt it to your players’ choices (and avoid backtracking if they missed something !), after all you want them to have fun, not lose them or waste their time.

Finally, on to the last category : the recurring location. This is a place where PCs might have to come back several times, to meet with important NPCs for example, or because a lot of crucial points of the scenario happen here. The main characteristic of this kind of place is to be recognizable, and to make vivid memories.

Those are the places you’ll have to write with the most care, because they must be remarkable and they will give your universe its identity. The first time your PCs enter such a place, the description must be long and detailed enough that they understand this location is important. Besides the (now traditional) regionalization, it is important that each one of these places has at least one outstanding element. A tavern may be adorned with a dreadfully stuffed deer head. A castle may be carved out of a unique gigantic crystal. A train station may have a monumental clock on its façade. Whatever it is, this element must be well described : this way, every time the PCs come back to this place, you only have to evoke this one characteristic to bring back the whole place.

Moreover, if you’re writing a campaign, some of these recurring places might need to evolve along the scenario. You should consider cosmetic, or even functional elements that may change with the actions and choices of the PCs. A window may be in good condition at the beginning, broken during a certain scene, then hastily fixed with newspapers afterwards. A whole building may be partially destroyed, and the following scenes will happen in its ruins (will the outstanding element be intact or damaged ? Your choice !) The emotional weight of the location will be reinforced by this.

A last little bit of advice for all kinds of places : add at the beginning of your notes one to three adjectives to define the atmosphere. You can refer to it for improvisation needs, and to choose the right tone to read your description.

There we go, I hope these techniques will be of use to you, or at least pleasant to read ! I’ll come back later with other articles, so stay tuned !

Index

[notetakers-blog-of-holding]

"Yip Yip!"

Don't know how to balance encounters? Neither do I!

Try Kobold Fight Club, a combat planner.

[fogaminghub]

🌌✨ Hey Marvel lovers! Big news! 🎉 On December 20, get ready to step into the Marvel universe with free add-ons for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game! Choose from 12 different heroes, explore the Yggsard Royal Palace, and dive into a brand-new game mode! Gather your friends, roll those dice, and make your own epic stories! 👾❤️ 

[kris-belleau]

Quick Tips Apply Transfers for tabletop wargaming miniatures #paintingwa...