Mirkasa is a cold, bleak place. A jagged mountain range dominates the northern coast. The isolated islands beyond are almost impossible to reach, being surrounded by vicious seas and dangerous whirlpools; but it is said the island of Jakabol, birthplace of the giants, can be found there. The northern range is capped by Gnolgorroth, one […]
Strange rumours abound of odd folk and freshly-discovered treasure amidst the quiet fields of Middenvalley. What can be found in the ruins below? Who are the ratty-folk, and why do the Middeners want them dead? What became of the village of Sorrowchurch? Let’s play to find out. Thank you to everyone offering their input on […]
So it’s a bit after Christmas… but if you’re still tucking into Turkey and enjoying the holiday season, you could do worse than have a go with this stocking filler, designed for all good OSR or Dungeon-Crawler titles! Ho ho ho! …Wow. That came out a lot more sales-pitchy than I expected. In all seriousness, […]
It’s the end of an era and your doom is at hand. Your hated foes have infiltrated the city from below; even now set the watchtowers and barracks aflame while the city sleeps. If there is to be any chance, you must run the gauntlet of the streets and ring the alarum bell, rousing the […]
Image credit: Knightess by Typesprite (DeviantArt) Klare is already there when I arrive for our interview. We meet in Bryne, in a quiet cafe in the artist’s quarter. Bryne is a prominent university town, known to be suffering from a blight of mutant creatures the locals call half-breeds.
Since it was released, I’ve run and played a fair few games of Chris McDowall’s Into the Odd. It’s fast, simple, and the rules for character creation are probably my favourite out of any RPG. In fact, I’ve played enough games to warrant making an easy reference document merging the basic rules with some of my own ideas – namely what […]
The giants were dead, victims of their own barbaric hungers. In time, the men of the northern mountains uncovered their legacy. They used their spells and relics to raise the dead, corrupt the living and bind the souls of free men. So began the reign of the Kang Admi, the first necromancers, whose very name […]
I’d not heard of it before now, but I just bought it and read it off the back of this post (and that gorgeous cover.) I liked it. I found it easy to read, and Van Oop and his pals sounded like they could cause a good amount of trouble in any campaign. I also […]
So this is off the back of last night’s Indiemeet, which was a very fun and productive meeting indeed. I talked a bit about several things related to design and layout, so I thought in the cold light of day I’d elaborate on those quickly. Fonts: Google Fonts has a great selection of free fonts to use, […]
I’ve had this under construction for a while – it’s a ‘culture guide’ designed to add a little flavour to your characters. I’ve also included ideas for a few people and places from each location, to help spark some new adventures when you need it!
The temple is miles from the coast, yet the walls are covered with seaweed and coral. The sigil lies untouched on the altar, just like the old man said, at the far end of the temple. Between you and it, the floor is flooded ankle-deep with seawater. In places, the water is somehow flowing upwards – it’s already formed a […]
So, I’ve been helping my girlfriend out with a programme for her theatre group’s upcoming production. (As it turns out, all those other PDFs are great practice for actual work!) On the hunt for appropriate imagery, I found this lovely set of hand-drawn flowers by Evgeniya Ivanova (https://creativemarket.com/snusmumr) and thought they might be a fun bit of inspiration for a […]
How long have you been trapped here? Days, weeks? You remember flashes – your attackers appearing through the storm, your ship splintering around you, being carried to this gods-damned place. Since then, it’s been fishy gruel, iron cuffs and a pick in your hands. (So, who captured you? Tritons, pirates, or orcish natives?) But today’s going to be different. You’re lashed together and […]
If you frequent the DW communities online but haven’t played or read Apocalypse World yet, you may have heard the term “love letter” before but not be sure what it means. In brief, it’s a few paragraphs written specifically for a player or players to bring them up to speed on their situation, usually after […]
After getting a lot out of what Johnstone Metzger had to say on the subject, I wanted to add my own thoughts on writing adventures.
My good friend Tim Reed asked for my thoughts on his latest book, Spider from the Well, and I was happy to oblige! Tim is a young author of fantasy novels and short stories. You can get most of his content on Amazon. Spider from the well is a short horror story by Tim Reed about […]
This afternoon I had the pleasure of chatting with Matt Smith (not the eleventh doctor, sadly) about all things Dungeon World, gaming and my creative process. I had a lot of fun! Check out the link here: Play to find out! Joe Banner Remix Interview A few other people and links mentioned in the interview: […]
I finally got around to watching The Wolf of Wall Street a couple of days ago, and as expected, I loved it. A big part of my job is selling, so I have a soft spot when sales techniques are portrayed in modern media. Anyway, I was pondering the movie this morning and I got […]
Last weekend I got an email from Pierre in Quebec. As a new player and GM, he had some excellent questions about gameplay. We had a good chat by email and, as I think I’ve seen similar questions pop up at the Dungeon World Tavern before, he very kindly agreed to my request to post the conversation online. […]
Something that’s been bugging me recently is how many times can I rewrite the same old fantasy tropes? I do dabble in writing standalone games (see No Sleep Bad, for example) but basically since I discovered Dungeon World I’ve focused my energy on making stuff within a tried-and-tested system. The problem with that, I’m feeling […]