Worlds of Design

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Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Too Much Dice?
Game designers: You don’t need bucketsful of dice in your RPG rules!
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: What’s Your Objective?
What is that game supposed to actually DO for the players?
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Combat Tactics
These tactics might save your character’s life
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Lost Art of Being Lost
If you’ve played tabletop RPGs long enough, you’ve probably been in an adventure where your party got lost. Yet it’s much less likely to happen nowadays.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Leveling vs. Training
We previously covered why training systems were abandoned in D&D. Here's what replaced it.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Price of Advancement
In AD&D, there was a training requirement to advancement that didn’t reflect how people actually learn. In this column I’ll talk about how the real world works in this context.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Golden Rules for RPGs
There are several Golden Rules, really. These are my three for role-playing games.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Building a Structural Framework
Years ago I devised a framework that can be applied to “all” games, to help aspiring designers of board and card games. Let’s see how it applies to RPGs.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: How Big is Your Army?
For those who prefer "realistic" numbers in RPGs: Inflated numbers of combatants for battles litter history books, derived from wildly inaccurate contemporary histories. We can do much better in figuring out actual numbers.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Spelljammer 2.0
As a big fan of the old Spelljammer, I really wanted to like the new 5e version. But it doesn’t fix some of the problems of the old version.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Lost in Translation
Adaptations of any fiction from one medium to another tend to suffer from unnecessary changes, including tabletop role-playing games. Unfortunately, what’s necessary and unnecessary is often a matter of opinion.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Are You Consistent?
Like sports fans, RPGers want consistency of GMs rulings. This is both in the “meta” mode, what characters do aside from adventures, and adventures mode.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Great Dichotomies of RPGs
A few years ago for an online course about strategic wargame design I devised a list of about a dozen dichotomies between warfare and games. The paradox of wargames is that warfare and games are polar opposites! After writing some 150 “Worlds of Design” columns I decided to do the same for RPGs, relying in part on some of my columns.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: The Nature of Armies
If you’re building a full-scale world for your campaign, that will likely involve armies. Let’s discuss what happens in the real world so that you can avoid straining the disbelief of your players.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: RPG Gods - Benign or Malign?
Most RPG settings have some form of godhood. Yet there are some age-old questions that come into play as you create religions.
Worlds of Design 
Worlds of Design: Imposter Syndrome
What is “Imposter Syndrome?” It’s a common problem for “creatives.” In RPGs it primarily applies to game designers, but some homebrew GMs will also recognize it.

This Week in TTRPG

Reviews

OSR  Reviews 
The Knave And The Bold
Knave 2e offers great resources for any OSR style game.
OSR  Reviews 
Take The Long Way Round To Ragged Hollow
A great small sandbox for old school gaming.
Other Games  Reviews 
My Favorite Picks From Unnatural Selection For Shadowdark
Increases the magical nature of Shadowdark.
Other Games  Reviews 
Distress Signals Highlight Why Space Is Trying To Kill You
Space stations, pirates, and fungi make a mix of horror and adventure.

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons 
Royal Mail D&D 50th Anniversary Stamps
The UK's Royal Mail is following the US Postal Service in releasing 50th Anniversary D&D stamps.
Dungeons & Dragons 
Your Money Or Your Life
Tell him no if you like—just be ready for the unexpected if you do.
Dungeons & Dragons 
D&D Historian Benn Riggs On Gary Gygax & Sexism
D&D historian Ben Riggs delved into the facts.
Dungeons & Dragons 
2024 Player's Handbook reveal: "New Monk"
"Largely a new class!"
Dungeons & Dragons 
3 Puzzles Ready For The Table
Give your players some puzzles they can really get a grip on.
Dungeons & Dragons  Other Games 
Moria Through the Doors of Durin Pre-Orders Open
Free League’s campaign for The One Ring and Lord of the Rings 5e coming in August

Industry News

Industry 
Applications Open for GAMA's Horizons Fellowship
DEI grants for publishers and retailers open for applications
Industry 
Moonbeam Seeks to Take on Twitch as TTRPG Streaming Service
Backerkit crowdfunding for new community streaming service is live
Industry 
2024 ENNIE Nominations
The ENNIE Awards are pleased to announce this year's nominees.
Industry 
Roll20 Hacked, Customer Information Possibly Exposed
A third party may have accessed customer names, emails, IP addresses, and last 4 digits of CC#s

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