by W. Eric Martin

by W. Eric Martin

Welcome to "Sweet Lands", the kingdom of delightful confections! The former king has succumbed to his gluttonous love for sweets, leaving behind a final decree. Summoned by this royal edict, you and your fellow players are challenged to build the most magnificent city — and if you succeed, you will ascend as the new ruler of Sweet Lands. Gather the support of various townsfolk and navigate through fierce competition to create the richest and most prosperous city of sweets!

Sweet Lands is a heavyweight Euro-style game with over 200 cards, 14 unique characters, and 449 wooden tokens, offering an unprecedented gaming experience. This game captures the essence of traditional Euro-style games while introducing fresh and innovative mechanisms. Come and experience our biggest masterpiece!

by W. Eric Martin

by W. Eric Martin

Join Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they visit Mistmane's Eastern Village, where they will celebrate all of their accomplishments in restoring Equestria to its peaceful ways by releasing Cutie Mark lanterns. As the glowing lanterns rise up to form patterns in the sky, they all can feel the magic of friendship abound!

In My Little Pony: Festival of Lanterns, players have a hand of tiles depicting various color arrangements of floating lanterns, as well as an inventory of individual lantern cards of specific colors. When you place a tile, all players — both you and your opponents — receive a lantern card corresponding to the color on the side of the tile facing them. Trade mooncake tokens for new lantern cards, and return lantern cards to claim a dedication tile worth points. After all tiles have been placed, all players get one final turn, then whoever has the most points wins.

My Little Pony: Festival of Lanterns features some modifications from Lanterns, including a solo mode and a "Gala" expansion in which you add up to four friend cards to the game from the sixteen included; on a turn, you can now spend mooncakes to use the power of a friend to fain a bonus lantern, make a second dedication on a turn, force someone else to trade lanterns with you, and so on.

The 19th Century was a dynamic, yet turbulent time when huge areas of the Ottoman Empire, the Indian sub-continent, China, Indochina, and the East Indies were fought over by competing empires.

In Diplomacy: Era of Empire, seven great empires — Britain, France, Russia, Turkey, China, Japan, and the Netherlands — vie for control as alliances are formed and trust is betrayed. Players negotiate and outwit one another in a delicate balance of co-operation and competition to gain dominance of the region. Players must rely on their own cunning and cleverness, not dice, to determine the outcome of this game of conspiracies and conquest.

by W. Eric Martin

Four aquatic factions vie for control of the vast oceans: the Undersea Kingdom led by Coraline Oceanus, the Leviathans commanded by Scyphozoa Regina, the Protectors and their Turtle Mother, and the Denizens of the Deep, who are controlled by the necromancer Azazel Dreadborne.

However, after centuries of battle, it has become obvious that no one kingdom is powerful enough to bring peace to their world. The factions must choose an ally...

by Derek Croxton

by W. Eric Martin

During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. mounted a surveillance program over the Soviet Union, flying U-2 spy planes at high altitude to avoid radar and fighter interceptors. Not every pilot returned...

Siberian Manhunt is an asymmetrical hidden movement game for two players. One player takes the role of a U-2 spy plane pilot who has crashed behind enemy lines and must escape across the border into China. The fugitive must use their wits to navigate the dangerous landscape, survive encounters with predatory animals, and avoid starvation and hypothermia, all while being pursued by the KGB. Do they dare enter towns, risking detection by the local authorities, or will they strike out into the wilds and rely on their wilderness survival skills to stay alive?

The other player is a Soviet general assigned to capture or kill the fugitive. At their disposal is the full might of the USSR: KGB agents and Yakut trackers, the Red Army, aerial searches, road blocks, and propaganda campaigns. But the Soviet government is fickle and not all Russians are loyal communists — and sometimes the hunted is deadlier than the hunter.

As director of a space agency, experience the time of the 1960s, when mankind began to explore the universe. Your goal is the manned moon landing. You will train astronauts, make technologies more reliable, assemble rockets, and launch missions into space. The player with the most successful space program wins the game.

From left: Frank Müller and Britta Firmenich
Space Missions is a risk management game. Using a new deck-sizing mechanism, you optimize several decks at once, which will determine the success or failure of your missions.
In order to prepare the missions as well as possible, you perform actions in each round with the help of six specialists. Plan ahead and take a few risks to get an early slot for the launch of your rocket.

by W. Eric Martin

by W. Eric Martin

It is the year glork-too-vleep, or mid-20th century according to Earthling time. We recently stumbled across this planet called Earth and discovered intelligent, albeit primitive, life. The most intelligent and valuable of these specimens are the creatures known as cows. Many precious secrets of the universe have already been discovered through our studies of these cows, but to our frustration, we've found these particular Earthlings to be far too tranquil to harness for our political purposes.

Alas, for our galactic goals we must settle upon the second-most intelligent form of life on Earth: the human being. These creatures are just intelligent enough to meet our puppetary standards. Their brains appear eager to be molded, and their civilization perfect for our siloing, so we've selected a small municipality to begin our trial invasion.

My comrades and I have decided to make a game of it, splitting into factions and competing to gain the most human pawns and claim the most community power. Through shapeshifting and impeccable disguise, we've been able to blend in and establish our secret presence. Some of the humans have sensed a threat; others have publicized their abductions but to no avail. Cries of conspiracy abound, but it is already too late. We are in control now. The invasion has begun...

Aliens have come to silo humans — brainwash, steer, and preserve human civilization — for their cosmic purposes! In SILOS (Secret InterLopers from Outer Space), players control competing factions of aliens who abduct and brainwash humans and cows while secretly invading their community. Players tussle for majority influence in the key locations of this small town as they seek to activate location powers and control human specimens for societal power.

Players take turns repositioning their alien figures and activating an event card. The objective is to collect a complete set of humans: politicians, government operators, influencers, and professionals. A complete set will earn a player a societal power emblem, and the first player to earn five emblems wins the game. Cows are particularly valuable and thus count as wild tokens toward forming a complete set.

A Crop Circles expansion introduces more elements of long-term strategy through the crop circles module, while also featuring diverging asymmetry through the permanent skill tiles module.

We are not alone! It is the 23rd century, and proof of alien life has finally been discovered beyond our solar system. In fact, recent developments in technology have triggered a cascade of discoveries throughout the galaxy; intelligent life and advanced civilizations are now known across many planets, moons, and asteroids in the Milky Way.

Now the race is on to establish interstellar relations with the aliens. The peoples of Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter know that any one of these planets can gain dominance and rule the system by making powerful alien alliances, but despite our best efforts, the individual planets are not capable of creating their own galaxy-traversing vessel. The only chance we have of reaching alien life is by pooling our resources to build the required Super Ship. In an unprecedented, albeit uneasy, co-operation between the planetary governments, the peoples of our solar system have finally built the first of these Super Ships.

And thus, the coalition known as the Extraterrestrial Greeting Organization — EGO — is now ready to launch our first mission. While our final destination is the Galactic Senate, EGO's declared mission is to visit many advanced civilizations throughout the galaxy and establish friendly relationships between our solar system and the aliens. Through careful politics, our five planetary governments aim to gain allies and benefit from these interstellar relations.

Alongside a ship crew, one ambassador from each planet will be on board the Super Ship, and they will take turns leading the mission. Even before the mission is launched into space, the tactical maneuvering between our governments and their representatives begins.

Expectations are high, as is the rivalry between our governments to get their fair share – or even more than that – from this unprecedented mission. Each ambassador has been discretely tasked to ensure their home world comes out on top. Of course, these ambitions require methodical politicking, and all tactics must be cautiously tempered. Alien races may easily be offended by overly aggressive advances. This could lead to adverse effects for our planetary governments – if not failure of the whole mission...

In EGO, players proceed through a sequence of major and minor events including auctions, drafts, risks, and more. Risks and egos are the lifeblood of this game as players will frequently find themselves in a game of chicken with their rival ambassadors as they try to impress various alien civilizations and earn political power.

By offering gifts, attempting persuasion, plotting intrigue, exchanging technology, and displaying charisma, these ambassadors will be able to gain advantages and allies. But careless tactics can lead to damaging or even disastrous encounters. Taking a risk during a negotiation event can possibly tarnish your reputation with the aliens...or at least confuse them greatly as you retreat to the ship in a fluster of embarrassment. Yet there's always the chance of a triumphant success, and nobody ever made it to the top without stepping on a few challengers.

During auctions, everyone must spend whatever they bid. These auctions require you to spend matching icons from your hand (including charisma, which can satisfy any demand). The winner of the auction has first dibs on the available rewards, then second place will pick their reward, and so on — yet some of these options are less rewarding and more...penalizing. Whether they win rewards or suffer penalties, the players who pick and choose their battles — who predict best when to conserve their cards and when to spend big — will come out on top.

Being the naive humans they are, these clumsy ambassadors will undoubtedly offend many aliens along the way, but you'll have many opportunities to mend these offenses. At the end of the game, players earn significant bonus points or suffer serious penalty points depending on how offensive the aliens find them to be. Ultimately, the ambassador with the most prestige and respect will earn a seat in the Galactic Senate and be crowned the winner of the game.

EGO's I.I.I. expansion (Interstellar Interludes & Interruptions) adds special alliance tokens and extends the journey map with ship boards featuring new competitive transmission events.

Come one, come all to the Silo System, the beating heart of our galaxy, for the race of the decade! We've recruited the best tourists in all the cosmos: travel-hardened explorers who will compete in the ultimate contest. These pilots must race to visit all the planets in the Silo System, surfing upon orbital paths, teleporting between hyper jump portals, and beaming through hyperspace. Enjoy your dream vacation on one of our luxurious planets or lavish space stations as you witness the ultimate interstellar marathon. All the eyes of the galaxy will be watching this decennial event celebrating the unification of our systems under Silo Supremacy.

ORBIT (Orbital Race Between Interstellar Tourists) is a 24th century tactical space race with simple turns, yet challenging possibilities. Players compete to visit all planets of the system, then return to their starting planet first.

On your turn, you play a card, activate its actions in any order, then draw back up to your hand size. Cards allow you to do a combination of things: move your ship, collect energy for bonus movement, advance planets along their orbit, or even reverse the orbital direction of a planet.

When your space ship is docked on a planet, the moving planet will carry you along its orbital path, helping you to traverse the map even faster. Planning your route wisely as you ride orbital currents and bounce between planets is the key to success — but your cutthroat competition will no doubt seek to spoil your plans and sabotage your tourism progress. It helps to be flexible and adapt on the fly, literally.

You shouldn't ignore the opportunity to upgrade your ship along the way. Visiting certain space stations and planets allows you to increase your hand size and energy storage capacity, so you must balance short-term efficiency against long-term advantages. The game board features additional tactical resources such as fuel depots, hyper jump portals, and hyper acceleration cannons.

Players can enjoy a randomized set-up across two unique game boards. The game also includes a few variants: a solo mode, four-player partnership mode, and a stationary planet.

ORBIT is the third and concluding game in the Cosmic Silos Trilogy by Reiner Knizia, and with the Nebular expansion, you can add three modules to the game: navigation tokens, hyper accelerator engines, and artificial nebulas.

100 Cyberpunk Foods and Drinks – A System-Free RPG Tool

Spice up your cyberpunk world with 100 Cyberpunk Foods and Drinks, a system-neutral resource packed with futuristic street foods and dystopian beverages to add immersive flavor to your setting. From glowing neon noodles and synthetic burgers to hypercharged energy drinks and bioluminescent brews, this collection will give your players a true taste of life in the neon-lit underbelly of a tech-driven city. Whether they're grabbing a quick bite from a robo-vendor or sipping on a cutting-edge concoction in a back-alley bar, these unique options bring the gritty street culture of your cyberpunk world to life.

Inject these street foods and drinks into your game and let your players dive into the flavors of the future!

 and unpredictability to any game. From street-level interactions with hackers and rogue drones to corporate espionage, synthetic riots, and strange, darkly humorous events, this collection covers every angle of a dystopian future. Whether your players are navigating shady deals, avoiding malfunctioning tech, or taking on dangerous opportunities, these encounters will enrich your game and inspire unique storytelling moments.

Plug these encounters into any RPG system and watch your cyberpunk world unfold in unexpected ways!

In the world of Modern Mythology, the Nemesis Event has reshaped reality as we know it. Metahumans walk among us, ancient magic has reawakened, and the line between science and the supernatural is blurred. In this new age of wonders and horrors, heroes rise to face threats both local and cosmic.

Modern Mythology is a superheroic roleplaying game that immerses you in a universe where you can:

• Create your own metahuman hero with a vast array of powers and abilities
• Join a pantheon and work together to protect the world or further your own agendas
• Explore a richly detailed setting filled with vibrant locations, complex factions, and hidden secrets
• Face off against rogue pantheons, interdimensional empires, and reality-altering entities in epic confrontations
• Navigate the gray areas of morality in a world forever changed by the Nemesis Event

 Powered by the Drama Dice system, Modern Mythology offers a flexible and engaging ruleset that emphasizes collaborative storytelling and cinematic action. Whether you're a veteran roleplayer or new to the hobby, this game provides endless opportunities for adventure and character-driven narratives.

Inside, you'll find:

• Comprehensive rules for character creation, powers, and advancement
• Detailed setting information covering key locations, factions, and history
• A cast of allies, adversaries, and neutral parties to populate your stories
• Directors' advice for crafting compelling plots and running unforgettable games

 Grab your dice, assemble your pantheon, and prepare to leave your mark on a world that needs heroes more than ever.

The age of Modern Mythology has begun!

Cardboard Hero Clip with 25mm Base

This product is for a digital STL file for use with your 3D printer.  This product is a small clip for cardboard hero cut&print minis. It is attached to a tapered 25mm base so it fits in 25mm base storage solutions. 

See readme for making your own cardboard minis and how to print the mini base.

in the orientation manual we went over the basics of combat all agents should know, in this book we will be going over the more advanced techniques

Comedic Classes: Ventriloquist

Welcome to the mysterious and mischievous world of the Ventriloquist, where your voice is your greatest weapon, and your puppet is your unpredictable ally. As a Ventriloquist, you cast spells through your sentient puppet or dummy, channeling your magic in ways that deceive, distract, and manipulate your enemies. With every spell you throw and every illusion you craft, you blur the lines between what’s real and what’s simply the trick of a puppet master.

Your puppet is more than just a tool—it has a mind of its own, constantly chiming in with sarcastic comments or even trying to outsmart you. But together, you create a perfect team of misdirection and magic. By throwing your voice, you can confuse enemies, make them question reality, and cast spells from unexpected directions. The puppet itself can cast its own spells, adding a layer of complexity to your already unpredictable combat style.

So get ready to perform, mislead, and keep everyone guessing. With your quick wit and your puppet’s unpredictable charm, as the Ventriloquist, you turn every battle into a stage where confusion reigns and victory is always part of the show.

This is a full 5e Class, with a description, Unique Abilties and Level progression up to 20th Level, for a Comedic Spin on a Fantasy setting.

MYSTERIOUS RUIN ANIMATED MAP PACK

Civilizations rise and fall, and in their wake the remnants of their great and mighty structures are left at the mercy of nature and the elements. While some of these structures provide endless hours of subterranean peril for would-be adventurers, other ruins serve as mere reminders of times gone by, providing convenient landmarks when travelling overland, and some small measure of protection from the elements. Fully animated and available in four variants – summer, winter, fey, and as the site of a goblin encampment – this ruins map provides the perfect camping grounds for your party, a stop in their search for hidden treasure, or just your run-of-the-mill random encounter with a monster that’s way out of their league!

All are hooked up and ready to play in FVTT.

What's Included:

--- Four .jpg maps 30 x 40  (3000 x 4000)

--- Four animated webm maps

--- Information to download directly to Foundry VTT with LoS setup and working 

FAQ:

Do these maps work with Roll20/Fantasy Grounds/XXX virtual tabletop?

You can import the JPG and WEBM files into any system you use to play your games online that allows them, however, the LoS I have setup only works with FVTT.  If you use FGU, look for me on DMsGuild!

Az Everyone is John magyar fordítása, kártyákkal és egy adag Képesség, Megszállottság és Helyszín példával, hogy csak ki kelljen nyomtatnod, és játszanod kelljen.

A szabályok pofonegyszerűek, de a játék garantáltan fergeteges hangulatot biztosít.

Ez egy humoros, versengésen alapuló szerepjáték 3 vagy több játékos részére, amely John, egy minneapolisi őrült férfi különböző személyiségeinek irányításáról szól. Az egyik résztvevő a Mesélő (GM), aki a "Mindenki Más" szerepét tölti be. A többi játékos John fejében lévő hangokat alakítja.

Egy hatoldalú legyen azért nálad.

Every October, for the last few years, I’ve been trying to watch 31 horror movies that I haven’t seen before. Some of the most consistently enjoyable horror movies that I’ve seen since I’ve been doing this have been horror anthologies. Creepshow, Trick ‘r Treat, the original V/H/S, and the Mortuary Collection have been some of my favorite things to watch in the last few years. 

Why am I reminiscing about horror anthologies at the beginning of an RPG review? Today’s review is looking at No Time to Scream, a collection of Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition adventures, each designed to run about an hour and featuring an adventure with an internal countdown.

Disclaimer

I received my copy of No Time to Scream from Chaosium as a review copy. I have not had the opportunity to run or play any of these scenarios. I have a decent amount of experience with Call of Cthulhu, but mainly as a player.

 No Time to Scream
Authors B. W. Holland, Bridgett Jeffries, C. L. Werner, with James Coquillat, and Mike Mason
Editing and Development James Coquillat and Mike Mason
Copy Editing Lawrence Gale and Ken Austin
Art Direction Mike Mason with James Coquillat
Cover Art Nicholas Grey
Interior Art Hannah Elizabeth Baker, Erik Davis-Heim, Heikki Korhonen, Alice Morelli, Alex Ngo, Riley Spalding, and John Sumrow Layout Chandler Kennedy Proofreading Susan O’Brien
Cartography and Handouts Miska Fredman
Call of Cthulhu Creative Director Mike Mason
Clear Credit B. W. Holland wrote “A Lonely Thread” with additional writing by James Coquillat. Bridgett Jeffries wrote “Aurora Blue” with additional writing by Mike Mason. C. L. Werner wrote “Bits and Pieces” with additional writing by Mike Mason and James Coquillat. Editorial by Mike Mason with James Coquillat.

Internal Screaming

This review is based on the PDF version of the product, which includes the following files:

• Investigator’s Pack (121 pages)
• Keeper Map Pack (7 pages)
• NPC Portrait Pack (3 pages)
• Plain Text Pack (4 pages)
• Player Handouts Pack (15 pages)
• PreGens (37 pages)
• No Time to Scream PDF (106 pages)

The No Time to Scream PDF, Player Handouts Pack, the NPC Portrait Pack, and the Keeper Map Pack are what you would expect from their titles. The Plain Text Pack has the same information from the handouts but without the formatting that makes them look like handwritten notebook pages, newspaper articles, or telegrams.

The scenarios have built-in hooks for the pre-generated characters, and the 37-page Pregens PDF has the twelve characters on character sheets. Each character takes up three pages, including a final lined page for notes. The 121-page Investigator’s Pack includes the eight pregens from the first two scenarios, again, but this time with a masculine and feminine presenting portrait for each. 

These pregens have broad backgrounds that tie to the adventures but aren’t given specific names or pronouns. The final adventure has four precisely detailed pre-generated characters, which include their names and more detailed histories. In addition to presenting all of the pre-generated characters from the Pregens PDF with portraits included, they also all have a plain white background version of the character sheets versus the weathered tan backgrounds of the other character sheets. 

Investigating the Adventures

The adventure PDF is divided into an Introduction, the three adventures, and the appendices. The introduction explains how these adventures are meant to be played. All of the adventures in this product are short adventures designed to run in around an hour, and the investigators in each adventure are under some kind of time crunch. These adventures are also designed to be usable with either the core rules or the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. All the adventures are assumed to occur in the 1920s-1930s era. There aren’t any conversion notes. Two out of the three scenarios might be able to be adapted to other times with some work; the third scenario is firmly rooted in its Prohibition Era setting.

The Preparation & Running the Game section discusses what the adventures assume, such as the players having some time to familiarize themselves with the details on the pregen investigators and to customize the areas that are left blank. It also touches on the importance of building similar connections that the pregens have if the group decides to use their player characters for these adventures. There is also a section about managing spotlight time and utilizing safety tools to ensure everyone at the table feels comfortable with what is introduced into the scenario.

Because these adventures can be used as adventures that can work with only the Starter Set, a few of the rules of the complete game are quickly summarized in light of how they will work in these adventures. This includes a few paragraphs on the following topics:

• Using Luck
• Skill Rolls
• Bonus & Penalty Dice
• Combat
• Sanity
• Insanity
• “Read Aloud” Text, Obscure, & Obvious Clues

We’ll touch on this in the individual adventures, but the Sanity rules have some tweaks in these adventures to customize the reactions to individual pre-gen characters. The final section talks about how some clues are meant to be found to ensure the PCs can advance the story, while other clues add context and may allow the PCs to be better prepared. 

Each of the adventures has the following sections:

• Scenario Structure
• About the Investigators
• Keeper Information

The Scenario Structure breaks down what the Keeper should be doing and when and gives an assumed amount of time for each activity. For example, it might have a section that says, “Investigate X (10 minutes).” 

About the Investigators will detail how each investigator is tied to the scenario, which is important for the Keeper to remember and for the player to note. It’s also important to know what should be added to the background of existing or newly created investigators. 

Keeper Information will explain background information that only the Keeper should know. It will explain what is happening and present a synopsis of the primary NPCs important to the scenario.

From here on out, we’re going to be touching on some spoilers for the individual scenarios, so if you want to be surprised by the contents of these adventures, or you are likely to be a player in one of these, you may want to skip what’s coming next.

Chapter 1: A Lonely Thread

This scenario assumes that the player characters all know an archaeologist who is a part-time instructor at Miskatonic University. The archaeologist has begun to uncover some information about the Mythos, so all of the contacts are students who have attended his classes, other archaeologists, and/or people who have run across some Mythos strangeness and have been communicating with him about these mysteries.

The professor regularly invites guests to his home; in this case, he’s interested in showing off the strange “otherworldly” thread-like material he has found. The problem is that by the time the PCs arrive at his home, the threads have multiplied into a parasite made of thousands of them, which burrow into the nervous system of a host and puppet them. The thread parasite doesn’t have access to the professor’s memories, so it will be vague and trying to guess how to react to the people invited to the home.

The mystery and the timetable that the Investigators are working against involve the fate of the professor’s housekeeper. The parasite has placed her in a cocoon to mutate her into a more suitable, dangerous host body. If the PCs take too much time, she is fully metamorphosed into a form that is probably way too powerful for the investigators to handle. If they move fast enough, they may be able to save the professor if they can separate him from the parasite attached to his body. 

This adventure includes a few ways to advance time in the game’s setting, providing the ticking clock that the investigators are working against. The suggestions include assuming that time is up with about 20 minutes left in the scenario and running the adventure in “real-time,” which in the case of this scenario would be three hours, or keeping track of each major investigative action the investigators take, advancing an hour each time two major investigative actions have been taken. 

I thought it was hilarious that there is a sidebar on “what if the PCs just want to burn everything down,” which I find is a very common reaction to almost any stimulus in a Call of Cthulhu scenario. I appreciate that some of this provides guidelines on using Luck to see how well the fire solves the problem. I like that the PCs can potentially save the professor, but I was sad that the housekeeper will always be a casualty of the parasite. It does make me wonder how this would play out if you reversed the scenario, with the professor gestating into the host body and the housekeeper trying to keep the PCs from finding him.

Each pre-generated character has customized sanity effects, including an option for their Involuntary Actions and Bouts of Madness. While I’m not always comfortable with leaning too heavily on deteriorating mental health as a consequence, I’m even less comfortable with individuals with unique backgrounds and personalities randomly developing stress responses, so I like that these are tailored to the characters.

Chapter 2: Bits & Pieces

Remember when we were talking about horror anthology movies? A lot of those movies have one segment that, while still horrific, is almost comically over the top compared to the tone of the other segments. That’s this adventure. 

In this case, the investigators find out that their friend, a doctor, has started to obsess over a corpse he was working on. When the investigators show up to check on him, they find out that his obsession led him to follow the corpse to the morgue attached to a local teaching hospital. Because he sounds highly disturbed, and because friends don’t let friends obsess over corpses, the investigators will likely find their friend.

When they arrive at the morgue, they find their friend bleeding out from a scalpel wound, and animated body parts are running free in the morgue. Hands, legs, torso, head, and internal organs have scattered to different parts of the morgue, waiting until daylight to escape. If even one part of the body escapes, it will eventually regenerate into the sorcerer, who sacrificed himself as an offering to Nyarlathotep for more power. 

The PCs have a chance to save their doctor friend from the scalpel wound, and he should be able to make things that are somewhat obvious into being very obvious. There is a furnace where the Investigators destroy body parts, but some of the body parts can turn the power to the furnace off. Possibly, my favorite scene that the PCs may stumble across is the dismembered head making a phone call, trying to get the police to arrive so they can open the morgue’s doors to allow the body parts to escape. 

I love this scenario very much, just for the over-the-top nature of hunting animated, dismembered body parts through a morgue. That said, the information that the PCs should get that is marked either as obvious or obscure feels more detached from the literal clues that the PCs find. For example, the doctor, even if he’s dying, may say, “Don’t let them get out.” The obvious clue is “the investigators know that they need to hunt the body parts through the morgue and destroy them,” but that obvious clue doesn’t seem to give them all of that information, just that there is something out there that shouldn’t get out. 

It feels like explaining that opening the doors to either the morgue or the hospital lacks the clear “this would be a huge mistake” explanation that the investigators may need, other than just asking the players to accept the concession. Unlike the previous scenario with more specific time-tracking material, this has a broader discussion of pacing and when to explain that time has moved forward. There is an example of a typical night of hunting the body parts, which is a lot like how Monster of the Week scenarios lay out what will happen if the Investigators don’t directly stop the monster’s plans. While it’s not explicit, if you’re used to Monster of the Week, the “A Sample Hunt” sidebar will give you a good idea of how to pace this scenario, advance the timeline, and introduce complications. 

Chapter 3: Aurora Blue

When I mentioned that horror anthology movies often have an almost comically over-the-top segment, many of those anthologies also have a more serious segment and are concerned with conveying a more resonant message than other stories in the same anthology. This is that scenario.

In this instance, the PCs are all playing Investigators who work for the Bureau of Prohibition in the 1930s. They are closing in on a still producing a new alcohol that’s flooding the market in the States and that still is located in the Alaska wilderness. They aren’t just random law enforcement, however. They are a group of marginalized agents who have pulled together to try to do something important as a last-ditch effort to show why they deserve respect.

This is the scenario that’s the hardest to adapt to newly made or existing investigators because not only are the madness effects tailored to the individual investigators, but there are places in the adventure where each character will have a flashback to an event that has happened to them, that underscores why they need to force their superiors to respect them. There is a sidebar discussing the care that’s necessary when portraying real-world issues around marginalized people. I like that this has that sidebar and refers Keepers to Harlem Unbound for its section on “Racism: Reality and The Game.” Harlem Unbound is a great supplement, and I’m happy whenever it’s mentioned as a resource.

While the adventure mentions the 2019 movie The Colour Out of Space, some of the mutated fruits, insects, and animals remind me of scenes in Annihilation, especially a scene where the investigators run into a mutated moose and her offspring. Keepers should practice using the description of the mutated fruit in this adventure because if you had told me that rotting, misshapen fruit could be that disturbing, I would not have believed you.

Those mutated fruits are being used to make Aurora Blue, a very popular gin, but they are also highly likely to damage the mind and body. Once the agents track down the cabin where the still is located, they will encounter the horror show of dead and mutated family members. There is also a child who has become linked to the Colour Out of Space that has been causing local mutations, who has resisted the mutations and mental damage done to the rest of the family. 

Most of the clues in this adventure are Obvious clues, meaning the PCs shouldn’t have to make a check to find them. That makes sense because the raid is relatively straightforward once the investigators find the cabin, and the investigation just gives them a heads-up on some of the dangers of the cabin or the current state of the family’s patriarch. That said, I wish there had been an obvious clue that would let the investigators know that Missy has at least a chance to survive breaking the link with the Colour if they take her far enough away. It’s extremely difficult to do anything that can harm the Colour Out of Space, and I’m not sure most groups will seize upon blowing up the still to harm it with an explosion. It feels like it may be best to just focus on “you shut down the still; you need to run from that thing because you can’t hurt it.”

Obvious Clues

 They have a lot of utility, whether you just want a night of gaming, a convention scenario, or even something to run to follow up your exploration of the Starter Set before you dive into the complete rules. 

This comes from a person who has the bias of playing a lot of Call of Cthulhu at conventions, but I love how focused these scenarios are. While they still maintain the weirdness and danger of Mythos stories, they also avoid the feeling that “investigators are always doomed” that some people have about Call of Cthulhu. There is a nice range of tone and feel in these adventures. The customized sanity effects are a powerful selling point, as are the clearly called out Obvious and Obscure clues. 

Obscure Clues

The second and third scenarios don’t have the same clear examples of when advance time is available in the scenarios, which can still be navigated. It feels like it could be difficult to convey exactly why the PCs can’t access the doors leaving the morgue just using the descriptions as written in the second scenario, and some of the Obvious clues feel like they require the Keeper to provide what the Investigators should infer in addition to what the clues they find say. I would have liked the scenario of dealing with the Colour out of Space to be either more obvious or shifted to the alternative presented in the adventure, where the Colour just can’t be harmed. Even if it doesn’t guarantee a happy ending, I wish Missy’s fate could be assessed with a little more surety so the investigators can make an informed decision.

Recommended—If the product fits your broad gaming interests, you are likely to be happy with this purchase.

This is a solid anthology of adventures. They have a lot of utility, whether you just want a night of gaming, a convention scenario, or even something to run to follow up your exploration of the Starter Set before you dive into the complete rules. The scenarios are evocative enough that I’d even say they are worth looking at even if you play other monster hunting/investigating games and you adapt these scenarios without the mechanical elements. 

While they mention being hour-long scenarios, I’d still allow for at least a two-hour slot if you’re using these for convention slots. There are a few places where a Keeper may want to draw some lines a little more directly, and in a few places, you may want to make sure the stakes and the consequences of various decisions are transparent. But I don’t have a problem recommending this to anyone who is a fan of supernatural investigation RPGs.

“Only make the players roll when the results are interesting.”

I try to take that advice to heart, but I also take it one step further – I figure my players should only roll when failure would be interesting.

And while, on the surface, that sounds like perfectly reasonable advice to me, when I stop and think about it there is one big problem that always trips me up in the heat of a good session – how do I know when the roll will be interesting?

Well, a couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of recording a podcast with Ang and Carl about stakes – GnomeCast Episode 198: How Do You Like Your Stakes? – and while we were talking about things like player agency, respecting the power of backstories, and how to offer meaningful choices, it all clicked for me.

Interesting rolls are rolls that – if failed – raise the stakes!

Worry About Failures, Not Successes

Consider this scenario: your court wizard is trying to figure out how an elusive phantom thief has stolen the queen’s diamond from a locked vault, seemingly without a trace. You ask them to make a knowledge check. You’ve planned for what happens if they succeed – you’ve figured out the clues that will put them on the trail and allow them to capture the culprit.

But, really, in the moment of that roll, you shouldn’t worry about what happens if they succeed. After all, you already know what’s going on with the thief. Why they’re stealing royal gems. How they’re pulling off their heists. Presumably, you figured all that out during your session prep.

What you should worry about is what happens if they fail, because if the answer to that question is “nothing,” well then the stakes of the scenario are gonna die right then and there and start stinking up the session like microwaved fish.

Every chance you give the players to fail – in other words, every time you ask them to roll the dice – should be a chance to make the story more interesting by way of the consequences of their failures.

It’s consequences, after all, that propels most stories in new and interesting directions. It’s what the game books mean when they say “fail forward.”

If a failed roll results in nothing happening, then we’ve halted all forward momentum and entered a kind of stasis (and as any Mage: The Ascension player out there knows, stasis = badness).

Failing forward, though, keeps us tumbling down the hill to our inevitable conclusion and (hopefully) a big finish.

Easy concept to grasp.

Difficult concept to pull off.

The trick, though, lies in knowing your stakes.

Medium Rare

There are two kinds of (sometimes overlapping) stakes I try to focus on in the moment when I’m running a game: situational stakes and personal stakes.

SITUATIONAL STAKES are the ticking clocks counting down during the course of your encounter, session, or campaign. The bombs are about to go off. The villagers are about to be sacrificed. The jewels are about to be stolen by that phantom thief. Situational stakes typically apply to the entire party of adventurers and are closely tied to the main plot of the story. “Will the detectives catch the serial killer before he takes his next victim?” That’s a situational stake.

But situational stakes don’t have to be big things. In fact, the stakes in any given moment of an encounter are probably much smaller (if no less important). For example: picking the lock on your cell before the guard gets back from his lunch break, or maybe lying to your boss about why you’re always falling asleep in meetings (so he doesn’t find out you’re moonlighting as a masked vigilante).

PERSONAL STAKES are similar to situational stakes (and depending on the story, they’re likely to overlap), but personal stakes are less focused on the over-arching plot and more focused on the characters, their backstories, and their personal motivations.

Failing to catch every Pokémon. Disappointed your ancestors. Flubbing your prom-posal and getting laughed at by half the school. These are all personal stakes. Do they make a difference in the grand scheme of things? Probably not. Do they make a difference in the lives of your characters? You bet your ass they do!

(One could argue that the closer the Venn diagram of Situational and Personal stakes is to a circle, the better your story is, but YMMV. For more ways you can make this happen, check out this article.)

Going Up

So, now that we know our stakes, how do we raise them? This is where we have to get mean because you’ve got to identify ways in which the situation can get worse. Twist those screws. Make their lives harder.

– Maybe that manifests in more physical danger to their characters. A monster shows up; more monsters show up; a meteor shows up, and it’s falling straight at them.
– Time pressure is another good way to turn up the heat. The proverbial bomb ticks closer to zero.
– Don’t forget about emotional damage! This reminds you of the time you disappointed your father right before he died in that wildebeest stampede.

Back to the Dice

This brings us back to the original question – when do you ask for a roll from your players? The answer is, as we’ve been discussing, “when it raises the stakes if they fail.”

Now we know what it means to do that. We ask ourselves what important aspect of the story could be enhanced with a failed roll, and if the answer is “nothing,” then don’t call for a roll!

In systems that have skill lists, it’s tempting to have your players roll their skills for everything. After all, they invested those points during character creation. They might as well get use out of them, right? If they dumped a lot of points into investigation, and you just hand out the clues, then it kind of feels like they wasted their points on the ability to find those clues.

But if the roll’s not important, it’s okay to just let them succeed based on their previous experience and expertise in the subject matter. Let them be competent and succeed without effort. It’s a great way to make them feel like the heroes of the story, after all.

In Practice

So, let’s go back to that knowledge check example. Since you’ve already prepared your notes, you already know what happens in the event of a success.

You’ve determined the roll is important because if the wizard investigator doesn’t figure out how the phantom thief pulled off the heist, the thief will strike again and steal a priceless artifact this time. You also know, thanks to the character’s background, that the wizard learned everything they know about forensic magic from their ex-girlfriend, who runs her own detective agency.

So now you have options for raising the stakes in an interesting way, and instead of a “no, you can’t figure that out” on a failure, you could raise the personal stakes by saying, “The magic resonance is familiar, but the only person you know who could decipher the meaning is your ex-girlfriend.”

Or, you could raise the situational stakes and say something like, “You figure out how the thief did it, but it takes you the whole day, and by the time you realize they’re using the Magic Boots of Wall Walking, they’ve already snatched the next diamond.”

It’ll take practice to get into the habit of asking for rolls this way (lord knows I haven’t perfected my technique yet) but as you fail, I guarantee, you’ll be failing forward.

If you give me the ability to customize something, whether its fonts, colors, formatting, whatever, I’m going to end up spending way too much time playing with those options. Even when I know this is the case, it doesn’t stop me. The best thing I can do is to find a tool that lets me spend all that effort on customizing something that I’ll actually use, instead of letting me drift into setting up something I won’t use for months, if even then.

I’m mentioning this because I’ve spent a lot of time seeing what I can and can’t customize on a VTT platform recently, so I wanted to touch base on what I’ve learned so far. I’m going to talk a bit about Shard Tabletop today, a VTT platform that is customized specifically to work with 5e SRD games.

Disclaimer

While I started exploring Shard VTT on my own for a while, I received several products from both Lazy Wolf Studios and Shard Tabletop to look at for review. I made purchases and started my customizations before I received those items. I have run a session on Shard, and I have been a player multiple times on Shard.

How Did I Get Here?

My exploration of Shard is something that’s has started and stopped multiple times, and then went into high gear more recently. During the sheltering at home days, I was avoiding VTTs as long as I could, but eventually, I realized I was going to need to learn how to game on a VTT if I was going to get the gaming in that I wanted.

There were three main VTTs that I looked at, Fantasy Grounds, Roll20, and Shard. I’m going to avoid direct comparisons where I can, but I did want to touch on why I didn’t end up using Shard Tabletop from the beginning.

I played a D&D campaign on Fantasy Grounds as a player. It did a lot of things I liked, which weren’t easy to do on other platforms. For example, I loved that you could actually target a token, and the VTT would keep track of your success and failure without the DM even getting involved, and you could apply damage directly. That said, there were things I never felt were intuitive (adding gear to a character sheet), and other things that felt like it just had one more step than it needed to have, and that extra step was easy to forget. I reminded me of some of the software I’ve worked with working in data in the education field.

I spent a lot of time playing though some scenarios on Shard Tabletop. The biggest mark against it, at the time, was that it could only run 5e SRD, and I was running multiple systems. I wanted something that was going to have tools for multiple game systems, but I came back to Shard multiple times to run “simulations,” where I was able to see how different characters fared against different monsters.

Roll20 won out. I don’t know that its more intuitive than Fantasy Grounds, but I would say that some of the unintuitive aspects of Roll20 were clustered together in a few places, rather than spread out across the interface. It had a decent range of official product support, as well as the character sheets, which made it useful for games that didn’t have official support. In some cases, these character sheets made it must faster to roll dice pools or count successes.

Because I had been happy with Shard for my “simulation” scenarios, I talked to Ang detailing what I liked about the platform but mentioned that it didn’t have official D&D support. Ang used it way more than I did and learned the ins and outs of importing characters and building out monsters and encounters.

I returned to Shard Tabletop because I wanted to start playing with characters and options with Tales of the Valiant, especially making characters at different levels and using the heritage and lineage system. While there are multiple platforms that were included as options for VTT support, only Alchemy and Shard Tabletop had their implementations up and running. Since I was already somewhat familiar with Shard, I went there to start exploring options in the Black Flag Reference Document.

I liked what I saw, but my current D&D campaign was on Roll20, I had all of my official content on Roll20, and even though I could get Kobold Press material on Shard, that would require me to purchase everything that I owned over again for a new platform, and I wasn’t thrilled with that prospect.

Playtesting and Frustration with Roll20

I did some playtesting of the D&D 2024 rules as various Unearthed Arcana documents came out, but not as much as I would have liked. Part of the problem with this is that if I wanted to use Roll20, I had to build out the class/subclass/species options individually on the character sheets. Nothing was persistent. A new class, subclass, or spell would only exist on the character sheet where you customized it. I couldn’t keep up with that, especially when there were more and more spells included in the playtests.

I had the same problem with the Tales of the Valiant playtest documents I received from the crowdfunding campaign. That became even more frustrating because I could just use the base class and change a few things that were different. Because subclass levels were changing, I had to remove and replace several features.

There were also an increasing number of companies releasing playtest material, most of which would have to be built feature by feature for each pregenerated character. I could duplicate the character and change things around, but it still felt like I was putting a lot of work into one specific character sheet, not into that campaign. Even some of the custom items from different publishers may or may not work as well as official options. For example, the Kobold Press Witch and Theurge classes were included if you purchased Deep Magic Volume 1 and 2, but the spells available to those classes and several class features weren’t functioning as expected.

The Subscription Model

Before we get into some of the newer subscriptions, it’s probably important to touch on Shard Tabletop’s subscription levels. You can use the basic functions of the site without a subscription, but you don’t get access to the expanded 5e OGL options included in the subscriptions. It also determines how much you can share with your players. These levels include:

• Adventurer–$2.99/month
• Gamemaster–$5.99/month
• Gamemaster Pro–$9.99/month

Adventurer lets you do some customization. You can get fancier dice, you can have two campaigns active at the same time, and you get a bunch of the race, subclass, spells, and feats that Shard offers, which are mostly options that Kobold Press has allowed them to use for these purposes. This option gives you unlimited characters. If you don’t have a subscription, you’re limited to six. You can only share what you own in one campaign (but you can only have two active to begin with). You also get the ability to customize your character sheet with different borders, colors, and images.

Gamemaster expands the number of campaigns you can have active at once to six, you can swap out tokens to customize appearances, and you don’t have access to free products in the Marketplace unless you have this option. You also get access to a split screen mode that lets you display the player view when you are using Shard for an in-person game.There is also a watch mode available where you can let others watch your game as it unfolds. You can share what you own in five different campaigns.

Gamemaster Pro gives you an unlimited number of campaigns that you can have active. You can do additional customizations with your tokens, like borders or multiple images you can switch between. The watch mode allows the watchers to interact with people in the game. If you are comfortable creating art elements within the parameters used by the site, you can create your own custom token elements and dice.

I’ve got the Gamemaster Pro subscription, in part because I like setting up a lot of “potential” campaigns to test options out, and I don’t want to worry about exceeding the number that I can have. I haven’t done much with creating borders or dice myself, but Ang, awesome person that she is, created some custom dice for me, and I have purchased borders from places the DriveThroughRPG, so I can have the special borders around my legendary creatures. It’s an affection I picked up from my World of Warcraft days, so it’s fun to be able to do something like that in a tabletop game.

I haven’t done anything with view sharing options, but even though we haven’t been playing in person, we have played with the split screen options in the game that Chris is running for Ang and me.

Company Subscriptions

The newest subscriptions offered by Shard Tabletop are company specific subscriptions. Currently, the following companies have subscription models on the site:

• A Tiny Living Room
• Kobold Press
• Troll Lord Games
• Underground Oracle Publishing

I can’t really speak to the other bundles, but I have subscribed to the Kobold Press bundles. And I did say bundles, because Kobold Press has multiple tiers to their subscription models. It’s probably worth mentioning that Kobold Press has a ton of material on the site, so there is a decent amount of material in these bundles.

• Gamemaster Subscription
• Kobold Hoard Subscription
• Player Subscription

All these bundles have new items have had items added to them over time. There are still a few special products that are released that do go into any bundles, but the only example I have for this so far is the Free RPG Day adventure digital version that has been released on Shard.

The Gamemaster subscription includes the campaign setting material, sourcebooks, and adventures. It also includes the Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault. It’s worth noting that while there have been several shorter adventures released for Tales of the Valiant, most of these items are pre-Black Flag RD 5e SRD material. That’s not a giant hurdle for most of these products, although some of the sourcebooks with subclasses are a bit trickier, and older spells are split out into the new, broader spell lists.

The Kobold Hoard Subscription includes the material from Kobold Press’ discontinued Warlock zine, as well as some of the short supplements from the website. These also include the blog article products that get reformatted and released after some playtesting and development.

The Player Subscription includes all of the player facing books that Kobold Press has released for the 5e SRD, including the “thematic” player guides (Southlands, Underworld, etc.), and the larger player facing sourcebooks Kobold Press has released, including the Midgard Heroes Handbook and the Tome of Heroes, as well as Deep Magic Volume 1 and 2. These sources are a little trickier to use, since they include a lot of subclasses and feats that don’t fit the Tales of the Valiant format, but converting isn’t insurmountable. If you’re interested in Tales of the Valiant, this is the option that gets you the Player’s Guide options, as well as the recently released Lineages and Heritages Volume 1.

This is what got me to commit to setting up a campaign to play on Shard. This lets me have access to the Kobold Press material that I currently have for Roll20, and don’t want to purchase over again.

Revisiting Playtesting

One of the things that made Shard more attractive for playtesting scenarios is that you can create classes, subclasses, spells, feats, talents, species, lineages, or heritages and save them, making them available over and over once you build out that game option. As an example of some of the playtesting options I have entered into Shard, I’ve entered the Ghostfire Gaming Monster Hunter class, as well as the Worlds Beyond Number Witch class.

You can also save other game elements, like monsters, which is possible in other VTTs as well. You can also create handouts for your players that you can make available for your players, which can be something like an in-game entry in a book that’s relevant to the campaign, or a document summarizing your campaign’s house rules.

How Do I Get What’s Out Here, In There?

Books do what you expect them to do when you purchase items from the marketplace, meaning there are pages you can read, where you can click to the next section and read the next topic. Books can also be used to facilitate importing information. If you put a spell or a monster stat block into a book, and you import that book, Shard can convert that information into game elements that can be saved and used like any other item of that type.

You can’t just drop any information in and hope Shard will figure it out, but it is easier than I anticipated. You need to make sure that certain sections of the stat block or rules elements have a certain header type associated with it, and if you want an expression in the text to allow you to click on it to roll dice, you need to bold that section of the text.

I’ve had a lot of luck importing monsters and spells using this method. If you get the hang of what formatting goes to what section, you may get a simpler monster to just work as soon as you click on that section and then click on the option for Shard to convert it. Even more complicated monsters usually look pretty usable and may only require a little bit of cutting and pasting to make sure some information that ended up in the wrong section goes in the stat block where it belongs.

You can attempt to import things like classes or subclasses, but I’ve had a lot less luck getting those to work well, and the amount of reworking I’ve had to do has just convinced me to just copy a similar class or subclass and then add and delete the options I want to see.

When you are creating classes and subclasses, if you name a feature something similar to a feature you already have saved, there is a lightbulb icon that you can click, which shows you all of the similarly named rules elements, which you can click on to import that into the current class. This is handy for something like making a front-line fighting class that you want to give the class the fighting style feature that many of them get, or when you want to give a class an ability from another class in a subclass.

The modeling features are very robust, but in some cases, they are also very specific. You can easily just drop in a description of what the ability does, but you can also link in everything that the ability does and apply those effects, if you add all the bells and whistles. You can do more complicated things, like having a class feature that lets you pick three specialized class features, each one working in a slightly different way.

You can also create custom versions of classes, swapping out abilities that you want to change, but when you still want that class to count as the class you are modifying. One thing to keep in mind is that if you do something like this, you may want to save this as a separate class with a distinct name, even if it’s something like Fighter (House Ruled), because if you save any changes to a rules element, when there are updates to those classes, they won’t populate. You still won’t automatically get them in your custom class, but if you’re using the standard fighter in another game you play in, and you are only using your custom fighter in one of multiple campaigns you are running, the standard fighter will get updated regularly.

One of the best features that Shard had doesn’t work anymore, and that’s the import function from D&D Beyond. At one point in time, you could post a link to your D&D Beyond character, and Shard could look at your character and convert it over to working in Shard. Some features didn’t work perfectly, but it did an amazing job of bringing most of the functionality over, including copying the classes, subclasses, feats, spells, or species that aren’t present in Shard. You still needed to own those things on D&D Beyond, but once you have that character set up, you could bring it over with very little difficulty, and even be able to level the character up with those options. Unfortunately, the 2024 implementation on D&D Beyond has broken this function.

Shard Tabletop has created a number of rules packages that emulate some of the subclasses from Xanathar’s, or Tasha’s, for example, but you need to connect a few dots and rename some things, since they don’t bring in information directly from those sources.

Campaign Setup

Another series of customizations you can make is to allow very specific things into your campaign. This is extremely powerful compared to some options that you can use to customize campaign options on other platforms. D&D Beyond never seems to filter out exactly what you want to filter out, and Roll20 can exclude or include an entire source, but you can’t go into the individual options in the book and restrict specific spells or feats, for example.

Shard has multiple ways to customize information that appears in your campaign. Extensions are broad sets of rules, which might include or exclude a few things that aren’t meant to work with that implementation. For example, the 5e SRD might be one extension, Esper Genesis might be another, and Black Flag RD may be another. If you directly modify an extension, you can customize your campaign, but as with classes above, that keeps the extension from getting updated when updates are released. Which means if you’re going to be tweaking things, you may want to make a copy of the extension and give it a unique name.

Once you add that into your campaign, your extension has a number of packages, the best example of which are all the rules bundled into a specific product. You can exclude any of these packages, but if you like some of the options from that package, you can also set preferred or restricted content. When you do this, you can restrict that handful of spells you really don’t like from that one book that you want to include, for example.

If you’re obsessive like me, you can also do things like adding unique languages to the Extension or remove languages that you don’t want to be available in the game. Are you, like me, annoyed that Ignan, Auran, Aquan, and Terran are all just dialects of Primordial? Then you can remove Primordial as an option. If you add an ancient language that was just recently rediscovered, you can add those in as well.

There are a few options that live in all of the Extensions, even if they aren’t a default in that set of rules. For example, you can turn on Luck from the Black Flag RD versus Inspiration in the 2014 5e SRD.

Going back to my playtest examples, it’s really easy to restrict options in a playtest campaign so that you are testing the material with a closed set of options, rather than throwing everything official and third party at your playtest at the same time.

Ongoing Adventures

When I was setting up my testbeds in Shard, I didn’t fully understand the assumed way to utilize this function. I just opened a map, added tokens to the map, and then ran the combat. For the published adventures, you open a blank book. You can detail whatever notes you need to have to run your game, and then you add the map to the book. On the map, you can then pin encounters to the map.

When you click on the pinned encounters, you can start running the encounter. In addition to what you can do when you just add tokens to a map that you’ve imported, building an encounter lets you add inactive participants that you can activate, for example if there is a possibility for reinforcements to show up. Additionally, you can add treasure packets to the pinned encounter, which you can reveal once the PCs interact with where that treasure is located, and the treasure can be automatically distributed across all the PCs when you end the encounter. You can also assign XP at the end of the encounter based on the monsters you have added to the encounter, and within the encounters, you can also add additional XP amounts detached from the creatures in the encounter.

Most of the spells have an icon attached to them that lets you drop a token on the map showing the spell’s area of effect, but the GM can also drop templates of different sizes on the map. These have their own icon to click on, rather than sorting through artwork to find the templates, although if you have special artwork for your tokens, you’ll need to pull those out of your artwork normally.

There is an area where you can click on to start the encounter, and all the creatures the GM has added to the map will automatically roll their initiative and line up. The PCs can all roll their initiative themselves, and then they slot into the encounter in order. If you click on the spell you are casting, the initiative tracker will keep track of how long the spell has been in effect, as well as if it requires concentration. That’s extremely handy as a reminder. Additionally, whenever you have a condition, your token has an icon attached to it, and you’ll see the name of the condition by your character’s name. It’s also really easy to assign custom conditions, which can be handy for on-the-fly narrative elements you want to make sure to track.

Making Characters

If you’re making a character from inside the campaign, the campaign options will limit what you can use for that PC. If you build a PC outside of the campaign, you won’t have those items restricted, but the GM has to allow the character to join the campaign. So, if you want to make sure you’re not using something that your group has already agreed to exclude, you want to make sure to go into the campaign you have access to first, then create the character from there.

What’s very interesting is how Shard has implemented the Tales of the Valiant rules. When you first create the character, you get a dropdown asking for what ruleset you are using, the 5e SRD or the Black Flag RD. Regardless of if you pick the 2014 5e SRD or the Black Flag RD, you have a few decision options that lets you pull in things from either ruleset. For example:

• You can choose either Race or Lineage and Heritage
• You can choose 5e SRD backgrounds or Black Flag RD, which gives you a talent.
• You can pick a class from either ruleset, for example, the 5e SRD Cleric or the Black Flag RD Cleric
• Subclasses are attached to the class, meaning you can’t pick subclasses that aren’t designed for that version of the class to use with that class.

Because you get feats or talents based on when those come up in your class progression, which one you have access to will be based on the class you picked, but if you picked the Black Flag RD background and then picked the 5e SRD class, you could still pick up a single talent that is related to the background.

If you’re making a 2014 5e SRD character, and you pick a species that is from a source that still assigns character ability boosts, you have the option to change your ability score boosts to whatever ability scores you want. If you picked the Black Flag RD, you get the slightly larger standard array or point buy option, but if you then use a 5e SRD species with that, you get the +1/+2 from that option, so if you are going to mix and match, makes sure you know all of the interactions that are going on.

In addition to customizing the rules, if you have one of the subscriptions, you can make some modifications to your character sheet. Everything will stay in the same place no matter how you modify it, but you can change things like the background color, whether outline elements are rounded or squared, and change what color the fonts are based on themes. You can also upload artwork that you can use as background to your character sheet as well.

There is a section for “heroic abilities,” which is a collection of special abilities that a character may pick up as part of a campaign, rather than as part of character progression. There is also an icon for shape changing which lets you replace your stat block while you are transformed, as well as a section of the character sheet where you can assign companions or other NPCs the PCs may have access to in the campaign.

Practical Experience

In our Heroes of Hovel’s Way campaign, Chris has created custom subclasses for us, as well as building out companions and NPCs. Ang and I both have the companion characters assigned to our character sheets, where we can click on them and bring up their stats, when we need to run them in class. We’ve also got a custom spell added into the campaign as well. Ang and I have added custom dice for our characters, as well as using custom tokens.

Every ability I’ve used so far that gets reset on a short or long rest has reset on that rest. When rolling for attack damage, you can reroll individual dice that are displayed. I’m playing a paladin, so I can click on a box to add in my smite damage when I burn a spell slot. The GM can hover over a token and assign damage based on a list of recent rolls.

I did some customization for my Tales of the Valiant game, which I’m running in the Thrones and Bones setting. For example, I swapped around some of the languages, and I restricted some of the lineages and heritages that are available. In the notes section of the characters, I could post how they arrived at the beginning of the adventure we were playing. Because I had more players than the adventure assumes, I added a few extra characters to an encounter, and it took virtually no effort to do so. It’s also been easy to navigate the adventure using the index for the book that appears next to where the page information appears.

Before we settled on Thrones and Bones for our game, I was adding in additional Kobold Press material that hasn’t appeared on the site yet, like the Tales of the Valiant options available in Campaign Builder: Castles and Crowns. I didn’t get stumped too often as I was adding the lineages, heritages, or subclasses that appear in that book.

For someone that spends hours thinking about what dials to turn and what new material from various products to include in a campaign, I love to add bits and pieces as I have ideas about what I would like to do with those new widgets. I used to write fairly detailed campaign documents spelling out what was and wasn’t going to be used in the campaign, sometimes explaining how some of the books we wanted to use were on the table, but some specific options inside it are off limits. I can focus a lot more on other topics like theme, lines and veils, and people and locations the PCs want to include in the game.

A Note on Finding What You Want

Most functions that interact with images have an internet search associated with it. If you look for a token for a monster, you can use a single click to search the web based on the name of the game object. For example, I imported Strahd’s stat block as a test, and it was very easy to find an image of Strahd. It was also very easy to find alternate artwork of a swarm of bats, which I could switch to when Strahd changes form.

I could also find general map terrain easily using simple search terms. If you find terrain images you can create a grid at whatever scale you want, and if you have a gridded map, there is a template you can use to measure the size of your grid that resizes the map based on that template and where you line it up.

All this works well, and if you’re not running a professional game, or raising money for your actual play based on streaming your videos, its probably not a problem. That said, there are tons of resources for maps in the Marketplace, as well as frames and token images. It’s also worth noting that all of the 5e SRD creatures have assigned images that are pretty functional as well.

What I’m Really Enjoying

There are a number of functions I really like on Shard that make it very attractive to use to run a 5e SRD based game.

• Customizing available character options
• Easily modified standard content
• Subscription options if you want access to Kobold Press material
• Powerful import tools for monster and spell stat blocks
• Easy to modify encounters
• Quick transition into initiative
• Damage and conditions are easily applied
• Easy to interact with rerolls that interact with dice pools
• Can save customized game elements to be used persistently
• Highly customizable character sheet appearance
• Automatically assign treasure and XP
• Can save completed encounters to a journal to be referenced later
• Ability to create a custom ruleset from multiple options
• Can upload sounds and play them during encounters
• Developers active on the Discord and quick to respond not just to bugs, but modeling questions

What I Wish I Didn’t Have to Contend With

There are still some aspects of the VTT that I’m not particularly deft at navigating, and there are some things I wish were available or worked differently.

• No official D&D support
• Limited 3rd party 5e SRD support
• Learning curve to understand some of the terminology in the ruleset
• It’s easy to pull spells or monsters from a different ruleset than intended
• Limited tools for controlling sound clips, outside of manually starting and stopping
• No 3-D capability, which makes it look a little less shiny than other VTTs
• No dynamic lighting, so all visibility on maps must be done manually
• Easy to accidentally mass delete items from your personalize content (ask me how I know)
• Its easy to accidentally mark artwork as a different type of artwork, locking it out of what you want to use it for (for example, marking something as a background instead of a map)
• The map and encounter building tools work well, but you need to understand books and how adventures are structured to utilize it

Final Thoughts

 I said a long time ago that a VTT built for a specific RPG is going to be better for running that game than one that tries to accommodate multiple, potentially very different game systems. Shard is a proof of concept of that statement. 

I’m really impressed with what I can do with Shard. I said a long time ago that a VTT built for a specific RPG is going to be better for running that game than one that tries to accommodate multiple, potentially very different game systems. Shard is a proof of concept of that statement. Like a lot of robust toolsets, there are times you can get lost in the options, but I feel more like it’s a matter of understanding terminology instead of learning a structure that is overly cumbersome.

I would love to see more 3rd party 5e SRD companies convert material for this VTT. I realize that takes time and effort, but I feel like the people at Shard understand how to implement what appears in these supplements better than some other VTTs that sometimes feel like they are snowed under trying to get a large number of systems and supplements to play nice in their system.

If you want a 5e VTT that lets you pick up and go, I can almost recommend Shard, but that’s going to depend on what products you want available in your campaign. If you want to engage with Kobold Press material, you’re solid. If you’re a fan of some of the other 3rd party 5e SRD companies that have been gaining momentum over the last few years, or you really want official D&D content, I don’t know if the ease of use in game will offset time you need to take to set things up, even if you can set things up exactly the way you want them. But if you’re the type of person that has a favorite font, and you know exactly how big you want your cells to be in a spreadsheet, and you have default conditional formatting you like to apply, I think this is going to be something that will be very rewarding (it’s me, I’m talking about me).

And here we come to the end, the final article in the Earning Their Trust series (see parts one and two, respectively.) This is the last planned entry into the series, but like nearly every one-shot I’ve ever planned to run “in a single evening, I swear” the series might go over.

That’s future Josh’s problem to worry about, though. Today, I want to tackle the idea of the GM as the blind arbiter of the rules, and how taking on that role can impact the trust your players have in you and your game.

This is Not a Perfect World

In a perfect world, every rule of every RPG system would be clear and unambiguous. The game developers would know exactly what they wanted to communicate and would do so with precision and in such a way as to be completely obvious when read by the players the very first time.

Alas, we live in a world where even the roundness of our planet is (somehow) debated, and the languages we use to relay rules are about as precise as a clutch of ferrets writhing inside a trench coat.

To that end, I would say that as a GM, there is no way you can be a completely objective judge of the rules and the system. After all, how can you be expected to make objective decisions when the rules themselves are not objective?

Game developers do not write rules systems to create a perfectly fair simulation of a (made-up) reality. They write them to create a very particular kind of experience.

D&D simulates traveling through dungeons and beating up monsters with your friends. Call of Cthulhu simulates investigating cosmic horrors and slowly (or not so slowly) losing control of your mental faculties…with your friends. Pasión de las Pasiones simulates over-the-top extra dramatic soap operas. With your friends.

The point is that in order to simulate these experiences, the rules, as they’re written, cannot be objective. They have to prefer the desired experience. And so, as a GM, you can’t be objective either. I would argue, in fact, that you shouldn’t be, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

The other part of the simulation I want to call out is the part where you do all of these things with your friends. Unless we’re talking about solo RPGs or journaling games, TTRPGs are social games. And your friends, I’m guessing, want to play a game with their friend too. Not a passionless judge beholden to the rules as written. If that were the case, you could all just play Baldur’s Gate 3 again.

Punitive Parent VS “Cool Mom” GM

The problem with viewing the GM as the impartial arbiter is that the GM creates the situations and scenarios the players have to overcome to begin with. They can’t be an unbiased judge because there’s no third party in this equation. There’s the players, and there’s the GM. There’s an inherent power imbalance if the person who put them in the situations is also in charge of making the rulings about those situations.

Now, you might try to ignore the reality of that imbalance and think to yourself, “This doesn’t apply to me. I’m able to remove my emotional connection to the campaign scenarios I spent hours creating and make fair and balanced rulings.” But I promise you, at some point – despite your best intentions – there will come a day when you have to say to your players, “I’m sorry it went that way for you, but I’m just following the rules.”

And really, isn’t “I’m just following the rules” the GM’s version of “I’m just doing what my character would do?”

Of course, on the flip side of that, you’ve got what I call the “Cool Mom GM.” You know, the one who’s not like all those other GMs. They let you take sips of their wine and give you magical artifact weapons when you’re still level two. They also never let anything bad happen to their players, regardless of what the rules say. This play style might be fun for a little while, but eventually, players will get bored if all they do is – as DJ Khaled says – win, win, win, no matter what.

So where does that leave us? Well, following the rules you set out at the start of a game – including your choice of systems, the house rules of your table, and the boundaries set forth in session zero – will, without a doubt, help you earn your players’ trust, but knowing how and when to break the rules will help you keep it.

Let’s look at how to do that.

Bringing Balance to the Force

How do you use the rules in a fair but biased way? You lean into the experience. Like I said above, TTRPG rules aren’t written to be reality simulators. They’re written to be experience simulators. In other words, you’ve got to use the – dare I say it – spirit of the rule, not the letter.

What does that look like? Well, let’s take an example from Pathfinder 2nd Edition (pre-remaster). There was a lot of debate over the wording in the death and dying subsystem about when and how the wounded condition was applied.

The rules could be read one of two ways, and depending on how they were read, the system was a lot more or a lot less deadly.

So, how do you use the experience simulation to make your ruling? Ask yourself the kind of Pathfinder game you’re running. Is your campaign a high adventure with lots of swashed buckles and feats of derring-do? Rule for the more lenient interpretation.

If, on the other hand, you’re going for a gritty campaign where the threat of death is omnipresent. Well, the choice is simple.

Not every ruling you make will be this clear cut, but if the experience – not the RAW – is your guiding light, then you’ll be able to navigate the turbulent seas. And, if you do this with consideration to your players’ characters and the stories they’re building (see the first and second parts in this series), then you’re going to solidify the trust you’ve been building up the whole campaign.

In Conclusion, Your Honor

When it comes right down to it, it’s all about showing your players that you’re working with them to interpret the rules of your game, not against them. That doesn’t mean saying yes to everything they ask for or assuming that their interpretation is correct and yours is wrong. It means knowing when a rule interpretation benefits the story you’re building. Together.

I think you’ll find, when everyone at the table has trust in each other, those stories are going to be freakin’ epic.

At my table, a few weeks ago, the characters were outside the lair of a nefarious being, preparing to breach and assault. Before they did, one of the players announced that they wanted their character to do a quick recon, a very prudent idea. I was just about to request a Sneak check when I paused and decided against a roll, and instead just told him what he found by scouting. The sneak check would have been interesting to see if they did or did not get seen by the guards, but the better action for the evening was inside the lair – not having some skirmish outside. So I handwaved the roll to move the action along. I did it because I have recently begun to think that not everything in a game needs a roll. Let’s talk about it.

The Nature Of Rolling

We should start by talking about what a roll does in a game. It applies to a skill check and holds for a combat roll, save, etc. When the game mechanics require us to roll a die, an element of uncertainty is introduced into the scene. The die emulates the somewhat randomness of life and is often buffered by bonuses representing our skill, acumen, etc, to make what would be totally random somewhat more predictable. 

Randomness creates uncertainty and in turn, creates excitement. We don’t know what will happen when we let go of that die. Will it be a success or a failure? That excitement creates emotional investment, in a very similar way that the roll of dice in a Craps game or the release of the Roulette ball does in gambling. 

If an RPG had no rolls, it would lack that excitement of uncertainty. Conversely, if you have to roll for everything it can be tedious. This is why many games tell you that you don’t need to make an Agility check to walk across the street. 

Only Roll When Its Interesting

Over time, we evolved a GMing convention which has made its way into the mechanics of more modern games. It states something along the lines of, “Only roll when both success and failure are interesting.” Solid convention. Let’s consider it the 101 level.

The idea behind this convention is that if only one outcome of a roll is exciting, then you have a 50% chance of the roll being exciting vs it being boring. I have personally experienced this in a Pathfinder game (not its fault) where I tried three times to force a door of a storeroom open, and upon finally doing it, found out it only contained some grain. Honestly, neither outcome was exciting, and it came off like a giant waste of time. 

Not All Interesting Rolls Are Equally Interesting

Let’s jump up to the 201 level and say that even if both outcomes are interesting, a given roll may not be as interesting as another roll soon. 

Go back to my intro. Scouting around the lair is an interesting roll, if successful you are not seen and gain some useful information. If failed, you are seen by guards and a fight ensues. It’s interesting and a valid check to call for at the table. 

But… Once the party enters the lair, there is a whole bunch of cool encounters awaiting them, with cool opponents, etc. Those checks to move through the lair and to fight those creatures are far more exciting. 

That said, we could amend our interesting roll rule to say something like:

Only roll when both success and failure are the most interesting things to happen in the next few minutes. 

The main point of this evolution of thought is to maintain focus on the main plot of the story and to help the main plot progress. This tool streamlines extraneous encounters, potential red herrings (from failed rolls), and roadblocks to the story. It is best used when you want to drive the game forward. 

It works well when you are time-constrained, like in a convention game, or you want to get into the “meat” of the story.

Some Other Reasons Not To Roll

Let’s go to the 301 level and talk about some other reasons why you may just want to pass on an interesting roll. These reasons all have the same effect as above, to move us closer to the “good stuff”, but also support some other parts of the game.

Don’t call for that interesting roll (roll for brevity) when…

• It distracts from the plot
• If one of the outcomes of the roll will send the players down a tangent that pulls them away from the main storyline, which could result in significant time spent doing something other than moving the main plot forward 
• “If you fail this roll, you will attract the attention of the city guard, and you will have to fight or evade them before you can get into the temple”
• It breaks the genre of the game
• Game settings sometimes have genre conventions, things that we expect to happen because of the genre we are in. If the roll is going to potentially break with the genre, then pass 
• “You are a group of ninjas sneaking onto a roof at night. Roll to see if you are heard”
• If it is something reasonable the character can do

This is an evolution of the idea of not requiring a character to make an Agility test to cross the street. The idea is that if a character is reasonably competent in something, just give them the successful outcome. I find this especially useful in knowledge/skill checks. 

“Your character has a 75% in art history. Yea…this painting is a forgery”. 

There Are Other Ways To Solve This Problem

Not calling for rolls is a tool, like a screwdriver. It does not solve every case that comes up in a game, rather it solves some cases. There are other techniques for making rolls more interesting or relevant, like re-framing the check or changing the stakes. Sometimes it is better to use those in your session. When they are, use them.

Or Don’t Use the Screwdriver

Your personal preference as a GM or player may be to make all the interesting checks and see where the game unfolds. This is a more organic approach, leaning into the natural randomness of the game. There is nothing wrong with that approach. That style of play can be less focused but equally fun. 

Make a…nah nevermind

The die roll is a key part of most RPGs. The roll is a moment of uncertainty, that can bring about excitement and drive emotional investment in the game. There is nothing quite like a nat 20. Game systems often give good guidelines for when to call for rolls, but most only give the 101 instructions. With time and an understanding of the flow of games, you can use the 201 and 301 versions of this rule to move the story towards more interesting action.

Do you call for every interesting roll, or do you let some pass? What kinds of rolls are you more likely to let pass? 

While it’s sometimes fun to flip open a bestiary or monster manual to find a random monster to throw at the PCs, when you’re planning a boss for your party to face, it’s best to put some thought and care into the selection. You might even go so far as to make the boss of the adventure a full-fledged and statted-out NPC using the typical character creation rules instead of relying on the sparse monster stat block in the book. How much prep you put into the boss is up to you, and is, quite honestly, an entirely different article than this one.

Regardless of how much prep you put into the boss, they should support the themes of your story, have their own styles, speak in a recognizable manner, and have a reason to be the leader of the mooks the PCs will be facing.

Support Your Theme

The boss (or bosses) of your adventure should support the overall theme and tone of the story you’re presenting to your players. If you have an adventure about rescuing a kidnapped ice pixie, then having a fire-based boss as the main opponent would feel appropriate because of the opposing forces at play. However, if you have a gang of intelligent raiders capable of intricate planning and execution of their schemes, then having a lower-intelligent creature (like an ogre) as the leader of the raiders wouldn’t quite make sense.

If your theme is one of romance, then a swashbuckling, sword-wielding, bright-eyed person might fall right in line with reflecting the themes and tones of your story. If you’re going more for space-based horror, then the boss might be the queen xenomorph that has infested a space station or colony.

Style and Affectations

Let’s talk about two different appearances and styles using the examples I just put in the prior section.

The swashbuckling swordsman (or swordswoman) will likely have fancy, bright, ornate clothing to go along with their flashy sword moves. There will be layers of clothing that are different colors and hues, but the combination of colors won’t clash or look gaudy (to most people). The colors will look wonderful and amazing on them. Something that catches the eye, really. They’ll most likely have a handkerchief readily available for dabbing at minor wounds or wiping away tears from a heartbroken lover. They’ll be kind and gentle in all appearances and approaches…. Until it’s time to draw blood, then they’ll be deadly serious.

The queen xenomorph, on the other hand, will be all scales and carapace and fangs and acidic drool. Odds are, the xenomorphs will blend in with the darkness of space, which means they’ll be black and shades of dark gray, except for their teeth, which will clearly show in dim light. The queen will most likely not speak the PCs language, if she speaks at all. She might be intelligent, but incapable of forming proper words with her fang-filled mouth. Just because she can’t speak doesn’t mean she’s at animalistic intelligence.

Speech Patterns

I’m with Phil in this area in that I can’t do quality accents for a great length of time, so I don’t try at all. However, there’s more to speech patterns than the accents. Word choice, emphasis, and inflection can play into establishing a character’s style and imprinting on the players’ memories.

If you’ve ever read the Darksword trilogy (technically there are now 4 books, not counting the RPG effort) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, then you’ll be aware of speech patterns from a few different characters. Saryon is hesitant, halting even, in his speech because he lacks confidence. Joram speaks bluntly and to the point because of how he was raised. There is one character that when you see his dialogue, you know it’s him. That’s Simkin. He is, I’m pretty sure, the only character in all that lengthy tale that uses the word, “egad,” in his dialogue. There are other examples as well. When you read Simkin’s dialogue, you just know who is speaking because of the word choices and cadence of speech.

What does this have to do with your boss? Well, you can make the boss stand out by letting most NPCs and mooks and such have similar speech patterns, but break the mold and have your boss speak in a different manner. Give them some flair or special way of talking. A way that allows the PCs to identify them in just a few syllables. It’ll drive home the uniqueness and special nature of the boss.

Leadership

Why is the boss the boss? Why are they leading? The best way to approach this is to give them a driving purpose and goal (along with some motivations, eh?) that are more important and powerful than those of the lieutenants and mooks that follow the leader. People tend to follow leaders that have a clear vision and purpose. If someone is “in charge” but doesn’t really have a desire to drive a mission or objection forward, they’re probably not going to be “in charge” for very long. Nature abhors a vacuum. Likewise, followers abhor a lack of leadership and direction.

This means you need to give your mooks a reason to follow the leader into perilous situations. Otherwise, the foundation of your story will crack, crumble, and sag.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this sixth installment of this series. We’re about halfway through now, and I’m looking forward to talking about the mooks that follow your boss in next month’s article.

Seven years ago, the original edition of Star Trek Adventures was released. That was before so many major developments with the franchise. Multiple series debuted, new eras were visited, and the two corporate entities that split the rights to Star Trek between movies and television series assimilated one another to add their distinctiveness to each other. While the Star Trek Adventures line was moving into the new series with sourcebooks, it makes sense to bring those new series into the examples and references in the core book.

Disclaimer

I have received review copies in the past from Modiphius for other 2d20 products, but I have not received any review material for the Star Trek Adventures: The Roleplaying Game Second Edition Core Rulebook, and I purchased this for review on my own. I have not had an opportunity to play through or run the material in this book, but I have run the first edition of the game for multiple campaigns, as well as other 2d20 RPGs.

 Star Trek Adventures: The Roleplaying Game Second Edition Core Rulebook

2d20 System Designer Nathan Dowdell
Project Manager Jim Johnson
Writers Mike “O’dah ziibing” Ashkewe, Tilly Bridges & Susan Bridges, Rachael Cruz, Alison Cybe, Michael Dismuke, Nathan Dowdell, Keith Garrett, Patrick Goodman, Jim Johnson, Fred Love, Erin Macdonald, PhD, Aaron M Pollyea, J.D. Kennedy, Chris McCarver, Troy Mepyans, Al Spader
Editors Jim Johnson, Marieke Cross, Scott Pearson
Proofreaders Jim Johnson, Marieke Cross Art Director Ariel Orea
Graphic Designers Michal E. Cross, Mark Whittington, Stephanie Toro Cover Artist Paolo Puggioni
Interior Artwork Artists Eren Arik, Cristi Balenescu, Marc Bell, Carlos Cabrera, Joshua Calloway, Alexey Chernik, Aurea Freniere, Michele Frigo, Chaim Garcia, Nick Greenwood, Aaron Harvey, Eva Lara, Jens Lindfors, Toma Feizo Gas, Matheus Graef, Vincent Laik, Thomas Marrone, Wayne Miller, Ariel Orea, Dat Phan, Paolo Puggioni, Tobias Richter, Vadim Sadovski, Martin Sobr, Steve Stark, Vitali Timkin, Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo, Salvador Trakal, Justin Usher, Rhys Yorke, Eaglemoss Ltd., CBS Studios, Inc.
For Paramount Global Marian Cordry, Stephen Zelin, Brian Bromberg, Aaron Hubberman, Brian Lady, Danwei Lando, James Salerno, Russell Spina
With Thanks To Gene Roddenberry, Marian Cordry, BC Holmes, and the many fans who support this game

Computer, Display Schematics

For this review, I have had the opportunity to look at both the PDF and the hardcover version of the game. The hardcover is a solid chunk of a book that is very similar to both the original Star Trek Adventures book and the Klingon variation of the core rules. It uses similar font, but the colors deviate from the darker colors of the spines for the original books. The original version of the game had pages that emulated the L-CARS appearance of Next Generation consoles, including the black background for the pages. The second edition ditches those black backgrounds for a white one, which I can understand. It’s always a little disheartening when you end up with a permanent fingerprint on your solid black pages.

The official page count of the book is 384 pages, and includes the following:

• Front Endpapers with a map of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant (2 pages, PDF, endpapers in hardcover)
• Back Endpapers with a timeline of Star Trek properties, the Prime Timeline, and the Terran Universe Timeline (2 pages, PDF, endpapers in hardcover)
• Credits Page (1 page)
• Table of Contents (1 page)
• Character Sheet (2 pages, front and back)
• Personal Log (1 page)
• Index and Acknowledgements (4 pages)
• Front and Back Cover (2 pages, PDF, front and back cover, hardcover)

Most of the book is in a two-column layout. Some pages have a smaller column with sidebar commentary, as well as offset text boxes exploring topics brought up on the page. There are full color pieces of art introducing each chapter, and there are many half page pieces of art portraying various scenes that would be common for a Star Trek narrative, which includes staring at majestic ships in drydock, Starfleet medical personnel treating inhabitants of a planet, enjoying a meal in the lounge, and the more action oriented combat scenes. There are images from across the timelines detailed, and most are in the same style, except for a few “Lower Decks” styled images inserted in various locations.

While there are images from across the timelines, the book also uses a set of iconic characters, first introduced in the quick start. These characters are all from the Strange New Worlds era of Star Trek, with the same uniform and gear from that show. This includes a Betazoid security officer, a human science officer, a Vulcan chief medical officer, a Tellarite chief engineer, an Andorian first officer, and a Trill captain. These are the characters that make some opening comments about the topics introduced in the various chapters.

In addition to those iconic characters and their chapter introductions, there are quotes from a wide range of characters. Some of the characters that contribute quotes or commentary include Picard, Archer, Worf, Tendi, Boimler, Pike, Janeway, Gwyndala, Zero, McCoy, Booker, Data, Georgiou, Kirk, Mariner, Nog, Decker, Sisko, Freeman, Kira, Quark, Ransom, La Forge, and M’Benga.

The book itself is broken up into the following sections:

• Foreword
• A Star Trek Primer
• Starfleet
• The Final Frontier
• Reporting for Duty
• Your Home Among the Stars
• Technology and Weapons
• Operations
• Conflict
• Gamemastering
• Introductory Adventure
• Allies and Adversaries

The new format makes one nice improvement. There aren’t the random strings of numbers on various pages that were meant to represent cluttered data on a viewscreen. I often run the PDF text to speech function while reading, and it could get very tedious when those numbers were read as text instead of a background image.

For The Seasoned Officers

Before I dive into the details of the book, I wanted to hit a quick summary of the differences between the 1e and 2e edition of Star Trek Adventures. This is just a fast rundown, so feel free to check out the details further in the review.

• Say goodbye to the challenge dice–damage and progress are tracked without them now
• Stress is now determined only with your Fitness attribute, unless you have a trait that uses a different attribute
• Some challenges may use stress as one of the consequences of accomplishing goals
• In combat, you take an injury unless you spend stress equal to the weapons rating to resist the injury
• You can recover different amounts of stress by taking a breather (10 minutes or so), taking a break (a half hour to a couple of hours), or sleeping (several hours)
• NPCs don’t have a stress track, but Notable and Major NPCs can spend threat to resist injury
• In ship combat, shields work more like a progress track you are working to complete, rather than the stress for the ship
• There are guidelines for when to use a challenge versus when to use an extended task
• Your progress on extended tasks is based on your rating in a relevant department, rather than the results of the challenge dice
• Many species talents of been rewritten
• You get an additional focus at the end of character creation to reflect a personal interest (for example, Riker might use this extra focus for Jazz)
• There are more guidelines to what species traits are meant to summarize
• Character progression now defaults to the “personal log” method first introduced in the Klingon core rulebook
• Much like in certain political discussions of climate change, the scientific method has been abandoned
• The book is a “greatest hits” of some of the previous releases, incorporating some player character rules for species, traits, technobabble, reprimand and acclaim, and commendations, to name a few

Life in the Federation

I wanted to talk about the Star Trek primer section of the book first, because I think the summary of how the Federation operates may be one of the most concise and inclusive attempts that I’ve seen in any Star Trek product. The primary purpose of this section is to set the tone for what a Star Trek Adventures campaign should look and feel like, but it does more than that. The baseline assumption is that Star Trek Adventures is meant to portray a hopeful future, where humanity can live up to it’s potential, and learn and grow by interacting with other advanced species, while also pointing out where conflict happens.

There is a section that touches on the major cultures of the setting, including:

• The Klingon Empire
• The Romulan Empire
• The Cardassian Union
• The Ferengi Alliance
• The Orion Syndicate
• The Borg Collective
• The Dominion

These aren’t exhaustive treatments, but they often touch on those societies in multiple eras. The Klingons and Romulans both get multiple pages, the Cardassians and the Dominion both get a page, and the others each have a half-page of information. The information is current up through the third season of Picard, but that also means we get some season four information from Discovery.

There is a page on “other civilizations,” which includes a few paragraphs on the Tholian Assembly, the Q Continuum, and the Pakleds (including Lower Decks updates), as well as a paragraph that talks about Delta Quadrant societies like the Hirogen, Kazon, Vidians, and Talaxians. A notable omission is the Gorn Hegemony, which I imagine may have been avoided since Strange New Worlds is still in the midst of an ongoing narrative with that culture.

The information about life in the Federation is where this section shines. Have you ever wondered exactly what Star Trek means when various characters say they don’t have money in the Federation, especially in light of situations where Federation members seem to be working for profit or trading with cultures that definitely do still use money? What about human religion in the Federation? Have you ever wondered why sometimes something from the holodeck can leave the holodeck? Why can’t you use cargo transporters to transport large numbers of people from one place to another? These all receive answers that should make you feel better equipped to answer those questions when they come up.

Life in an Alternate Federation?

The previous version of Star Trek Adventures included a section on planet classification, space-phenomenon, and the basics of warp travel and subspace. This time around, there are a few more sections that touch on additional topics like alternate universes and time travel.

There is a brief section on the Terran Universe (or the Mirror Universe), and Quantum Multiverses (lots of different realities where things may be changed in smaller, significant ways). This also touches on time travel, and the different ways it can be accomplished in Star Trek (there are at least five different ways that this can happen outlined in the book).

Life in Starfleet

While this iteration of Star Trek Adventures isn’t quite as tied to portraying only Starfleet Personnel, it is still considered the default mode of playing the game. As such, we get a section on how Starfleet works, and how it has changed over the eras.

There are some sidebars on organizations adjacent to Starfleet, like Division 14, the section of Starfleet introduced in Lower Decks, which deals with Starfleet personnel that have been affected by strange phenomena. There is also a sidebar with a few paragraphs on Section 31, which frames the organization the way I prefer it to exist, as an organization that isn’t known outside of a few members of Starfleet that are allied with it, which does not have any official standing with the Federation or Starfleet.

The book touches on the Temporal Prime Directive and assumptions about what Starfleet personnel should do in a time travel situation. The original Prime Directive is also addressed. I enjoy that the examples they give make the Prime Directive feel more like something you can discuss and use in game, rather than an absolute hammer to drop on players that make the wrong decision. True to many of the episodes, you may need to justify your interpretation, but unless you completely throw it out the window, it should provide you with more roleplaying opportunities rather than an excuse to punish players for making hard decisions.

The section on Starfleet then discusses Starfleet Academy, duty assignments, and mission types. I appreciate that among the mission types, we get Second Contact missions integrated into standard Starfleet procedures, giving us a solid tie into the contribution made by Lower Decks.

There is a half-page dedicated to Non-Starfleet campaigns, which are better supported than in the original Star Trek Adventures book, but not as supported as, for example, in the Klingon core rulebook, which make sense. The biggest support from this section would be Federation civilians working in concert with Starfleet personnel, representing characters like ambassadors and civilian academics working with Starfleet science personnel.

(Quantum) Game Mechanics

The heart of the 2d20 system is pretty simple. Whenever you make a check, you roll two twenty-sided dice. You compare this to a number derived from an attribute and a department (in the case of Star Trek Adventures). Your attribute will top out at 12, and your department will top out at 5. If you roll under those two numbers added together, you get a success. If you have a Focus that applies to the task you are attempting (like Martial Arts if you are making a hand-to-hand combat attack), you gain an additional success if you roll below your Department score. That means if you have a focus that is relevant, on 2d20, you could get from 0 to 4 successes.

You can spend some game currencies to buy extra dice, and some talents may add an additional die. You can never roll more than five on a check., meaning you would max out, in a spectacular series of rolls, at 10 successes. In some situations, someone else can aid you, but they will only be rolling 1d20, and you can only add their successes to your own if you have at least one success. That means, if you are facing a Difficulty 3 check to calm down an enraged government official, and someone is aiding you, and they roll two successes on their attempt to help you, if you roll 0 successes, it doesn’t help you at all. But if you roll one success, you can add their successes to your own and meet the Difficulty of three.

There are several currencies in the game. Momentum tops out at six. If you get more successes than you need on a check, you can generate momentum to add to your pool. You can use Momentum for several things, like buying extra dice, asking additional questions, or adding damage to a weapon’s rating. Threat is a similar currency that the GM can use. Whenever a PC rolls a complication (usually a 20), the GM can create a trait in the scene or add two additional Threat to their pool. Among other things, the GM can use this to create scene traits, or to modify NPC rolls in a manner similar to what PCs can use Momentum for. Players can choose to add threat whenever they don’t have Momentum to spend.

The final currency is Determination. You can only have three Determination at any one time. You can only spend Determination if you have a Value relevant to the task you are attempting, or if your task is related to the mission directives you have been given. Determination buys you an extra die, but the die is considered to have rolled a 1. That die does count against your five dice maximum. Your Values determine what your character believes, and if you challenge one of your values, you can add a Determination, cross it out, and rewrite it after the mission is over.

Talents work the way you may expect, being much like feats, talents, perks, or other game rules across RPGs. They are exceptions to how the regular rules work, granting you things like rerolling dice under certain circumstances. There are talents that add additional species abilities, general abilities, or abilities related to what career path you are on.

Character advancement is tracked by filling out character logs. The log doesn’t need to be a deep explanation of what happened in a game session. Instead, it’s a quick note about “X happened, this relates to my Value of Y.” After a number of log entries, a character gains an advancement, and characters can “spend” those log entries to remember a relevant situation to generate Determination in a current mission.

A good portion of play deals with traits. A scene trait may narratively deny a course of action or may make something more difficult to accomplish. Traits can have higher magnitudes, so you can have Ion Storm (3), which would make the difficulty of checks to transport through the storm, or send communications through the storm, increase by three. Traits are more open-ended, where the GM and the players can discuss what those traits mean and when they apply.

Character Creation

Character creation can be done in one of two ways. The first is a Lifepath system, where you walk through your character’s life up to the current day, adding attributes, department ratings, talents, and values at various steps of the process. The lifepath follows the following steps:

• Species
• Environment (where you were raised)
• Upbringing (how you were raised)
• Career Path (what you learned)
• Experience (how long have you been doing this)
• Career Events (significant events)
• Finishing Touches

If you don’t want to go through this process, there is the Creation in Play method. In this case, the character has a number of values, focuses, and unassigned division ratings. When your character attempts to do something, they can decide they want to assign points to one of their departments, and maybe a focus, to help with the roll. Once this happens, those elements are locked in, and the character has one less of each of those to assign.

There is much more direction about what a character’s species trait means. For example, they give examples that something that requires raw strength may be slightly less difficult for Klingons or Vulcans, because they have above average strength for humanoids their size. The species abilities have been reworked, and I like the directions many of them have moved. For example, Vulcans can spend stress to avoid gaining a trait associated with an emotional state, but if they are Fatigued, any emotional state trait they have is increased in potency by 1, to represent that Vulcans aren’t emotionless, they are just tightly in control of their strong emotions.

There are additional career paths that are civilian based, instead of the standard Starfleet career paths, including Diplomatic Corps, Civilian (Physician), Civilian (Scientist), Civilian (Official), and Civilian (Trader). Service roles integrate some of the slightly different roles that appear in the Star Trek Adventure’s Player’s Guide, including civilian postings like Bodyguard, Expert, Merchant, or Political Liaison. You can also choose to have a character that has cybernetic components or that has been genetically modified.

Shields Up

Starship combat is a little different from the first edition of Star Trek Adventures, but not dramatically. One of the big differences is that it has been framed to look a lot more like personal combat, but with a few more formal procedures that take place with each action. I don’t mind some extra procedure in rules like these, mainly because starship combat in Star Trek is more deliberate and tactical when it occurs. But that added procedure still needs to be approachable.

Like ground combat, movement is defined by zones. Unlike 1e edition, the similarity in combat rules means that you can fly your ship behind cover if cover exists in the zone, making you harder to hit. If your helm operator takes the Evasive Action option on their turn, the difficulty of hitting your ship changes from a static number to an opposed test. Damage takes down your shields, but you may also be reducing incoming damage as well based on your size and hull. If you can’t mitigate oncoming damage, you suffer a breach. When a system is breached, you need to make temporary repairs to get it back online, but if it takes a number of breaches equal to your ship’s scale, that system has been effectively destroyed.

Certain options are available to characters in different positions on the ship. For example, the Operations console allows you to reroute power to regenerate your shields.

Should I drop supporting characters here? Your number of supporting characters is tied to the scale of your ship, so why not?

Just like in STA 1e, you can bring supporting characters into scenes. This can be done when a player’s role on the ship doesn’t make sense for the away team, for example. You can create a number of supporting characters up to your Crew Complement, and these characters belong to the ship, not any particular player. Supporting characters have a slightly lower standard array of Attributes, a range of Department ratings, and three foci.

Lower Decks has inspired a new twist on this, which is a Supervisory character, a senior character not played by one of the players that can be adopted by players when they need an officer to help direct them. They get a slightly higher array for their attributes and departments, and an additional focus. They also start with a value and stress track. Since I had a crew of players where no one wanted to play the captain, this would have been a nice rule to have available for that campaign.

While you can still contribute your own advances to supporting characters, reintroducing a supporting character now triggers an advancement once per adventure. These include gaining a Value and a stress track, increasing Attributes or Departments, adding a focus, or adding a talent to the character. A character that has gone through all of these improvements can’t be further improved unless a player adopts them as their new player character.

Mission Status

In addition to the rules, character creation, NPC stat blocks, and ships, the core rulebook also contains a starting adventure. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you know I’m a fan of including adventures. Even if you aren’t going to use them, they help you to see how the designers intend the rules to be used for game sessions.

The adventure included in this book is based in the Strange New Worlds/just pre-The Original Series era. I like the structure of this adventure, because it presents a Prime Directive quandary, and enough wiggle room to argue for limited intervention, in addition to the science/medical emergency that is the primary conflict of the adventure.

The adventure includes a synopsis, a section on Spotlight Roles (the crew positions that will be doing the heavy lifting in the adventure), and the mission directives. The action is divided into three acts. The adventure has one encounter that might turn into combat, but most of the conflict comes from the moral quandaries and the science that needs to be done.

Glory to Your House

 The broader options for non-Starfleet characters open up some character types that we’ve seen in multiple series. 

The way much of this book has been put together really does simplify the processes in the game. Combat makes more sense. Stress is more versatile. The species abilities are more nuanced and work together well with some of the new talents. The broader options for non-Starfleet characters open up some character types that we’ve seen in multiple series. There are better examples for when to utilize challenges and when to use extended tasks, and extended tasks are a little easier to follow. While the challenge dice were never a major impediment to me, I have to admit that when I’ve played 2d20 games that don’t utilize them, everything feels like its rolling along just a little bit smoother.

I Protest, I Am Not a Merry Man

The discussion of species traits did a wonderful job of explaining how those traits can be used in a contextual manner to cover a wide range of abilities native to the species. I wish they had extended that logic to Attribute bonuses, which are still tied to species. The organization of the book is much better than 1e edition, but I still feel like I need to hunt a bit to pull together all of the Starship rules. Some of the game rules are great and make sense for Star Trek, like the character log advancement, but may seem a little intimidating to a player that has first encounters it.

Recommended–If the product fits in your broad area of gaming interests, you are likely to be happy with this purchase.

When the original Star Trek Adventures rulebook came out, I thought it was one of the best examples of an RPG based on a property that understands its topic and is designed to support the emblematic narratives native to it. This version is no exception, doing what a solid new edition does–keeping a lot of the familiar structure that works, and streamlining the elements that weren’t as flexible or as intuitive in long-term play.

There's a false dichotomy when it comes to playing RPGs. We either play online or we play in person. Sometimes it feels like it's all or nothing. If we're playing in person, it's pencils and paper and dice. If we're playing online, it's a fully featured, fully integrated virtual tabletop.

But lots of GMs mix things up. In-person GMs use big monitors, sometimes embedded in their gaming table. Players might run their character sheets off of a tablet.

The same can be true for running games online. Sure, if you're wired into a fully integrated VTT, like Roll20 or Foundry, you might not see much need for physical tools. But sometimes they're really handy.

What are some examples?

Dice. You don't need a digital dice roller. Use your real dice. Try it out. It's fun. It's fast. I have a kit of dice next to me when I run RPGs online and it's far faster for me to roll physical dice than to roll online. I'm sure that's not true for everyone but I know it's often true with players when they need to roll for something not already pre-planned on their digital character sheets.

Note cards. I use my favorite text editor, BB Edit, to jot stuff down like initiative, marching order, and abstract combat notes. It's very fast to copy and paste things around from BB Edit but it's also super-fast to use index cards. They're always in front of you. You won't accidentally close the window or need to switch screens.

Books. Many GMs seem to hate using physical books but boy, they're fun. Use little adhesive tabs you can buy at any drug, grocery, or department store to tab the pages of different monsters or other pages you need to reference during the game. Get a folding book stand so you can set it upright like monks did in the 1700s. Enjoy playing the game the way we've played for 50 years. It's ok to have to look things up. The whole game doesn't need to be a perfectly well-oiled machine.

The Flexibility of Physical Tools

Using physical tools for online games isn't just about nostalgia. There are practical reasons as well – the big one being flexibility. Physical tools just work. A blank index card and a pen offers tremendous freedom over more locked-in tools. Rolling physical dice means doing some math but you don't have to worry if you accidentally hit the "advantage" button or not. If you're given a weird modifier to a roll, you don't have to figure out how to add that into the equation. Flipping through a physical book can be faster than searching through one online or realizing you accidentally closed the window.

Using physical tools also doesn't limit you to just the online tools or sourcebooks you have in whatever online tool you're using. When you open yourself up to using books, all your books become available to you – campaign sourcebooks, monster books, adventures, and more.

Next time you're running a game online, try using physical dice. Try using a physical monster book. Try keeping an index card in front of you to jot down turn order.

Embrace analog play, even in an online game.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on NPCs from TV Shows and my Shadowdark Gloaming Finale.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Call of Cthulhu Humbled Bundle
• City of Arches Key of Worlds Scenarios for Hero-Tier Subscribers
• Dread Thingonomicon Markdown for Obsidian
• Lazy GM Reference Guides in Markdown for Obsidian
• Sly Flourish 2025 Calendar!
• The Trouble with Crafting Systems in 5e
• Advanced Random Encounter Tricks

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Adding Subquests and Managing Levels with Campaign Arcs
• Keeping Combat Descriptions Flavorful
• Designing a Heroic Shadowdark-Style Game

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Keep character name names in front of you. Track turn order outside of combat to ensure players get their time in the spotlight.
• Listen to audiobooks. Study the way the narrator changes voices to represent different characters.
• Break combat encounter locations into several zones. Give each zone an identifying monument or feature.
• Two simple words can increase the challenge of any comment encounter: more monsters.
• Ask for a marching order and a lighting situation anytime the characters delve into dungeons deep.
• Roll twice on random encounter tables and combine the results to build a unique situation.
• Roll two random encounters to show an encounter that took place before the characters arrived. This gives them an interesting investigation along their journey.

Related Articles

• Two Years Playing D&D Online
• Shared Experiences Playing D&D Online
• Tips for Paper Character Sheets

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Find a map that fits the location you need for your game. Print it out. Write evocative location names on the map with a pen.

I haven't found a method for annotating maps easier than that. Even if you use digital tools, printing the map, writing names on it, taking a picture with your phone, and adding it back into your digital notes is still faster than any other digital annotation tools I've used.

5,000 Year Old Technology

Pencil and paper are often faster and simpler tools for prepping our game than digital tools. I've used Obsidian and Notion for RPG prep, but I still enjoy the days where I write my strong start, scenes, secrets and clues, and the rest longhand. There's something simple, direct, and pure about prepping with pen and paper. No distractions. No funky interface to get used to. Just the 5,000 year old technology of putting our thoughts and imagination down on a medium that can last a thousand years.

Simple Maps

I love Dyson Logos for simple, well-designed maps that fit all sorts of different situations. I've written about my love of Dyson maps before. They're easy to print, easy to write on, and easy to copy onto a battle mat using his key. They work well digitally and physically.

Evocative Names – Just For Us

Sometimes we GMs prep like they're prepping for someone else. We write out read-aloud text, develop large random tables, and add details to notes as though we're going to hand our prep over to another GM to run.

Our notes are just for us and they serve one purpose – to help us run our next game. Our notes aren't for anyone else. They're just for us. They don't need to be complete and they don't need to be pretty.

When we annotate our map, we don't need to fill in lots of details. Often a single evocative name for each chamber does the trick. Here are some examples:

• Shrine of Heretical Aten
• Well of Worlds
• Howling sinkhole
• Sinister armory
• Moss-covered mosaics
• Crumbling statues
• Profane dias and altar
• Fiery dragon skulls
• Cracked stone bridge
• Delicate laboratory

These one to three word descriptions, when we write them ourselves, gives us enough of a reminder to fill in further details when it comes to running those rooms. We don't need paragraphs of text for each room – many of them the characters never see.

Our notes are just for us. Our annotations are just for us. We don't need a lot written down to remember what we had in mind or to riff off of should the characters go into a chamber we didn't expect.

Keep Things Simple

Focus on tools that help you run your game – the ones that help you improvise during the game. The more complicated your stack of tools, the harder it is to find the right tool the moment you need it. Often these tools are the oldest ones in existence – a sheet of paper, a pencil, and some dice.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Organizing and Searching RPG PDFs on a Mac and Mugdulblub – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 44 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Sly Flourish After-School RPG Club Sponsorship
• Free Kobold Press Encounter Builder
• Dread Thingonomicon Bundle of Holding for $8
• Goodman Games Humble Bundle
• Grim Hollow Transformed Kickstarter
• Ars Magica in a Creative Commons License
• Two Bandits Talking About the Characters

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Single Best Tip for New GMs
• What If Characters Don't Strike Lighting Rods?
• D&D 2024 Tool DCs and DM Agency
• Can You Mix TOV, A5e, D&D 2024, and D&D 2014?

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Give each improvised monster an interesting trait to define its story in mechanics.
• At 7th level, don't expect any single monster to bring a significant challenge unless it has legendary resistance.
• Prepare one major scene for every 45 minutes of gameplay.
• Show characters the breadth of cultures from the humanoid creatures they meet.
• Keep a list of names of previous NPCs you can quickly reference when an old NPC comes back into the spotlight.
• Let players level up characters together and discuss the new abilities they're considering.
• Build historical layers to your dungeons. What is it now? What did it used to be? And what was it before that?

Related Articles

• Use Dyson's Maps
• Tips for Paper Character Sheets
• Prepping a Dungeon

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

As characters explore dungeons deep and ancient ruins, they often come across decorations from times past. Such decorations serve as excellent vehicles for secrets and clues, single-sentence pieces of history or lore revealed through play.

Here are ten types of stonework decorations to keep on hand to improvise the revelation of such secrets and clues.

1. Relief. The projection of an image in which the stonework around the image is carved back, leaving the image protruding forward. Includes low (bas), high, and sunken. Such reliefs might reveal lost histories or forgotten knowledge.
2. Frieze. A long horizontal stretch of painted or sculpted decoration at the upper edge of a wall, room, or object like a sarcophagus. These decorations might not be noticed at first glance but a perceptive character might pick up interesting clues with their keen eye.
3. Mural. A piece of graphic artwork painted directly on a wall or ceiling. Murals can depict great wars, images of gods, or rulers of old. Murals might peel away revealing layers of such works.
4. Fresco. A vivid painting applied directly to freshly laid plaster. The plaster might break away showing carvings on the wall underneath.
5. Mosaic. A pattern or image created from inlaying small pieces of stone, glass, or ceramic. Such pieces of glass might contain magical lights or other embedded spells.
6. Runic carvings. Writing of language or ideographs carved into rock slabs or tombstones. A knowlege of history might uncover their meaning.
7. Encaustic painting. Using heated wax to apply pigments to a surface, often wood or canvas. The wax might be melted away to reveal something underneath.
8. Gilded Engravings. Applying a thin coating of gold over another surface, sometimes inlaid within a carving. Such engravings might conduct electricity or activate a trap when pulled away.
9. Marouflage. Applying a painted canvas to a wall with an adhesive such as plaster or cement. Such decorations might hide a secret door behind the canvas.
10. Sgraffito. Scratching through the surface of one pigment to reveal the pigment underneath. Scratching away further might reveal a mural painted underneath – like a giant scratch-off ticket.

Keep these art styles in mind to add richness and detail to the characters' discoveries in the depths of the dark.

These decorations have been added to the Lazy GM's Reference Document in the "Core Adventure Generators" section released under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Finding Players and Building a Resilient RPG Group and Dragon Empire Campaign Building Part 2 – Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Enter the Labyrinth by Kobold Press
• Dragontown and the Darkness Below
• Horizons Magazine by Wildmage Press
• Beadle and Grimm 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide Map Pack
• 2024 Player's Handbook is D&D's Fastest Selling Book Ever
• You Don't Own Your D&D Beyond Books
• Hidden Subclass Compatibility in D&D 2024
• The Current State of Generative AI and TTRPGs

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Industry Standards for Releasing RPG Material Under Open Licenses
• Coming Up with Villains or Fronts in Strange Campaign Settings
• Excluding a Player from a Game

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Mix easy encounters with hard encounters. Don’t always push PCs to the limit.
• You don’t always have to call for an ability check. Sometimes characters just do it.
• Add shortcuts to your dungeons so characters have an easy way to enter and exit big multi-level dungeons.
• Visions or remnant illusions can show moments of history long forgotten.
• Know your wall decorations: mosaics, frescos, reliefs, friezes, murals, tapestries, engravings, marouflage, and encaustic paintings.
• Use waves of combatants to shake up challenging fights.
• Tag improvised monsters with keywords that remind you of unique abilities like “life drain” or “necrotic blast” or “cunning action” or “pack tactics” or “reposte”.

Related Articles

• Re-Using Secrets and Clues
• Bathe Your World in Lore
• The Simplest Way to Annotate a Map

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Your brain, fueled by books and augmented with simple tools, is your best resource for preparing and running awesome tabletop roleplaying games.

Many GMs and players say they find a lot of value out of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and other generative AI tools like Midjourney or Dall-E. Who am I to tell them they’re not finding them as useful as they say they are?

But there's a high cost for generative AI.

• They're built on people’s intellectual property without their permission and without compensation.
• They use tons of power and water.
• They displace workers with shitty AI alternatives.
• They fill the internet with slop.

With this in mind, we can ask ourselves two questions:

• Is generative AI really helping you more than other tools and techniques you have available?
• Is generative AI worth the cost to the world to use it?

Your answers to these questions may be "yes". That's up to each of us to decide and I'm not here to judge. I find LLMs useful for small coding projects but they don't help me with RPGs. They offer the illusion of help, but my best RPG work is the work I do myself.

The Current State of Generative AI in TTRPGs

Creators, companies, and hobbyists of tabletop roleplaying games find themselves on both sides of the generative AI value discussion.

Chris Cocks, CEO of Hasbro (the parent company in charge of D&D) is super excited for AI in D&D, saying:

I play with probably 30 or 40 people regularly. There’s not a single person who doesn’t use AI somehow for either campaign development or character development or story ideas. That’s a clear signal that we need to be embracing it.

On the other side, Wolfgang Baur of Kobold Press issued the No-AI Pledge:

We don’t use generative AI art, we don’t use AI to generate text for our game design, and we don’t believe that AI is magical pixie dust that makes your tabletop games better.

Among 3,700 players and GMs I surveyed, about 3 in 10 use generative AI when preparing for or playing RPGs. There’s a lot of divisiveness between these groups:

It helps me immensely. I’m the type that’ll stare blankly at a screen for hours before being able to write a single word, so having AI to get things started has helped me in everything.

No, and I never will. Never use plagiarism software.

Your Best Large Language Model – Your Brain

You already possess the most powerful computer in known existence – available any time to help you generate awesome ideas for your tabletop roleplaying game. Instead of nuclear power, it runs on meat and plants and other garbage like a Mr. Fusion in Back to the Future. It has no monthly fee. It’s not killing creative jobs, stealing the work of millions, literally boiling the ocean, or filling the internet with crap.

Your best RPG tool sits right behind your eyes.

It’s easy to get caught up in the “magic” of large language models but, in my experience, they’re not great for generating game content when compared to reading books and using your imagination.

Our brains – fed with great source material and simple tools like random tables – give us tons of ideas to fuel our games like they have for over 50 years.

GM Brain Tricks

We don’t need a data center the size of Ohio to think about our games. Here are some fun brain tricks to help you prepare and run awesome games.

• Read sourcebooks. Highlight them. Reference things from other books. Take notes. Connect the dots. Enjoy the experience of diving into lore written by other human beings.
• Think about your characters. Think about your villains. Write down secrets and clues connecting them to the world. Write some flash fiction to show your players where the villains are going and what plans they may be making.
• Think up lists of ten things – NPCs, locations, monsters, quests, factions, secrets and clues, or anything else you need for your game.
• Grab a Dyson map and fill out rooms with interesting features for your next adventure location.
• Mash together random tables. Roll on multiple tables and combine the results into more meaningful random encounters.
• Build your own faction tables for your campaign. Combine them with items, NPCs, quests, or locations for results customized around your campaign. See my Forgotten Realms factions and my Eberron factions for examples.

Find more brain tricks in these articles:

• Creative Mind Exercises for D&D
• Break Conventional Thought with Random Tables
• Play D&D Anywhere
• Develop Your DM Brain Attic
• Get Ideas for your RPGs
• Good Books of Random Tables
• Random Creativity in D&D

Other Fantastic Non-Generative-AI Tools

Here are other fantastic resources to help you shake up your brain, come up with awesome ideas, and run great games for your friends.

• The Lazy GM’s Resource Document. A free creative-commons-released document including tons of random tables from the Lazy DM’s Workbook and Lazy DM’s Companion. Remix these lists to your heart’s content.
• Perchance. An online tool to build your own random generators. The Lazy GM’s Random Generator, a Patreon exclusive feature, is built using Perchance.
• Dyson Maps. Fantastic reskinnable maps. Pick one, jot down short room descriptions, and let your mind fill in the blanks.
• Donjon.bin.sh. A fantastic and venerable random generator for all sorts of fantasy RPGs with a lot for D&D and 5e.
• Stock art on DriveThruRPG. Great art by real artists with reasonable licenses at reasonable prices. If you’re looking for character or NPC portraits for your game, check out Inkwell Ideas’s Portrait Decks available in print and PDF.
• Dread Thingonomicon. A huge book of random tables by Raging Swan for all sorts of fantasy situations.

Give Yourself Time and Space

In our always-on world, we seem to be in a constant state of FOMO. Whatever we’re doing now, there are a thousand other things we could be doing instead. Go for a walk. Do some structured daydreaming. Get away from your phone and computer for an hour. Grab physical books. Roll on random tables. Write your notes longhand. Pretend to be Gandalf in the old library of Minas Tirith blowing dust off old tomes to find ancient secrets.

You don’t need a large language model to read books for you and spit out half-truths and nonsense. Dive in yourself, cross-reference things, jot down thoughts, and come up with awesome ideas yourself for the game you’re going to run with your friends.

You are your best large language model.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on Leaving Blanks and Return to Bittermold Keep – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 43 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Pirate Borg
• Run I6 Ravenloft with Shadowdark on Halloween
• Free D&D 2024 Rules with All Twelve Classes
• D&D Adventurer's League Moves to D&D 2024
• D&D 2024 PHB Available Physically and on Four VTTs
• D&D 2024's Handling of Tools and DCs
• Two Words for Increasing Combat Challenge

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• What's My Next Campaign?
• Upward and Downward Beats in a Campaign
• Why Switch to Obsidian?

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Give seeds of clues even on low ability checks.
• Use static initiative to better time and pace battles. 5 for slow, 10 for medium, and 15 for fast creatures.
• Spread out combatants and clarify the distances if trying to avoid all the baddies getting nuked at once.
• If a spell you’re not familiar with sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Start your prep with a map of a cool location. Print it out. Jot down two word room descriptions. Put your strong start, secrets, NPCs, monsters, and treasure on the back.
• A single sheet of paper is likely all you need for your prep notes.
• Give monsters one cool trait to make them unique.

Related Articles

• Getting Ideas for your RPGs
• Good Books of Random Tables
• The Simplest Way to Annotate a Map

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Each year I like to run Castle Ravenloft, either through the original I6 Ravenloft adventure from 1983 or the updated Castle Ravenloft from Curse of Strahd. While I've typically run Ravenloft using 5e, in 2023 I ran it with the excellent "old school feel, modern sensibilities" Shadowdark RPG.

It was a perfect fit.

Shadowdark captures the feeling of dread and horror in Castle Ravenloft better than I've ever seen it. Shadowdark's rules almost perfectly match the mechanics and feeling of 1st edition D&D with a focus on darkness and lighting, flat math, high randomness, and a system of grim horror lurking just inside the surrounding shadows.

Patrons of Sly Flourish get access to a Shadowdark Ravenloft Lazy GM kit including

• a one-page handout for players.
• ten pregen characters.
• a GM reference sheet to keep track of your card draws, character info, and quick monster conversion stats.
• printable i6 Ravenloft handouts.

Patrons can find the Shadowdark Ravenloft Lazy GM kit on your Sly Flourish Patreon rewards page under "Adventures".

Experiences from the Shadows of Ravenloft

Here are some primary observations from running Ravenloft with Shadowdark.

• I used 5th level pregen characters from Shadowdarklings. They worked perfectly. The characters had enough resources to survive the night but just barely.
• I generated 10 pregens for five players. We used every one of them. We had a lot of deaths. New characters would pop in as lost adventurers in the castle as needed. I'd recommend not bringing in new characters in the final battle with Strahd. It's fine to bring in new characters everywhere else when they die.
• The characters definitely want to acquire magic items or use spells to make their weapons magical. Many creatures, including Strahd and other vampires, are immune to non-magical weapons. You might be kind and toss a couple of silvered weapons their way either in the beginning or during the game.
• I used my abbreviated Ravenloft adventure built for a single session. More on this version later.
• We used old-school mapping. I would draw a loose diagram of rooms and one of the players drew their own map to keep track of where they went and what options they chose. In more than 10 years of running Ravenloft, I'm still running into new rooms I haven't seen before.
• We got through a lot of chambers in the three hours of exploring the characters did. Shadowdark makes it easy to move quickly.
• The characters ran from a lot of encounters. That was a good idea given the adventure's lethality and the timing of the adventure.

Introducing Players to Shadowdark

Before our session, I sent out a one-page Shadows of Ravenloft guide to help players understand how this game was going to work. It includes the following list to help 5e players understand how Shadowdark RPG differs from 5e.

• The core mechanics and abilities of Shadowdark match 5e. Roll a d20, add a modifier, match a DC.
• Shadowdark embraces randomness. Die rolls carry a lot of weight. Ability scores are generated 3d6 down the line, and are thus much flatter than standard 5e ability scores. There are no skills – only ability checks.
• Characters have far fewer hit points than in 5e but so do monsters. Damage is a flat die roll, no ability modifier, so damage is lower and more swingy.
• There are no spell slots or cantrips. Casting spells requires a spellcasting ability check. On a failure, you lose the spell. Most of the time, if you succeed on the check, the spell succeeds – targets rarely get saving throws.
• Torches matter, equipment slots matter, and rations matter – Shadowdark has a much greater emphasis on the logistics of dungeon delving.
• Beware the dark! Torches burn in real time, for one hour. When they go out, the horrors lurking in the dark fall upon you.
• You’re always in turn order. We go through turns and rounds regardless of what the characters are doing. Spend too much time dorking around and wandering monsters fall upon you.

The Rules of Halloween Ravenloft

Beyond using Shadowdark for the game, my single-session Castle Ravenloft game runs differently than a normal adventure. Here's a breakdown of how I run it.

• The session is scheduled for five hours. This schedule gives us an hour to socialize and get acclimated before the adventure begins.
• The game begins with the characters in a carriage heading towards Castle Ravenloft. Madame Eva is in the carriage and does the card reading as in i6 Ravenloft.
• With the reading done, the characters arrive at the castle and in they go.
• The characters might meet with Strahd. He offers them the chance to escape Ravenloft with their lives and leave Ireena to him. If they take this deal, he laughs at them and says they'll soon get what they deserve (whatever they choose, he's still going to spend the evening hunting them down in his castle).
• With their meeting complete, Strahd tells them they may explore his castle with what remains of their lives and he will join them in X time. X being whatever time is left for the session minus 45 minutes.
• I set a timer for that amount of time and the time counts down. When the time runs out, Strahd appears wherever the characters are and starts the killing. This timer is separate from torch timers.
• The characters spend their time hunting down the relics of Ravenloft before Strahd shows up.

Modifying I6 Ravenloft for Shadowdark RPG

I6 Ravenloft needed very little conversion to run with Shadowdark. Shadowdark's flat math and I6 Ravenloft's 1st edition AD&D rules work well together. Many monsters in Ravenloft exist in Shadowdark or are easily reskinned. Strahd zombies, for example, can use the normal zombie stat block but with twice the hit points and twice the attacks. The witches can use the acolyte or cultist stat blocks.

For Strahd himself, I used the standard vampire stat block. He was plenty hard. I didn't bother giving him spells but you can give him some mage or drow priestess spells to fill him out. Snuff is a great ability for him to use.

If you're being generous, you may want to throw in a couple of silver weapons early in the session so characters have a chance of hitting Strahd if they don't find the sunsword or any other magic weapons.

Modifications to the Relics of Ravenloft

The items in Ravenloft work mostly fine as-is except for the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind which is simply too powerful. If the characters have that relic, they can stop Strahd dead in his tracks without any effort.

Instead, consider having it impose disadvantage on Strahd's attacks, stop or break his charm, and prevent the regeneration from his blood drain. The vampire's blood drain is already a really powerful ability. I limited his regen to 2d6 per round instead of per hit or else he would have completely overpowered the characters.

Maps for Online Play

If you're playing online you can find these excellent Ravenloft battle maps on the DM's Guild.

You can use a lasso-style copy and paste utility to grab the part of the map the characters have seen and avoid showing rooms they haven't yet gotten to. With some practice, this technique is a fast way to show off parts of this massive dungeon. Owlbear Rodeo is another great option for a fast and lightweight virtual tabletop. With Owlbear Rodeo and the Ravenloft battle maps, I was able to get all of Ravenloft loaded up and ready to go in less than ten minutes!

A Fantastic Combination

I really loved running the classic Ravenloft with Shadowdark RPG. It was a perfect match for the old-school feeling of the adventure. I highly recommend it.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on The Most Underappreciated Combat Style and Dragon Empire Campaign Building – Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Worldographer 2025 by Inkwell Ideas
• Shadow City Mysteries
• Level Up Advanced 5e on Bundle of Holding
• MCDM's License for Draw Steel
• Shadowdark Guide to Monster Statistics by Matt Dietrich
• Four Sources of D&D History
• Instant Monsters for 5e

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Handling Back Seat Driving Veteran Players
• Running the City of Arches with Shadowdark
• Managing Secrets with Multiple Paths Ahead
• Building Single-Session Episodic Adventures

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Reiterate lines and veils if your game heads towards potentially sensitive areas like body horror or sexual intimacy. Peoples’ feelings may have changed since your session zero.
• Stay in turn order, even outside of combat so you give everyone enough time in the spotlight.
• Give players' roles including quartermaster, cartographer, scribe, and caller.
• Two key pieces of dungeon-crawling structure: what is the marching order of the characters and who's maintaining light?
• Build a faction list unique for your campaign including gods, factions, historical figures, and campaign icons. Roll on this list to flavor items, monuments, and NPCs.
• Roll on behalf of characters when their character wouldn't know if they succeeded or not.
• Offer multiple paths and decisions as often as you can.

Related Articles

• Running Ravenloft / Curse of Strahd in a Single Session
• Delving Into Shadowdark
• My Favorite TTRPG Products of 2023

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Finding and maintaining a great RPG group remains the biggest hurdle for the RPG hobby. It's the topic of memes all over the internet. With all of our technology and interconnectedness, it hasn't gotten significantly better.

But there's hope.

Today we're going to look at best practices for finding local players for your tabletop RPG. For those of you who play online, do not fret. I plan on a similar article for finding great online players. In the meantime you can read my article on Interviewing New D&D Players for Online Games. Online play is a fantastic way to enjoy RPGs but today we're going to focus on finding local players.

Many suggestions here came from some fantastic discussion on this YouTube community thread. I've consolidated the many responses I received when I asked how GMs best find players for local games.

Where to Find Players

Here's a list of common places people found players for local games:

• Local game shops
• Colleagues at work
• Family members
• The local library
• Local meetups and conventions
• Schools and universities
• Asking new friends
• Facebook groups
• Meetup.com (I don't know if this option is still a good one but it used to be)
• Local Discord servers or Reddit groups
• Local Adventurer's League meetups
• Local bulletin boards (actual physical boards)
• Local volunteer groups

Run Games

It's much easier to find players than it is to find gamemasters. GMs are still the rare commodity in this hobby, so if you're willing to GM, it's easier to find players. The last time I saw a poll on it, most GMs became GMs because no one else would take the role. So take it and you'll find it easier to find players.

Try One-Shots

When you're first finding people and inviting people to play, consider running single-session or short-run campaigns in public places. This trial run gives all of you an element of safety and helps you ensure you mesh with players before you commit to a regular game or a long-term campaign.

If you have the chance, you might meet up with potential players, either physically in a public place or online, just to see how well you get along before you sit down to a game but the real test will be gaming itself.

Focus On What They Want to Play

You might have a huge stack of different RPGs you want to play but new players don't know you at all yet. They might know what system they're already comfortable with – likely D&D. Start with something familiar to them. Run a few sessions. Show them what kind of DM you are and gauge what kinds of players they are. Once you've built some trust, you can talk to them about running other systems if you want or you might find you're enjoying the game you're running.

If you start off trying to bring players in for a lesser-known game system, it may be harder to find people. They don't know you and they might not know the system, so why jump in?

Worth the Effort

Finding a group to play RPGs is worth the effort. RPGs are important. They build stronger connections between us than most forms of entertainment these days. They matter to peoples' lives. It take time and energy and likely involves some false starts and frustrations to put together a great RPG group, but it's worth it in the end.

Be patient, be persistent, and be hopeful that you'll find an awesome group to enjoy your favorite RPG.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on One Night with Level Up Advanced 5e amd Haldrin the Lich – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 42 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Mike Loses a Bet
• D&D 2024 and Free D&D on D&D Beyond
• Rich Lescoulflair Talking Phantasy Star RPG on Morrus's Podcast
• Matt Coleville on Eldritch Lorecast Talking About Project Sigil
• Free Hex Crawl Rules from Cursed Scroll 4
• Broken Weave for 5e by Cubicle 7
• Distance, Activity, and Attitude for Random Encounters

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Rewriting Published Adventures for Table Use
• Building Your Own Pantheon
• Using the Eight Steps for Published Adventures

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Don’t start your game with a huge hard battle. It might wipe out your players’ energy just as things get started.
• Give characters multiple paths to research problems and discover answers.
• Abstract clues from their location and method of discovery. Improvise their discovery during the game.
• Add meaningful choices to every scene.
• Drop one interesting encounter in the middle of travel.
• Roll and mix two random encounters together.
• Use random encounters to show what passes by before.

Related Articles

• Finding and Maintaining a D&D Group
• Building Stronger Friendships through D&D
• Describe your GM Style

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

Like the best lazy GM tricks, monuments serve multiple purposes in our fantasy RPGs.

A monument is a physical object sitting in the middle of a room, location, or scene. They draw our players' attention – making a location feel real. Monuments can act as vehicles for secrets and clues, markers to remember past locations, and artifacts of power to change up combat encounters.

Today we're going to look at the steps for building out encounter-changing monuments of power.

Step 1: Build a Monument

The best monuments are built from the context of the scene. See Chernbog's Well for an example of an in-world monument with some great environmental effects.

Here's a list of baseline monuments from the Lazy DM's Companion:

1. Sarcophagus
2. Obelisk
3. Orb
4. Bone pile
5. Skull
6. Megalith
7. Pillars
8. Throne
9. Statues
10. Well
11. Orrery
12. Effigy
13. Arcane circle
14. Spire
15. Altar
16. Pit
17. Fountain
18. Archway
19. Cage
20. Brazier

Random tables help us shake up ideas for monuments. Often, a monument itself isn't enough so we can tie it to conditions, effects, origins, species, gods, moments of history, and other potential variables. You can find useful tables like these in the Lazy DM's Companion as well. It often helps to build your own custom god, faction, or history tables for your own campaign setting and tie those aspects to a monument.

Step 2: Choose CR and Stats

How powerful is the monument? Use your same encounter benchmarks to determine how difficult a monument might be. You probably don't want a monument of a higher CR than the average level of the characters. It likely shouldn't be the most dangerous thing in the room all on its own. Smaller monuments have lower CRs.

Monuments of power may have different effects on the battle. If monument powers are mostly defensive, they might just make the battle longer. If they're offensive, the difficulty might be much higher and have a greater impact on combat. If they can be turned in favor of the characters, manipulating the monument might shift the battle halfway through.

When you select a CR for the monument, you can choose its AC, DC, and hit points from the Forge of Foes quick monster builder, available in the sample chapter. You also give the monument an attack bonus and damage per round if you need it for the effects it produces.

Monuments are immune to psychic and poison damage and probably all status effects. You might give them resistances, vulnerabilities, or immunities depending on the type of monument as well.

Some characters want to bash monuments in which case they attack its AC and do damage like normal. Others may want to perform ability checks to disrupt or turn a monument. In those cases, its AC can act as a DC.

For example, a CR 5 monument has a AC / DC of 15 and 95 hit points. A successful intelligence (arcana) check might inflict 35 damage. You may want to base the amount of damage the character does with an ability check on the damage it otherwise would do in a round. A 9th level character, for example, can likely inflict 35 damage in a single turn so that makes sense.

You might include multiple smaller monuments instead of one single big one. Reduce their CR appropriately for their number and effects.

Step 3: Choose Effects

Monuments of power radiate powerful encounter-changing effects. Here's a list of twenty potential powers a monument might have.

1. Offers advantage to particular creatures on attacks and saving throws.
2. Increases damage to particular creature types.
3. Reduces damage taken by particular creature types.
4. Unlocks particular abilities of creatures.
5. Gives access to particular spells they wouldn’t otherwise have.
6. Obscures vision.
7. Prevents or reduces healing.
8. Prevents teleportation.
9. Acts as a vessel for extra spell concentration.
10. Has an ongoing protective spell effect.
11. Offers regeneration.
12. Animates dead minions.
13. Grants temporary hit points to nearby creatures.
14. Grants resistance or immunity to a specific damage type.
15. Gives a +2 bonus to attack rolls to certain creatures.
16. Adds damage to the attacks of certain enemies.
17. Grants the ability to fly.
18. Summons and controls a powerful creature.
19. Offers legendary resistance and shrugging off other debilitating effects.
20. Radiates damage.

Some of these monument effects can protect bosses. Others can throw out damage. You choose what power you want to add to a monument based on the in-world situation and what would be fun for the battle.

You can also tie spell effects to monuments. Here are a few spell effects that work well when tied to a monument:

1. Globe of invulnerability
2. Fire shield
3. Spirit guardians
4. Spiritual weapon
5. Darkness
6. Stone skin
7. Protection from good
8. Greater invisibility
9. Silence
10. Antimagic field

Step 4: Ensure They're Fun

The line between a fun monument and a tedious monument is thin. The wrong monument with the wrong power can feel like a slog instead of an interesting tactical decision in a big battle. Ensure the monuments you create add to the fun instead of just slowing everything down. In particular, avoid monuments that take away agency. Monuments should add interesting choices to a battle, not take choices away. If a monument is too powerful, the characters have no choice but to go dork with it. But a monument that gives villains an edge creates a choice for the players – do they just bash the boss or go disable the monument?

One great trick is to let players reverse a monument instead of destroy it. Looking down the list of potential effects, ask if there's a way the characters can channel it in their favor instead of just destroying it.

Shaking Up Big Battles

Our 5e games remain interesting session after session because every battle is different. The environment changes. The mix of monsters changes. The situation changes. And with monuments in our bag of tricks, we can change them even further. Our bosses become harder. The characters have to move around. Extra variables create battles completely unique from one game to the next.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on City of Arches – Running Summervine Villa and Haldrin's Tower – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 41 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Follow Up on D&D 2014 Material in D&D Beyond
• Lost Worlds of Gygax Humble Bundle
• D&D Direct Announcements
• Knave 2 by Ben Milton
• Twelve Types of Medieval Artwork and Architecture for Dungeon Delving

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Convincing New Players to Try a New System
• 18 Months Since Other Publishers Published on D&D Beyond
• Using City of Arches with Theros
• Empire of the Ghouls Out of Print
• Favorite Campaign Sourcebook and Setting

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Build layers of gods the characters can discover as they explore the world around them.
• Improvise gods by shifting the names, appearances, genders, and domains of existing gods from fiction or history.
• Study types of historical artwork and decorations to improvise such features in your game.
• Lean in on the characters’ cool abilities.
• Change up encounters so the characters discover two groups already engaged in battle.
• Mix roleplay, exploration, and combat even in the deepest dungeon.
• Warn players that they might not have everything they need, should they have to backtrack in a dungeon.

Related Articles

• Anatomy of an Environmental Effect – Chernobog's Well
• Character-Focused Ancient Monuments
• Lost Monuments of Chult

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
• Podcast
• YouTube

Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.

The eight steps for game prep from Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master include:

• Review the characters
• Create a strong start
• Outline potential scenes
• Define secrets and clues
• Develop fantastic locations
• Outline important NPCs
• Choose relevant monsters
• Select magic item rewards

Obviously, with so many different types of games and many different adventure models, these steps are intended to flex and shift as you need them.

One step in particular holds a lot of weight and contains a lot of flexibility: outlining potential scenes.

This step can act as a catch-all for many different things depending on what you need for your session. This includes:

• Adventure hooks – what draws the characters into this session's adventure?
• Forks and options – what paths might be open for the characters in this session?
• Five scenes – What scenes might happen in the game? You probably need about one scene for every 45 minutes of gameplay. Writing down this handful of short scene descriptions is the default use for this step.
• Potential shifts in the story – where might the world move to in the short-term if certain things happen?
• Next steps – what options do you want to put in front of the players this session to figure out where they're going in the next session?
• Steps required to accomplish a task – what do the characters need to do to accomplish a goal? This works well with the three of five keys idea.

You don't need all of these things for any given session, of course. Sometimes the hooks are already firmly planted. Sometimes there aren't clear forks or there are so many forks (like when exploring a dungeon) that you don't bother to break them out into scenes. Sometimes you know where the characters are going next so you don't need to outline the next steps.

A Flexible Catch-All

Use the "scenes" step to apply whatever glue you need to hold your session together and give you what you need to prepare the next one. There's no fixed format for this step (or really any of the eight steps). Like secrets serving you, this "scenes" step serves you to help you get your hand around the session you're going to run and helps you get what you need to keep your game going in the right direction.

And, of course, you can omit it completely. None of the eight steps are mandatory. Each step is there to help you get your hands around what you need to run an enjoyable session for your friends. If a step doesn't serve that purpose, skip it. If you feel like you already have what you need, toss out anything else.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos including Regions and Biomes of the City of Arches, Let's Build a Character in Shadowdark RPG, and Return to the Gloaming – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 40 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• D&D Designers of All Editions Talk About and Play D&D
• Kelsey Dionne of Shadowdark on Morrus's Unofficial Tabletop RPG Podcast
• D&D Beyond Changes, Then Reverses, How They Will Handle 2014 Characters
• Track the Characters

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Running Short Games for Large Groups
• Favorite D&D 2024 Rule?
• Running Mastermind and Dark Nemesis Bosses
• Releasing the Forge of Foes Generic Monster Stats into the CC
• What's In your DM - GM Kit?

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Bathe dungeons in layers of lore.
• Give characters a customizable home base.
• Write down names of NPCs associated with the characters
• Drop in quick combat encounters in looser exploration and downtime scenes to focus peoples’ attention.
• What cool magic item reinforces each character’s theme? Take notes and review them during your prep.
• Think of encounters as situations the characters can navigate instead of purely tactical combat encounters.
• Write your own quick random lists to bring locations to life.

Related Articles

• Using the Lazy DM's Eight Steps At the Table
• The Eight Steps of the Lazy DM – 2023 Review
• Choosing the Right Steps from the Lazy DM Checklist

Get More from Sly Flourish

• Articles
• Newsletter
• Bookstore
• Patreon
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13th Age is an awesome fantasy roleplaying game built by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet as their love letter to D&D. There's much to love in this book but today we're going to focus on one feature:

The Flee action.

Fleeing in D&D is a problem. Monsters get you locked down and by the time you know you should flee, two of your characters are down and the others are going to take a mountain of opportunity attacks if they try to run. Players already hate running from a battle, but often by the time they think they need to, they mechanically can't. By the time players realize they need to run, it's already too late.

13th Age has an elegant solution for this dilemma.

The Flee Action

Here's the flee action from the 13th Age SRD (known as the Archmage Engine):

Flee: Fleeing is a party action. On any PC’s turn, any player can propose that all the characters flee the fight. If all players agree, they successfully retreat, carrying any fallen heroes away with them. The party suffers a campaign loss. The point of this rule is to encourage daring attacks and to make retreating interesting on the level of story rather than tactics.

In short, if your group says they want to run, they run. They get away, carrying any downed characters with them – but at a story cost.

This is an easy rule for handling retreats – something players surely want to avoid but one which doesn't penalize them for mechanical idiosyncrasies like being locked down by potential opportunity attacks or dropped to zero hit points. It isn't a matter of the tactics or mechanics that let them flee – it's a matter of the story and what it means in the fiction.

The Cost of Retreating

Retreating has a cost. But we don't want this cost to be too severe or we'll still steer players away from the option of retreating. Instead, we want this cost to be interesting. We want it to move the story forward, just in a different direction. It doesn't end the situation, it begins a new one.

Here are ten example campaign shifts when the characters flee from combat:

• A ritual succeeds and a portal to the hells is opened.
• An important NPC is killed and the politics of the city becomes chaotic.
• The villains acquire or complete the construction of a powerful artifact.
• An unearthly horror is released into the world.
• A new cult forms around a creature the characters didn't defeat.
• Armies of disparate warbands now convene around a central warlord.
• One of the two ships the characters had in their possession is destroyed.
• The characters find themselves in darker and danker chambers below the site of their exit.
• Prisoners the characters hoped to rescue have become thralls.
• The Cult of the Black Harbinger activates the obelisks and discovers the doorway of the Black Cathedral.

Planning Costs Ahead of Time

When we're prepping a big dangerous battle, or a series of battles, we can ask ourselves:

"What happens if the characters lose this fight?"

It's one thing to assume the characters all die but what if they escape and the villain's plan moves forward? Fleeing from a battle shouldn't be the end of the story, it should be a new and interesting beginning.

Tell Your Players

The flee action isn't helpful if your players don't know they can do it. You may want to add it to your session zero checklist or your list of house rules and describe it as an option before the players need it. That way they always know they have this feature available to them if they want it.

If you don't think calling it the "flee" action will sit well with your players, call it the "retreat" action instead so they don't feel so bad using it.

An Easy Way to Focus Fleeing on the Story

This house rule for fleeing can be a great addition to our games. Instead of focusing on avoiding opportunity attacks or saving downed characters, shift the conversation back to the story itself. Let you and your players find a new path and a new angle in the ever-changing tales we share at the table.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a few of YouTube videos including City of Arches Campaign Paths, Lazy GM Kit 2024 – Tools of the Lazy Dungeon Master, and Let's Build a Character with Tales of the Valiant.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

• Horror at Devil's Run on Foundry
• Rob Heinsoo on Gnomecast
• Free League Publishing Pulls PDFs from the Alchemy VTT
• Thrones and Bones Player's Guide by Lazy Wolf Studios
• Letters to Washington Post About D&D
• Running an Infiltration in Summervine Villa

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

• Do We Need to Change Forge of Foes and the Lazy Encounter Benchmark for D&D 2024?
• Can a Paid DM Run Your Books?

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

• Track magic item rewards per character. Don’t let a character fall significantly behind.
• Let random treasure tools inspire your own parcels and rewards.
• Keep character names in front of you. Track turns even outside of combat.
• Keep the lazy encounter benchmark on hand to tell you if a fight is way too difficult or not. A battle may be hard if the total of monster CRs is greater than one quarter of total character levels, or half of total character levels if the characters are 5th level or above.
• Prep handouts and secret villain notes. Use them to keep yourself and your players focused.
• Clarify goals in open situations, heists, or infiltration adventures.
• Give characters a home base.

Related Articles

• The Heroic Spark
• Tell, Don't Show
• Focus Extra Prep Time on the Characters

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Buy Sly Flourish's Books

• The City of Arches
• Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master
• Lazy DM's Companion
• Lazy DM's Workbook
• Forge of Foes
• Fantastic Lairs
• Ruins of the Grendleroot
• Fantastic Adventures
• Fantastic Locations

Have a question or want to contact me? Check out Sly Flourish's Frequently Asked Questions.