The following is a very simple method I use for roleplaying that is easy to understand and quick to play with. Whenever there is an impactful or important situation with a chance of failure or some sort of uncertainty, I like to ask for a roll. Success just depends on if you roll high or not. Generally, if you roll higher than the average of your die, then that’s a good sign. Rolls of 1 or close to 1 can be intuitively interpreted as “bad”.  Image generated with Midjourney.  With this framework I’ve arbitrarily decided that a healthy and capable human should in most situations roll a d6. It’s the baseline.  If there are setbacks or hindrances, then roll a d4.  With the right equipment, experience or training, roll a d8.  If exceptionally skilled, prepared or generally suited to the situation, roll a d10.  If circumstances are extremely advantaged somehow, roll a d12.  The advantage of this approach is that you get almost instant communication to both yourself and your player. They know

Consider this a manifesto of sorts. Inspired by brutalist architecture and the development of brutalist web design , I want to get the ball rolling on the Brutalist Manifesto for adventure game design. I consider these to be principles to strive for, but not dogmatically adhere to.   Image generated with Midjourney. Usability Functionality First The form, text and presentation should be functional. They should be usable for the players at the table. The form should be practical and easy to arrange on the table. The text should be concise and easy to read and reference. The presentation should convey information that reduces the need for text. Material-Adaptive The game should function well in any format—printed, online, or hand-written. Whether players are using graph paper or a digital tablet, the game should adapt to their needs. This can mean supplying character sheets for physical play and online play. Consider the environmental impact when designing physical components. Ease of R

Last weekend we were holding FKR Con over at the FKR Collective. I decided to run a one shot in a setting I call FULL CARBON JACKET. It’s inspired by a lot of things, but the most important inspiration is the TV show Ultraviolet. The show was released in 1998 and had a grounded approach that blended detective work, forensics and SWAT style action with the techno-futurist optimism of the 1990s. The premise is that the players are working for the Harker institute, following leads on potential “Code Five” activity. Once the target is identified, they plan to trap the vampire through several means. Salt, ultraviolet lights, carbon jacketed bullets, stakes, silver-fragment grenades, you name it, they got it.  Image generated with Midjourney. The Scenario The scenario I ran was called “A Shadow in the Clinic” and basically featured a rural clinic. This clinic had been infiltrated some time ago by Walter Pitman. In his former life, he was a local farmer and a familiar face in the community. K

I recently finished the series of Heroic Relics , which I made to give a D&D’ish feeling with Into the Odd. I’m currently running a new Curse of Strahd campaign for my coworkers using Into the Odd. For that reason I’ve also come up with a sort of table set that will scatter the Heroic Relics across the sandbox in Curse of Strahd. At character creation, I ask the players what class they want to play as, and provide the list of classes that was used in D&D 5e. Once they decide, I ask them to roll a d6 to see which of the six Heroic Relics they start with. The rest are then “generated” into the sandbox as needed. Image generated with Midjourney. First off, note to the player that there is a strange sigil on the item they start with. You can draw this out if you want. The idea is that each relic has this sigil on it, identifying it as a piece of the set. Second, cause an event for each player which clues them in on the existence of the rest of the items. A ghostly figure appears in

In the Heroic Relics series I've been writing a set of items adapting the class abilities found in Dungeons & Dragons as items for Into the Odd. In this part, I take on the Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard. This is the final part of the Heroic Relics series. The entries are as follows:     Barbarian, Bard, Cleric     Druid, Fighter, Monk     Paladin, Ranger, Rogue     Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Sorcerer Image generated with Midjourney. Staff of the Elemental Channeler: This enchanted staff allows the wearer to channel elemental power. When activated, the staff can produce a specific elemental effect (e.g., a bolt of fire, a gust of wind, or a surge of lightning), which can either deal d10 damage or cause a local change (i.e. light something on fire, knock something down with wind, or power an ancient electrical device). The staff depletes its energy after three uses, but regains it at dawn.  Amulet of Sorcerous Blood: This amulet catalyzes the essence of the wearer's sorcerous

This isn’t a typical blogpost for me, but I felt like writing it and reflecting on my experience with rpgs. Image generated with Midjourney. It’s okay to have a mediocre game session. They happen for a variety of reasons. Overall, experiencing those will let you appreciate the better sessions later, and it might prompt some thinking about how to improve your methods. It’s okay if a group silently dissolves. Life happens. People get new jobs, children or have to move, etc. Having a group that lasts forever is probably great, but to me it seems like a unicorn more than anything else. Similarly, it’s okay if a player quits the group. Don’t blame anyone. It’s better that the person figures out what they really want to do. It’s okay to change what you like. Sometimes that means moving back and forth between systems. I don’t think there ever will be a One True Solution. Just play what you want to play. It’s okay to get tired of running a specific campaign, and it’s also okay to end it when t

In the Heroic Relics series I've been writing a set of items adapting the class abilities found in Dungeons & Dragons as items for Into the Odd. In this part, I take on the Paladin, Ranger and Rogue. Enjoy! I'm doing the full array of classes found in 5th Edition, so the order of appearance will be the following: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric Druid, Fighter, Monk Paladin, Ranger, Rogue Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Paladin Image generated with Midjourney.   Pendant of Divine Sense: This pendant helps the wearer detect powerful evil or good forces nearby, showing their direction and nature. Gloves of Lay on Hands: These gloves let the wearer heal with a touch, providing a pool of healing points equal to their Willpower score per day. Spend 1 point to heal 1 HP or d6 points to regain 1 Ability score point. Sword of Divine Smite: This sword can smite up to three times per day, dealing an extra d8 damage on its next attack. If it deals damage to an undead’s STR, they must pass a WIL s

Last week I wrote some items that adapt class features from Dungeons & Dragons and places them in an Into the Odd context. Here is the next set in line, this time for the Druid, Fighter and Monk. I'm doing the full array of classes found in 5th Edition, so the order of appearance will be the following: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric Druid, Fighter, Monk Paladin, Ranger, Rogue Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Druid Image generated with Midjourney.   Staff of the Wild: This magical staff allows the wearer to communicate with animals and plants, understanding their feelings and emotions. Upon passing a WIL save, the wearer may view the memories of the creature they touch.  Robes of Nature's Ward: These robes provide the wearer with a natural resistance to harmful environmental effects such as extreme temperatures or poisonous plants. Up to three times per day, the wearer may use the robe to sprout a plant that entangles an opponent and causes their attack to be impaired.  Circlet of Shapes

So me and a few of my coworkers decided we want to start a new campaign. Almost all of them have never touched an RPG before, so I want to run Into the Odd for them, but still sprinkle in a bit of the fantasy-element found in Dungeons and Dragons. To that effect I've started making some items that are themed after the classes in D&D. This will be a series of posts, essentially, where I post 6 items per class. I'm doing the full array of classes found in 5th Edition, so the order of appearance will be the following: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric Druid, Fighter, Monk Paladin, Ranger, Rogue Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard Barbarian   Image generated with Midjourney. Belt of Raging Strength : Wearing this belt grants +d6 Strength. Once per day, the wearer can tap on the belt to gain bonus HP equal to their Willpower.  Bracers of Wind: Wearing these bracers grants the wearer d12 HP. Once per day, the wearer may re-roll the d12. The bracers do not work if worn along with armor.  Greataxe of

The following is inspired by Wonder & Wickedness and the Powder Mage triology. It's written for  use with Into the Odd. I intend to use it in an upcoming gothic horror campaign for my coworkers.  Image generated with Midjourney. The Sulphur Mage is a magic user of modern times, capable of influencing firearms and harnessing the power of acids and explosives. Sulphur Mages start out with either a brace of pistols or a carbine. Sulphur Mages appeared in an era when muskets were in broad use. Gunpowder Essence Ingest one charge of gunpowder, which would otherwise be sufficient to fire one shot with a musket or pistol. One charge yields an Essence, which can be spent on the following: Gain binocular sight. Guide a single bullet, rolling the damage die twice and pick the best. Detonate a gunpowder container. The Sulphur Mage must save vs. Magic or suffer 1 Acid Damage per container that detonates as a result of the initial detonation. After using this spell, roll a d6: 1  ) The so

Preparing for playing roleplaying games is a is known burden for Game Masters. Ginny Di recently featured a video explaining her problems with GM burnout, and I’ve personally experienced similar things. As have my friends who run campaigns. I don't really have a solution for this, but I can explain what I do more of these days. And that is “five minute prep” games. I have two skills that I use for running games on five minutes of prep, which are using random generation and improvising. Random generation is maybe as expected, using encounter tables and adventure tables (such as those found in the 2400 micro games). What I typically do is create a pitch for a 2 hour session, which are typically simple jobs made complicated. This only takes a minute to roll up, usually, which sets the basis for the session. Following that, I set up a location that most importantly must feel real. Improvisation comes in when the game is running. Typically I describe locations in a grounded manner that

I’m preparing to run a Roadside Picnic’ish setting soon using 2400 . There’s one of Jason Tocci’s microgames that already cover this type of setting, but I want to make some additions on top of that. The idea is to run a realtime campaign for a quarantine zone set in the year 1983.  Picture by Tobias Wahlquist , used with permission. I changed the advancement rule to match the pace of the campaign, so the notation for the character creation is slightly different too. In typical 2400 games, the skill level is expressed in dice notation.  Advancement: You can advance your skills by training a number of weeks equal to your Skill Total (add together all skill ranks) + the next rank. Advancing a skill rank grants a better skill die: OPERATORS Choose a speciality.  BUNKER RAT: Advance (rank 1) any two skills from Climbing, Navigation, Running or Stealth. Take one good outdoors outfit and choose between fair camping gear or climbing gear.  FIGHTER: Advance (rank 1) any two skills from Hand-

This post is my attempt to lay bare how to play a roleplaying game using FKR methods. I will presume no prior experience. Actually, I will presume you don’t even have a roleplaying game. It’s alright, you won’t need one. Mind you, this post is still just a brief overview. Each of the topics I cover here are just barely scratching the tips of their respective icebergs.    Dreams by Rogier Hoekstra via Pixabay. Image used with permission. How to roleplay First off, roleplaying is not acting. It is not stage-play. Instead, it is about saying or doing things that you would do given a role. That’s it. It might even sound familiar, like play pretend. What you and your friends at the table will be doing is using roleplay to set up an ongoing fiction or narrative. When you roleplay, you are basically addressing the ‘facts’ that are in the fiction. Depending on your role, you could change or add facts to the fiction. If you’re in a room with a sarcophagus, you might want to examine some things