Long-form analysis on tabletop RPGs, video games, sports, politics, and culture
What Makes a Good RPG Rulebook? Introduction Most RPG criticism out there sounds like people arguing about totally different objects while pointing at the same rulebook. They are talking past each other. One person loves a game’s atmosphere, someone else complains the index is impossible to use, a third flat-out gave up because the pacing … Read more
The 8 Best TTRPG Sandbox Campaigns Ever Written It may help to read my previous piece, The 8 Best Guided Campaigns Ever for context. In my last post I focused on the best guided, prewritten campaigns. This is my companion piece, the best TTRPG sandbox campaigns ever written. Sandbox campaigns are the hardest to design … Read more
The 8 Best TTRPG Campaigns Ever Written Read The 8 Best TTRPG Sandbox Campaigns Ever for my companion piece. Over the past year I’ve shared posts on lots of TTRPG topics, but I haven’t really focused on campaigns. I decided to find the best prewritten campaigns ever made and put them together so enthusiasts can … Read more
Social Enmeshment TTRPGs: You Think Social Mechanics Are Flavor. They Aren’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Consequence Routing: When Getting Stronger Doesn’t Make You Safer.) You think social RPGs are just flavor layered on top of the real game. So if a social mechanics TTRPG has … Read more
Consequence Routing TTRPGs: When Getting Stronger Doesn’t Make You Safer This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Horror TTRPGs: The Rules Are the Monster) This post isn’t about what deadly games look like, it’s about how TTRPG risk and reward design works at the system level. When people … Read more