How Do I Create Random Generation Tables for a Sandbox Campaign?

In last week's post I wrote about how random generation tables have some uses but they also have some drawbacks. The biggest drawback I find is that the tables created by other GMs or designers often have assumptions and contexts that don't fit whatever campaign setting I'm running. The major drawback of random generation tables. …

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Book Recommendation: Laughing Shall I Die: Lives and Deaths of the Great Vikings

Tom Shippey's Laughing Shall I Die is an examination of the viking attitudes about death and how they lived knowing that they would almost certainly come to a violent end. It's a book worth reading if you are interested in the vikings or how the stories about vikings influenced the sword-and-sorcery genre. Tom Shippey has …

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How Do I Play an Old School First Level Fighter?

A lot of old school gamers love the fighter for the simplicity and joy of battle. What does my character do? He fights! It can be a great fun to play a reckless, ridiculously named, swashbuckling warrior who gets himself killed in a hilariously ignoble fashion. Sometimes you want your fighter to become a famous …

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