Review: The Dungeon Dozen

tl:dr; 195 pages of d12 random tables to spice up any aspect of your fantasy RPG, stuffed with entertaining art and inspiration sparks.

I have been on a Lulu.com kick - the discounts show up in the OSR discord, how are you going to save money unless you buy some books? There are a fair few lists out there with recommended OSR fare to be had print-on-demand and The Dungeon Dozen - "Random Tables for Fantasy RPGs" by Jason Sholtis shows up on a lot of them near or at the top.

Fresh from Lulu, the Dungeon Dozen

So first impression is a funny one - I resisted purchasing this a while because I thought it was going to be a lot of ultra-crunchy tables adding more systems or other deeply esoteric bits of the rules. It is in fact a compilation of d12 tables from the Dungeon Dozen blog to randomly generate all sorts of fun and useful things. I probably should have done more research or at least trusted the buzz and picked this up an age ago. Given it came out in 2014, apologies, slow to the party.

Shiny TTRPG links #46

Shiny TTRPG links gathered from across the internets. More can be found on the previous list found here. The original inspiration for all of this - weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links. You can find still more links on the weekly blogroll on r/OSR.

Continuing to point to the D&D Research Wizards Tabletop RPG 2021-2022 Survey which is still open. This years topics include: Covid-19's impact on TTRPGs, Education and TTRPGs, Online Play Behavior and Future Tech and TTRPGs. Some initial cuts of the data can be seen on their site.

Daily Adventure Prompts has 'High Tea and Higher Treason' - a fun set up for intrigue.

Weaver.skepti.ch on introducing a new generation to Fighting Fantasy

The latest series from A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry on Fortifications is great (3 parts so far).

Knight at the Opera writes A Thorough Look at Skill Challenges ranging across D&D editions and other RPG systems.

Building Bhakashal - Finding Holes in Plot Armor - a great discussion of game mechanics to deliver specific effects.

The Commoner's Stat Array, or 'That's not how averages work!' by u/EgoIsTheMindKiller.

Some nice thinking from Alchemist Nocturne on Why OSR - highlighting the adventure-generating engine that drives OSR games.

Actual Test: World, Climate and Globe Mapping Tools

tl;dr: testing online tools for generating world maps then simulating the climate.

I stumbled across a piece of paper, scribbled with notes that make up a hard-core world-building workflow I got from a guy at an Adventurers League in the before-times. I pass on the steps and hope this might bring joy to those among us who like super-crunchy world-building.

First step is to generate a random height map. For this we use the Planet Map Generator. There are a few sliders you can play with here but what you need for the next step is to generate a greyscale height map in Mercator projection. Adding a coastline contour will allow you to track the 'normal' coastline as you fiddle with water levels later.

Next you generate a map with "Make map" then right-click, save-as to get your grey-scale height map.

Review: Worlds Without Number

tl;dr: amazing world building tools packaged with a simplified D&D style system in a gorgeous chunky hardback.

I picked up Worlds Without Number after backing the kickstarter. The buzz across the OSR around the generation mechanisms in Stars Without Number convinced me that the fantasy equivalent would be right up my alley and I was not wrong in that assumption. Hugely impressed with the generators in this; I really liked how it is both 'create from scratch' and also 'embellish the skeleton you came up with yourself'. The two key blocks I see being useful to anyone whether they actually run WWN themselves are the adventure creation parts - as mentioned - and all the faction building pieces which can create friends, enemies and fronts in play in the world to drive further adventure!

Worlds Without Number, cover art by Jeff Brown

So what have we got in here? This is a giant tome with ~30% system, a setting (20%) and game mastering tools (50%) included. The book shows throughout the level of polish that I would associate with an extensively table-tested system - there are great 'teaching' pieces in here like the 2 page 'summary of character creation' that has an annotated character sheet laying out what everything is. Production quality is good, my copy turned up in good order and while I haven't put heavy use on it yet I'm happy with the feel of it.

Shiny TTRPG links #45

Shiny TTRPG links gathered from across the internets - a rich crop this week (because people had Thanksgiving to write?). More can be found on the previous list found here. The original inspiration for all of this - weaver.skepti.ch End of Week links. You can find still more links on the weekly blogroll on r/OSR.

For your coffee and biscuit moment this week - D&D Research Wizards Tabletop RPG 2021-2022 Survey is up with an interesting prize pool for participants - asking some questions about how we might play differently in coming years among other interesting points. They have posted good breakdowns from past years surveys.

Dungeons & Possums writes Some Black Friday 2021 Sales - a good roster of things you may want to pick up across all available channels when next your gold burns a hole in your pocket.

Goblin Punch writes the magnificent The Obliterat and the House Unheard - read the comments for more gems.

Review of Ford's Faeries by Weaver.skepti.ch

The Fantasy Artwork & Inspirational Works of P Craig Russell For Your Old School Campaigns by Swords & Stitchery

Grumpy Wizard on How Do Stories Emerge from Game Play?

Lost Atlas posts their stats on "What kinds of maps are Dungeon Masters searching for?"

Data driven Appendix P: 3xd100 NPC party generation tables

tl;dr: NPC party generation tables to match what people are actually playing as PCs

Inspired by Appendix P of the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide - for “Creating a Party on the Spur of the Moment” - as discussed by the Mystical Trash Heap just recently. This is a deep dive back to the question that started this blog in the first place - what if randomly encountered NPC parties reflected what players actually play, not what you can generate from the DMG.

So the following are some tables if you want to roll up a party of NPCs that reflect what you might expect to encounter, assuming a group of classed NPCs (reflecting the typical game table). If you want to roll up your own the following tables have 'Core' derived from D&D Beyond and 'Alternative' based on forum surveys. Typical table size is five.

On DMs and Players as two communities

Knight at the Opera wrote an interesting post on how DM's and Players appear to him to be two communities, purchasing different products and consuming different media. I think the point on consuming different media - and especially frequenting different online spaces - may have something to it. The rest of this assumes you have read Dwiz's article, so perhaps grab a coffee and a biscuit and take a moment there.

Enjoyed it? Good.