Fedmar
@behindthehelm.bsky.social
i like tabletop adventure games. blog and links: https://behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/ ☭
New post! Reviewing my new favorite RPG-adjectent book, trying to identify what makes its gameplay *tick*, and what lessons you can get from it as a Game-Master. Presenting: Nalsco's ZYMO. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/lessons-from... #osr
Lessons from Zymo - the necessity of a gameplay loop
TW: the game i'm reviewing is about body horror, which i’m not discussing in depth and leaving in the footnotes anyway if you wanna skip them, but be warned~...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
Prepping a campaign of SALVAGE UNION to get off the ground in July, and it got me thinking of all the places where one could add drama. Put rival parties in your PC's home base. Put shops under the tyranny of a local faction. All of those essential services adventurers need, give those some trouble.
TTRPG game-mastering question: you ever give NPCs prewritten lines of dialog? How do you run them? I've been considering adding them to modules simply cuz they're a very easy and flavorful way to convey their personality to the GM, but i don't know how well they'd work at the table.
> The Odd offers you a deal. Do you accept? [Y/N] behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/bargaining-w...
Bargaining with the Odd
As adventurers venture further and further into the Odd World with each passing session, it begins to… rub off onto them. They will it to do so themselves. T...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
Wanna put guns in your game? Beware of the terms and conditons. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/a-brief-obse...
A Brief Observation on Putting Guns in your Fantasy Game
Why are guns a problem for systems designed to accommodate melee combat? Whenever we take a game that facilitates heroic action fantasy, with strong PCs tear...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
An alternative magic system: Spell-Circles. System-agnostic as always. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/spell-circles/ #osr
Spell-Circles
A is a collection of glyphs capable of manifesting a magical effect. They are all circular, or at least radially symmetrical in shape, and must be drawn or ...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
Continuing the series, here's some illness and poisoning rules. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/illness-pois... #osr
Illness, Poisons, and Medication
In situations of prolonged/grievous exposure to environmental pressures, you have a chance of . Roll a d12, and compare the result to the Illness Chance for ...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
(Two posts in a day? What is this?) Well, if you like X-in-6 but you also like classes, here's some fun for you. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/classes-for-...
Classes for X-in-6
So! After... a bit of radio silence, I released the game I've been working on, called X-in-6. Find it . It's classless, but if you want to use classes with i...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
Where have I been all this time? Mostly doing nothing, but I also made a game. Check it out, it's PWYW on Itch. fedmar.itch.io/x-in-6
X-IN-6 by Fedmar
a rules-light dungeon crawler
fedmar.itch.io
"Here's a secret, young adventurer. No cave you delve into, no volcano that erupts, no monsters that lashes at you from the bowels of the stone is "natural". It's the dwarves, it's always been the dwarves." behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/dwarf-ecology/
Dwarf Ecology
The first-generation dwarves are born programmed with one, simple goal: with blinding speed they dig upwards in all directions, spreading like ants search...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
(old timey sales pitch voice) "Are you tired of having to continuously make dungeon rooms just to fill out space between the players and the treasure? Do you want your dungeon prep to last more than just the first encounter? Well fret no more!" behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/dungeon-repl...
Dungeon Replayability
A common way of playing long-term dungeon adventures takes the same format of the West Marches campaign: go down an entrance at the start of the session, do ...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
Published a short dungeon adventure: The Basement of Old Man Hamsy. Check it out on Itch! Writing, art and layout by me. fedmar.itch.io/the-basement...
The Basement of Old Man Hamsy by Fedmar
a six-room dungeon adventure
fedmar.itch.io
Last-minute contribution to the Conclave Bandwagon by Prismatic Wasteland - d4 weird Cardinals you might meet before the election starts. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/d4-cardinals...
D4 Cardinals Coming to the Conclave (Blogclave Bandwagon)
Hail, citizen of Theocastrum: the Blogclave has commenced! The Blope, after many years of prosperous reign over your ancient and grand city, has keeled o...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
A big blogpost today, in two parts: a procedure to quickly make meaty dungeons, and a free six-room example ready to run! behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/building-mic... behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/basement-of-...
Building Micro-Dungeons, in 60 minutes or less.
Prepare a Spark Table. Ideally, you should use one you already have for the general setting, but if you don’t have one, making one isn’t at all hard (); i...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
BLOGPOST - On why resolution systems with binary success/failure provide more choice on how to run the game for the GM and more strategic possibilities for the player. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/why-i-like-b... #osr #nsr #posr #ttrpg
Why I Like Binary Resolution Systems
In most OSR games a roll (or Check, or Save, or Test, or however you want to call it) can have three outcomes: 1) Total Success: the action succee...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
how my account looks at me when i haven't posted a drawing in five whole days
BLOG POST - On the way I start sandbox campaigns with one-shots in order to introduce plothooks in as interesting a way as possible. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/guide-to-the...
Guide to the Starter One-Shot
There are many different ways of kicking off a sandbox campaign, and the way you do it influences the path(s) the party will take. The one I favor is what I ...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
First actual bleet! Here's a blogpost on how character classes work in my most recent project, and how they illustrate the world's lore. behindthehelm.bearblog.dev/the-birth-of...
The birth of a class - NIGHT DESCENDS ON UR devlog
In the process of writing classes for a side-project I'm slowly nibbling at - a post-apocalypse game set in the wake of the Bronze Age Collapse - I've been e...
behindthehelm.bearblog.dev
*taps mic* is this thing on? ridiculously late to the bluesky party but here we are ig. #osr
