Categories
Blog

Dx/UCP: People and Places

Remember: (There’s the man, the biz, and the crews.  The crews fight each other, and the biz keeps the peace. The man sits in the middle and gets richer off the victor. If you’re not with a side, you’re screwed from all angles. The crews run the blue-collar stuff. The biz are the middle class. […]

Categories
Blog

DX (DND but Cyber/Future/Punk

I love the setting and idea of Shadowrun but have zero desire to learn that system. In general, every time I’ve got excited about a cyberpunk game, i’ve found it too complex to easily get into – much less convince others to play. My GM’ing life is basically Dungeon World and DND 5e, and I […]

Categories
Blog

Hunter’s Cove

Warning! If you’re currently in a campaign I’m running, there’s spoilers ahead… Hunter’s Cove is a huge grounded airship a league or so from the ocean. The airship, Le Chasseurs, was the first and last of its kind; an experiment in more fanciful transports than the burgeoning rail industry. When it crashed, it hit the […]

Categories
Blog

Commission Work

Just a reminder I take on Web Design, Game Design and Layout Consultancy work. Previous experience includes: 4+ years on Patreon designing Adventures for Dungeon World Multiple published printed works (written and designed by me) on DriveThruRPG Featured adventure designed for Perilous Deeps A printed article in October’s Rolled and Told magazine by Lionforge Lead […]

Categories
Blog

I made a new game on Itch.io

It’s called Solid St8 and it’s about cyberpunky robots on the edge of rebellion. Download it for free while the Goon Jam is still running, and let me know what you think!

Categories
Blog

Macchiato Monsters

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/264169 Quick signal boost for this fab game by Eric Nieudan and published by my boy Paolo over at Lost Pages. Very glad to see this Light RPG make it to 1e at last – it’s been a long time coming. I read and enjoyed the Zero edition and had the pleasure of playing a […]

Categories
Blog

Don’t Play to Win.

This has been a difficult week, and if you’ll excuse the self-indulgence, I wanted to post a small something that has come to mind recently regarding playing tabletop games positively. As you may know, I play a lot of Warhammer. Warhammer (and wargames of their ilk) have a lot of stigma for promoting unpleasant behaviour. […]

Categories
Blog

The Bone Marshes Kickstarter is live!

I’m doing the design work for my good friend David Schirduan’s new Kickstarter, Bone Marshes! David’s been a supporter of my Patreon for a LONG time – you have him and his group to thank for the classic adventure, The Planarch Vault. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared – it’s a big […]

Categories
Blog

Dragonmeet 2018 Write-Up

This is my 4rd (or 5th?) time there, and it was Amy’s 3rd (or 4th?) We got there late because we both overslept. I put this down to 2 factors: playing Red Dead Redemption 2 way too much, and a subliminal anxiety about meeting lots of RPG design peers and not having anything new to […]

Categories
Blog

A Night at the Golden Duck review

On a whim I picked up A Night at the Golden Duck by Patrick Stewart and Scrap Princess and enjoyed it. The format is sick and I will be stealing it – an A2 page folded down like one of those pocketbooks. The book part (ie what it’s like how it’s folded) details the characters and […]

Categories
Blog

UCP: Intro

[[ Welcome to the Rue-de-le-Ronde, Section 19, Citibrite-884. It is the year 20×8. Earth is a neon and oil ruin. Humanity is a skin-and-silicon mess. Look at a person, it’s hard to tell where the human ends and the robot starts. You wish you lived out there – the outer reaches, where life is simple. […]

Categories
Blog

20 Campaign Setting Questions

SPOILERS – if I’m running a game for you right now, don’t read any more. Funny story: this is my second attempt at writing these. The first pass felt really constricted, and kind of based on a load of stuff I’d already established in the setting. Writing these answers down felt like an opportunity to […]

Categories
Blog

Orcs, Ogres, and the Pecking Order of Dungeons

Tolkien made no difference between Orcs and Goblins, but I grew up with Warhammer. I’ve read some great ideas about goblin biology over the years (the Goblins from Goblin Punch: manic, masochistic, utterly alien biology.) But while I was thinking about all that, my mind wandered to how goblins, orcs, whatever, all fit in my […]

Categories
Blog

The End of Google+

“So how do you market your stuff, Joe?”“Well, I have a Patreon, which is a bit like Kickstarter but works on a monthly basis. And I usually post my stuff on Google Plus.”“Google Plus? That’s still going?”“I know, right? Anyway yeah for some reason it’s where all the RPG people go. It’s alright. There’s a […]

Categories
Blog DND Monsters

Creature: Mortuary-General

A lithe, stone creature, 8 feet tall. Reeks of death and precision. Stats as Lich or Necromancer. Race: Humanoid/Death Resistant to piercing (Stone skin). AC as plate (18) 8 HD (5e: At least 80hp) A death wizard who was responsible for some unholy element of the Dwarrowdeln’s construction, probably the pharoah-like entombment of the Architect-king. […]

Categories
Blog

Unfinished Business: Giants

September’s Patreon release is available for free download, right here! It’s got Giants and stuff in it. Enjoy!

Categories
Blog

A Humble Vine

“Come try the wine. Yes, the vintage isn’t what it used to be, I’m afraid. Perhaps there’s something you could do about that…” Download A Humble Vine on Patreon (Free)

Categories
Adventures Advice Blog Into the Odd

Different Mimics

Goblinpunch and Chris McD both talked about traps recently. They’re decent reading, and got me thinking about traps too. Overcoming a good trap might be the cornerstone of an entire session, right? They’re pretty important, and not just in a “here’s a thing that isn’t 1d6 goblins to throw at the party” kinda way. Tangentially […]

Categories
Adventures Blog Mirkasa

Vine Agaric

A horrible symbiote of fungus and tree. All it needs to move and breath is some flesh… Solitary (1d10 damage 12hp) 3 armour, slow [static], terrifying, large It starts with a dying tree, crying out in pain. (Trees can feel pain, just not in any way that’s easy to understand. Druids know this, but can’t […]

Categories
Blog

For Sale on DTRPG

All available from DriveThruRPG