R P Davis here, Head Kabouter lead designer at Kabouter Games. I’ve been in and around game design for a while now, as an amateur for nigh on 40 years, and as a professional since 2016. I want you to…
Modern game accessories with an Old School feel!
Author: R P Davis
This is always tricky. You’ve got a scenario all ready to go. The Catacombs of Malice await! You just have to convince the players to want their characters to enter the scenario. If you’re in a good place as a…
Worldbuilding is fun. Whether you build from the inside out (like me) or the outside in, it’s just plain fun. Sometimes, though, you can get stuck. When your players are wandering from hex to hex, exploring what’s over the next…
So it’s just after 6AM, and I’ve been up since 0430 for no reason at all, and I’ve scrolled through the entire Internet. So you’re getting a blog post. It’s happened again. A well-meaning Fifth Edition GM has posted: My…
The Fifth Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide lists Supernatural Gifts as reward in lieu of treasure that might be bestowed by a powerful creature or entity. These gifts are intended to match that list’s “Charms” in terms of game power. In…
Our recent (and surprisingly successful!) Kickstarter for The Drowned Valley of Gorth saw the debut of our new approach to adventure design. Here’s how it works… What Does “System Neutral” Mean? “System-neutral” means you can play the content using our…
Sly Flourish’s newsletter is worth a sub. He’s always posting thought-provoking content. The last one really made me think. The question he was dealing with is: How Many Rounds of Combat Are Ideal? I really appreciated his take, which amounts…
This post is pretty simple: When you design a dungeon, use three dimensions. When we GMs look at battle or dungeon maps, they’re usually flat. (Arguably, they’re always flat, even if they’re isometric, but I digress.) This presentation encourages two-dimensional…
Lots of folks think adventure design is hard. It certainly can be, if you let it. Here’s a little secret: It’s really easy. Even for people who write adventures intended for publication, it’s nowhere near as hard as folks make…
Player vs Character Skill Something’s been itching at me for ages. Just this morning a Facebook comment helped me scratch it. People often ask “What’s the difference between Old School (or OSR) gaming and modern gaming?” The differences are many…
