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Guess it's not meant to be - for now
Well, I tried. I got some folks interested in possibly playing a run through the classic module U1 - The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. I just couldn't do it. I had a panic attack this morning just...
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NPCs coming back alive...
I'm sure every DM has done this at some point or other - visualized a character from another form of media - TV, film, comics, online - to make their NPCs come alive. If not, it's a really useful tool...
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Calculating Mercenary costs in AD&D/homebrew
... or "How I resurrected a spreadsheet written by a player in 2011 and updated it for a homebrew calendar and pricing model"Really exciting stuff, amirite?!?Anyway, the players in my biweekly online...
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Q: Running hybrid AD&D game: virtual+in-person?
(Also asked this on the r/OSR subreddit...)Thanks to COVID, I had to put my long-running, in-person AD&D campaign on hold. So two years later... I'm looking to start things up. Finally!Problem is,...
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Podcasting again! Dungeon Master's Handbook - Episodes 40 and 41 are out now.
Jeez, I really am a complete newbie at this again, aren't I? I completely forgot that I had started podcasting again.I have two episodes up right now, talking about restarting my tabletop AD&D game...
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Dungeon Master's Handbook - Episode 42 - The Problem is Choice
I learn lessons from all my games, whether Play-by-Post, online or tabletop/face-to-face. This episode, I talk about how I took the druid from 1st Edition AD&D and made their initiation/level-up...
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Dungeon Master's Handbook - Episode 43 - Running a Heist in AD&D
Running a heist game in D&D isn't as easy/clear-cut as running a dungeon or wilderness adventure. This episode, I cover how I did it, in response to a vlog by Todd of Hexed Press, and because I...
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Why Dragons Should Never Lose
Back in the 'aughts, WotC had a forum set up for folks to discuss D&D. I yoinked this little tidbit from one of the user profiles on that old (and either migrated or closed) forum. I didn't save...
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Something different - thoughts on the Mass Effect games
Having never played Mass Effect before, I just finished my binge of #1 - 3 today. I'm having similar to feels to how I do when I finish a great series of books - withdrawal and introspection....
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No, the OSR is not done - the lesson still needs to be learned
This was the content of the first tweet I saw this morning... "Now that the OSR renaissance or revival is done we discuss how to better label these games. "Over on the twitter, I had two...
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#Dungeon23 - Create It AND Play It
I fled the hellscape that is the BlueBird site and found myself on Mastodon - on a server with a lot of other TTRPG types. It has that new, shiny feel to it, where everyone's really cool and nice and...
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Baking in the Flavor - Campaign or Rules?
Don't depend on the system to do the heavy lifting, use the system as scaffolding. Your game system should provide you with tools - you get to use your imagination and trial/error to see what works.In...
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Dungeon23 - Starting the Dungeon - Early! (Week 1)
Yea, I know... it's not 2023 yet, Michael, what the hell is your problem?Well, I did the starting point and well... one thing led to another and jeez, you know how it goes when inspiration hits!...
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Dungeon23 (Wk 2) - Continuing Level 1 / Looking for Players
Two parts to this post - my Dungeon23 build log for week 2 and a "Looking for Players" request (at the end). Day 8On. a. creative. roll! I added 8 rooms across 4 days of the planner. I keyed 3 of them,...
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A summary of my 13 year one-on-one D&D campaign with my wife
If you've followed along with my blogs and social media, you might remember that I have (in fits and spurts) run a one-on-one campaign with my wife. I've incorrectly called it a "solo campaign", but I...
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Dungeon23 (Wk 3) - Finishing Level 1 / Preparing for Play!
Day 15Got a little carried away and did the 26th and 27th day areas. That's OK though! Just gives me more time at the end of the month to tweak my wandering monster/events table and make sure...
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Dungeon 23 (Wk 4) - Strange surprises!
Day 22"Let the dice tell the story!" Well, that was apparently the story of the day as my random dice rolls against the 1e DMG Appendix A had me drawing passages and stairs for level 2. I'm continuing...
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Dungeon23 - Delving the Black Maw - 10 Jan AAR
It was an awesome start to the Dungeon23 campaign, complete with strange wandering monsters, half-crazed starving prisoners, blood-spattered rooms, grotesque statues with gems for eyes! The dungeon...
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Dungeon23 (Wk 5) - Short week, starting to hit my stride
Day 29The dungeon's purpose/story has come together enough out of what I've generated that today's rooms feature connected monster/treasure generation and placement. Meaning that Monster A, B and C all...
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Dungeon23 - Players' Journals from Session 1
I love when my players share journal entries from their character's POV. Here are two from the first session of my Dungeon23 campaign. (Plus, they get 100xp * level with a cap of how much XP they can...
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