Author: Alkemion
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The Ogre You Can’t Avoid
Behind your DM screen lurks the Quantum Ogre—the villain and savior of adventure design. It waits everywhere and nowhere, ready to appear whichever path players choose, offering the illusion of choice while quietly robbing them of agency. But there’s a better way: embracing the chaos of meaningful decisions, letting your carefully-crafted ogre sometimes go unseen,…
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The Architecture of Rescue
Freedom has a sound: cell doors swinging open, shackles hitting stone floors, the sharp intake of breath when someone realizes they’re about to be saved. But beneath this primal thrill lies a more intricate truth—rescue scenarios aren’t just linear problems, but complex systems of power, where victims have their own agendas and prisons breathe with…
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The Clock You Can’t See
Our obsession with mechanical time in roleplaying games undermines the very tension we seek to create. When we tell players ‘the ritual will be completed in three hours,’ we’re offering them the cold comfort of certainty instead of true dread. This essay explores how to transform time pressure from mere arithmetic into a visceral force…
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Alkemion Studio v0.9.0
Hey, folks! New update, and it’s a big one! The first Links Update! We’ve been working very hard on redesigning the node linking system and we’re very happy to finally release a first batch of brand new features! This update also features a new Node management interface we’ve been working on that you’ll now have…
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The Art of Meaningful Decisions
There’s a moment of paralysis familiar to every Game Master – when the players sit frozen before infinite possibilities. But the most memorable RPG sessions aren’t built on endless options – they’re forged in the crucible of meaningful choices. Let’s discuss how to craft decisions that matter, hurt, and create stories your players will discuss…
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The 5×5 Method: A Love Letter to Structured Chaos
As a software engineer, I’ve always been drawn to frameworks that help structure chaos into something manageable. Dave Chalker’s 5×5 method is exactly that kind of framework, and it’s been my go-to tool for the past year, turning my sprawling campaign ideas into organized, flexible structures that actually work at the table.
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Redesigning Node Links
Hey, all! We’re currently in the process of entirely rethinking and redesigning the Node Links feature, and we’d like to share with you our current design candidate and hear your thoughts!
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Lessons from the Road to Elturel
I don’t think I’m alone in believing that an essential ingredient in designing adventures is finding the right balance between structure and improvisation. That’s why I really enjoyed The Road to Elturel: An Object Lesson in Adventure Design from The Angry GM. It’s a great lesson in adventure design, told through the lens of a…