Category: Inspiration

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…

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…

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.

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…

I wrote countless adventures for my campaigns, and I’ve tried a lot of different approaches to get the creative gears turning. One technique I keep coming back to is starting with random nodes. There’s something freeing about letting the randomness take over and seeing where it leads. Brainstorming an adventure is like solving a mystery…

Integrating character backstories into the heart of our scenarios or campaigns is a subtle but particularly powerful tool in the GM’s arsenal. It’s one that I’m particularly fond of. When used properly, this technique offers two benefits: it deepens the link between the players and the story, and it enriches the universe of your games…

Sometimes the greatest stories aren’t about heroes and villains, or epic quests for legendary artifacts, but about the world itself. Imagine a world where some landscapes are not just static backdrops but living, sentient beings. This river holds ancient wisdom, these mountains roar in fury, and this forest whispers secrets. This is the essence of…

Following up on our previous blog post about unusual combinations of historical professions, we’re now going to explore a variety of unusual profession combinations that could exist in most fantasy settings. These could inspire your worldbuilding, character backstories, or just give you some food for thought for your next campaign setting.