The continuing adventures of that eternal man of mystery…
Horror TTRPGs: The Rules Are the Monster This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Survival TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It) Just as in my previous posts, this isn’t about what horror looks like. It’s about what it does at the system level. Most player … Read more
Survival TTRPGs: You Think Survival Is Scarcity. It Isn’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see my previous: Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: The Real Test (And So Many Games Fail It) This post looks at what survival games do on a system level. If you’re designing a survival TTRPG, tracking … Read more
Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: You Think It’s About Dragons. It Isn’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Grimdark TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It) This post is not about what heroic fantasy looks like, it’s about what heroic RPG systems do. If you’re designing … Read more
Grimdark TTRPGs: You Think You Know What Grimdark Means (But You Don’t) You think you know what grimdark means: dark atmosphere, high lethality, and morally grey characters in a brutal world. By that logic, Shadow of the Demon Lord is grimdark, right? Shadowdark? Call of Cthulhu? Nope. This analysis is meant to help you predict … Read more
The Most Complete One-Book TTRPGs The best one-book TTRPGs give you everything you need to run a full campaign without buying a single supplement. No three-book treadmill, no “optional but mandatory” expansions, just a complete game in one volume. That means robust character creation and progression, GM tools that actually support play, and enough content … Read more