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Campaign TrailD&D 5eGM Resources

4 Types of Dungeons & Building a Random Dungeon for ...

This week on the Campaign Trail I’m taking a quick look at one of the most popular adventuring environments, the dungeon. These labyrinths, full of death traps, starving monsters, and treasure hoards, test both GMs and players. Dungeons come in ...
D&D 5eGM ResourcesTribal Knowledge

Tribal Knowledge: Dungeon Remodeling Projects

I am a huge fan of the StoryNexus game Below. When I reviewed it in Harbinger of Doom, I talked about how much I liked the way it lets adventurers alter parts of the dungeon to their own convenience. I may have even waxed ...
Performance Check

The Almighty Johnsons, The Power of Self, and the Reverse ...

I had a conversation the other day regarding clerics, warlocks, and the nature of other-directed character advancement. It hadn’t ever been something I really considered, but it was a very important issue to the people I was speaking to at ...
Thoughts & Things

Choose Your Own Adventure

Do you remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? (They still make them.) You had a list of options, and they indicated a page number, then you flipped through to that page number after making a choice. By making choices, ...
D&D 5eUnearthed Arcana

D&D March Survey, Kits of Old Results & Expansion

WotC released the results of their survey that asked for feedback for Unearthered Arcana: Kits of Old. This month’s survey has some questions providing additional character options and then about the material released in the Awakened Mystic Unearthed Arcana article. Maybe they ...
Campaign TrailD&D 5eSteampunk

Steampunk Equipment for D&D 5th Edition

Pirate Weapons | Steampunk Weapons | Steampunk Armor | Steampunk Equipment If you like steampunk, check out Steampunk Adventurers for 5e, which is now available on DriveThruRPG from Tribality Publishing! With STEAMPUNK ADVENTURERS you can provide your players with new ...
D&D 5eGM ResourcesMonsters & NPCsTribal Knowledge

In a Goblin Market

Backwards up the mossy glen Turn’d and troop’d the goblin men, With their shrill repeated cry, “Come buy, come buy.” –“Goblin Market,” Christina Rosetti   In the last two articles in this series on the fey, I’ve talked about courtly ...
Performance Check

Broad City, Player Agency, and Storyline Direction

Four and three and two and one. One of my favorite shows on TV right now is a show about young female friends in New York. They navigate the challenges of jobs, money, relationships, and feminism, examining some of the ...
SettingsSystem Agnostic

Make Maps | Leave Gaps – 3 Ways to Balance ...

I was thinking recently about the RPG design philosophy ‘Make Maps, Leave Gaps.’ Basically, this sentiment translates to ‘have some details, but leave space for inspiration/player interest to create the environment.’ Which, for me, has me wondering what level of ...
Campaign Trail

Running a Session Zero for a New Campaign

In a previous article I wrote about Writing a Player’s Guide for your new Campaign, but this week on the Campaign Trail I wanted to look at Running a Session Zero for a New Campaign. Tonight my regular group on ...