Why does the Demon-God Algo-Rhy-Thum throw some blog posts into the firmament for all to see and banishes other to unclicked upon hells? Only the Demon-God’s marketing priests know for sure…

10. Planescape Tables for the Outlands

As Stras says, “Encounter Tables are setting design,” and if you look at Band of Blades you can see that in action. I don’t think of the tables as Random Encounter Tables but as Inspirational Encounter Tables.

I love putting together inspirational tables for making adventures and these got the Thursday night campaign started off with a bang.

9. In the Wake of the Sorcerer Kings

The Sorcerer-Kings strip mined something from the earth and left, leaving their labs, weapons and experiments all over the city. Municipal delvers, who have their own labor union, go into these otherworldly portals and vaults, making them safe for the people who live in the area.

Thrilled that there is something here that isn’t the hit-magnet that is D&D and thrilled that it is the first thoughts on our new Friday night campaign on Actual Play.

8. Bingo Style Experience Points after a few months of leveling up

If you use the Bingo XP Variant, please let me know. I’d love to hear the glories and challenges you experience with it at the table.

I love how this house-rule came together as a rule and as an object used at the table. I’m glad the blog posts about its use are being read.

7. Tomb of Annihilation: Identity and the Tomb

After stealing the last of the puzzle-cubes from the Yuan-ti, the players had to decide if they were going to kill the Red Wizards in their sleep while their spells were depleted.

Writing up AP posts is a simple pleasure. From experience, I know how nice it is to not only share fun game moments but in the years after the game, looking back on old game write-ups and reliving those moments a bit.

6. Revisiting Planescape

Planescape was this cool setting where the game implied in the boxed set was this city at the center of all worlds and the players take part in these oddly philosophical factions as they venture out into the Outlands and adventure. The adventures in the Outlands were supposed to ripple out into the rest of the planes of reality.

I am lucky enough to get together with friends on Thursdays and run the Planescape campaign I’ve always imagined. It is a blessing.

5. The Raven Queen vs. Vecna

This is a world where two ideas of death are at war.

I improved upon this concept in every way with my pdf, The Raven Queen vs. the Ghoul King. If you want a review copy, let me know.

4. Leomund’s Tiny Hut in Barovia

Strahd is circling the party like a shark. What is the scariest part of a shark movie? Let the players sit in their tiny hut.

Leomund’s Tiny Hut as shark cage is a fun idea.

3. “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe.”

What if I have make up a soldier on the spot? Come up with sci-fi armed service experience for someone I named 5 seconds ago?

3 or 4 d6 later…

Love when I can make something that is simple, imaginative and easy to use. And the title is catchy…

2. Bingo Style Experience Points

Some friends at the Indie Games Reading Club have been chatting about experience points and I just bought this lucious art bundle on sale over on itch.io, so I decided to dust off an ugly old google doc idea and use the Affinity Art Suite and some adorable bats from the British Library’s flickr page to showcase an untested idea.

Number 1. Volo’s Guide to Monsters: Kobolds

A party of adventurers, inspired by the original interlopers who drove Red Death from her volcano home, are making their way to your warren with dreams of treasure and glory.

Prepare!

The above text is a slamming campaign starter that I’m still eager to give a go. That said, this post was published in November of 2016 and it has been my most viewed post for the years of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Are there that many people looking for blog posts about Volo’s Guide to Monsters or are there that many gamers looking for kobold content? Did I do something with the posts tags or categories to make it easier to find? Does the Demon-God Algo-Rhy-Thum just adore it?

I have no idea.

ADDENDUM. Making Dungeons in Wake of the Sorcerer Kings

Thinking about the steps I want to take when I make a delve inspired by a Dyson Logos map for our World of Dungeons game.

I didn’t think a post made in December would catch up to the rest but here we are. Number 3 with a bullet, as they used to say in the old radio countdown shows…

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You might just enjoy contemplating infinity through mythical snake-beasts or be a Sister of the Aes Sedai. Whatever your path here, this design is for you.