thunderclap mushroom: Largish mushrooms that explode for 1d3 damage if stepped on, etc. If sliced cleanly (fail on 1 on d20), they become stable enough to carry & throw for 1d3 damage, but if you fall down, they explode. Primary ingredient in potions of growth & gaseous form.

Things that actually happened in medieval Europe you could use in your campaign: 🐖Animal put on trial for killing/injuring a human 🧑‍⚖️Trial jury asked to do its own investigating 🪙Outlaw buying a pardon from the king 🩻Executed criminal hanging in a gibbet for years ⚔️Trial by combat as an option

Pro tip: Create puzzles & predicaments where the heroes need a pry bar, mirror, rope, spikes, candle, ball bearings, etc. Make their equipment choices matter.

Thinking of making a rules-light RPG with a d20 central mechanic supported by pages & pages of tables of DCs for leaping a chasm, disarming an opponent, befriending a beast, etc. Class features then just give you a bonus on such things.

Warn players if they’re about to do something dumb. The player can’t see the scene in your head to know exactly where the monster is. The bonus is that they only have themselves to blame if they go thru with it.

I couldn't buy this book fast enough. This is what's been missing for 50 years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=glMG...

What D&D Combat Desperately Needs

YouTube video by Trekiros

youtube.com

Simple way to let the dice tell the story in a d20 system. Roll d20 & your damage die together: - If your modified attack can't hit AC 10, you missed entirely. - If it hits the opponent's AC, you do damage per the damage die. - If it's between 10 and the opponent's AC, then… (1/2)

Good adventurers should have good instincts. Highlight your clues. The second time you mention a clue, outright say "This seems strange/unusual/important/intriguing/suspicious".

How PCs get magic items should shift over time. 🎲At first, items are random (more fun if the PCs roll). 🗣️Then they hear rumors about items & can go after them. 🪙Then they can donate treasure for divine visions of where to find one they really want. 🤴Then a noble offers a powerful one as a reward.

I love history, but I don't want to play in a historical version of medieval Europe. I want to play in a fantastical version. And that means nothing that overly evokes the modern age, like flush toilets, general stores, & chocolate.

Why do you need to create factions in your cities? The early days of D&D had so many players that they created their own factions, which made for wild & woolly adventuring; the PCs should take sides or make their own faction. Alexandrian quoting Arneson's BLACKMOOR:

YouTube keeps offering me videos from Diversity & Dragons, the white boy grievance channel that’s just endless whining about DEI. Gross.

Tag creators when you post about using their work at your table. "Running @ Creator's adventure tonight and my players are loving the puzzle design!" Seeing their work in action makes their day.

Part of your session prep should be keeping a short list of NPC names. When you use one, check it off. Then you won’t forget it later.

Younger gamers may not get the joke, but #GenCon got its name from the fact that it was held in Geneva, Wisconsin, which made it a play on Geneva Conventions, a series of treaties about what's fair in war—deliciously appropriate for a gathering of wargamers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_...

Geneva Conventions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Never have your PCs captured, no matter how cinematic it would seem. As almighty GM, you always have that ABILITY, but player agency is the point of the game, so there's an unwritten contract that you WON'T. Many players would rather their PC die.

I can't stop thinking about creating a book of monsters & maps.

When you roll up a random encounter with a creature, also roll up what it's doing... (1d6: 1=seeking something; 2=resting; 3=eating/drinking; 4=fleeing danger; 5=patrolling its territory; 6=doing the bidding of another).

There's an inherent advantage to theater-of-the-mind w/o opportunity attacks. PCs & monsters move around tactically. The great hall isn't that big; just rush a little & you can be anywhere. Use a battle mat for positioning, not Monopoly movement. Combat is dynamic, not static.

Some RPG designers want to perfect the mainstream concepts according to their taste. Others want to blaze a quirky new trail thru the wilderness & produce something brand new. The former is just going to be more popular, especially if they're known from YouTube and/or supplements or other games.

I’ve never liked the battle bikini art esthetic, but Deathbringer might nevertheless be one game i back instead of acquire after publishing.

A good way to handle monsters is to say "rock trolls" & "forest trolls" have different abilities & vulnerabilities. Martial characters have "monster lore" skill & can roll to identify the creature as "rock troll with X abilities" or just "troll of some kind". No more "Troll? Hit it with fire!"

There are lots of TTRPGs, supplements, & adventures getting published, but layout & publishing vids still seem very rare.

Sometimes, I create rooms or encounters that are just interesting & kind of fun to play around with. These I call "playgrounds", like the barter fish. zarban.com/2025/12/21/b...

Playground: The Barter Fish

In a small, calm, deep pool in a ruins or woods, a smart fish will try to attract the heroes’ attention by bringing up a random item from the bottom and setting it on the edge. The item will …

zarban.com

“It looks to you like it might be a deadfall trap or a way to block the corridor once you pass,” is one of the most powerful things you can say to a player.

I see a lot of discussion about old-school D&D being more lethal. But the real difference from modern D&D is the focus on problem-solving.

I think a good way to manage encumbrance is by saying "you have item slots equal to your STR" but also "here are kits that equal 1 item": 🕯️ flint & tinder, 2 candles, 2 torches 🔥 6 torches 🔨 4 spikes, 1 hammer ✒️ chalk, pen, parchment, ink 🍖 3 days' food 🛠️ thief tools, dice, gloves, glob of grease

I really think low-level adventures should have low lethality. More puzzles than traps (cross the open pit/watery pool; figure out the gate levers). Info from fun NPCs along the way. Really basic monsters (giant rat, large spider, skeleton). Just 1 or 2 intelligent foes. More wonder than danger.

The heart of old-school RPGs is solving puzzles, traps, & mysteries in the adventure. Modern RPGs make character creation & combat so convoluted that players solve the system (character builds for max dmg) more than the adventure--especially if the adventure is mostly combat.

The most important thing you can do to make your RPG experience good is to give players problems to solve & make sure they have tools to solve them with.