the-d-them

[the-d-them]

ALT

I was inspired by @jezifster’s recent question about non-gendered royal titles, and I put together this graphic to serve as a jumping off point for people writing monarchies in SFF !

Obviously this non-exhaustive list contains mainly western titles, all in English. Feel free add any on additional gender neutral terminologies that you can think of, including those from different languages and cultures!

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5 interesting ways start your campaign

1) Ambush at Night - A really fun way to jump right into the action is to start with an attack of some kind. This gives your PC’s an immediate sense of danger to latch onto and drive that first session forward. Folks have time to settle into their characters through the simple problem solving of a combat. 

Suggested Use: Use this in a navel campaign. Narrate your PC’s waking up from a dead sleep as cannon shots rip through their ship.  You immediately have a tool to ramp up tension as you narrate the ship taking on more water. It also gives you some narrative questions to answer. Who is attacking you? What do they want from you? You get to capture the confusion of a battle where you don’t have all the information yet, which is mirrored by your players sudden entrance into the world 

2) Mid Chase - This one comes from the latest season of Dimension 20. The very first episode opens with the PC’s rolling initiative. Their ship is already badly damaged, facing down a foe with overwhelming force. I like this approach as it provides a lot of the same benefits as starting with an ambush. Stakes are immediately clear, and your PC’s are given a unique situation to try and solve with their abilities. 

Suggested Use: Start with the PC’s running down some major street in the city. They have a ton of loot, and a small army of guards in pursuit. They’ve just pulled off a heist but something went wrong right at the end. If you’d like, consider prompting them to banter about the failed heist. “You said this would be easy Flint!” “It was easy! until you triggered that alarm spell!” If you have players with strong roleplay chops, a chase is a really fun way for them to express their character choices through the action. 

3) Common Goal, But Not Aligned Yet - This is a little harder to pull off, but when it works it works really well. As you work on your players backstory with them, subtly give them a reason to show up in a specific location or seek out a  specific item. Don’t let them know that they are all after the same thing. Start the session and watch them slowly realize they all have the same goal, and let the character interactions fuel the drama. 

Suggested Use: All your PC’s are reached out to individually by different factions, and asked to secure a magic item. Work with their backstory and make sure they would have a compelling reason to complete this task. Maybe they are hired by a crime lord who wants the item for power, or a group of scholars that wants to research the item. Whatever the reason, the hiring faction knows where the item is and needs you to get it. It could be in a dungeon and all the PC’s show up around the same time  

If you have players who are really good at initiating their actions, then put the item in a silver briefcase in the possession of an NPC taking some form of public transit like a train. Now they all have to come up with a way of getting the briefcase from him, but still don’t know that everyone else is also after the same thing. As soon as 1 PC goes for the briefcase, many of your players will begin to catch on. Now you get to watch your players antics as they try and be the one with the McGuffin by the time the train stops. 

4) Execution - So admittedly this is the opening to Skyrim. Cut out the 5 minute wagon ride of exposition though. Start with the PC’s on the chopping block, and create a scenario where they can escape. Maybe your PC’s are evil and deserve it, and a well timed prison break gives them their shot. Perhaps they have been wrongly accused of something and the first campaign quest becomes clearing their name. 

Suggested Use: This is really fun when you want to create a world ruled by some form of dictator. This world is cruel, and the regime has twisted the rule of law to suit their own needs. Your PC”s immediately have a personal connection to the evil faction, and a reason to want to see them defeated. Those guys tried to kill them! Perhaps the local rebellion causes a prison break to gain some supporters. What's great is your PC’s \could all have different reasons for ending up there. Really use this as an opportunity to explore all the ways in which the regime is shitty and cruel. 

5) Necromancy Gone Wrong - This one is a little specific, but it is super fun. Your PC’s awake in darkness. It’s cold here, damp. They stretch their arms and realize they are trapped in a stone box. Some Strength checks later, and they are sliding the lid off of a sarcophagus is an old tomb. They look in the reflection of an old shield and, in horror, realize they are an animated corpse.  

Start your PC’s as undead deep within a tomb of legendary hero’s. The spell was botched and they retain their free will, but have no memory of who they were. You get to start with a reverse dungeon, as the PC’s work their way back to the surface. You have the immediate mystery's of who resurrected them, why and who were they in their past life. 

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Tabletop Beauty #1 - Intro 

I recently built myself a little whitebox for photography. It was a no brainer what I would use as test pieces for it.  I’ve always loved tabletop game pieces. I love how a game designer can suck you into the world with a really cool token or piece of art.

I think this picture will be the first in a series of photos highlighting different game pieces and really focus in on something that often doesn’t get a lot of attention.