Old school RPG gamers tend to have a deep interest in history. In this essay, I explain why that is and what effect it has on the style of game we run and play.
Tag: ttrpg
Grumpy Wizard’s Swords & Wizardry House Rules: Silver Standard
One of my favorite house rules is the Silver Standard. The concept is simple; silver pieces become the primary unit of exchange and treasure in lieu of the gold piece. There are a few other modifications required to make it work. Making a few extra tweaks to the system had some interesting and desirable effects …
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Grumpy Wizard’s Reviews and Recommendations
I want to be clear about what I review, how I review, and why. I don't want to be known primarily as a reviewer of RPGs, books, and music. Even though reviews get more traffic than most other types of posts, I don't do many of them. If views and followers were my primary metric, …
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Old School D&D was Built For Sandbox Campaigns
The original fantasy adventure game was built on the sandbox campaign structure. Sandbox campaigns can take many forms but remain the best structure for OSR gaming.
The Dramatic Question and Game Mechanics
Game masters use the tools of storytelling to create a dramatic question but use game mechanics and rules to resolve it.
Great Game Masters Don’t Tell the Player Character’s Story
As a game master, you don't have to be a highly skilled story teller to get a good story out of your game.
What a Role-Playing Game is Not
Role-playing games are not stories. This is a position with which many game masters and game designers disagree. This misunderstanding by designers and game masters is why most published adventures suck. It is why most published campaigns, adventures and supplement books fail at being game supplements. Games have elements which are similar to stories. Both …
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