CHAINMAIL: 08.19.2023

cjsomedays -

Chainmail is a weekly newsletter dedicated to sharing the abundance of excellent content available in the TTRPG space. You'll find YouTube videos, blog posts, quotes from books, and many other forms of media related to improving your skills as game masters and world builders. Enjoy!

7 ways to hack your creativity - Scroll For Initiative

Burnout and writer's block. These are mental barriers that stand between us and creating the worlds we imagine captivating our audience. It can be extremely demotivating BUT there are systems we can use to help rekindle the spark and push forward. This isn't the first time I've talked about this topic and if it's something you want to learn more about I recommend checking out this edition of Chainmail as well as this one.

World Building- Creating Place Names Realistically and Artistically - Stoneworks

Names. I'm convinced they are the bane of most writers, myself included. This video is a great breakdown of what's in a name, both in real life and in fiction, and how you can create better names. You can also find more info on creating good names for your worldbuilding in this edition of Chainmail.

Choices, Information, and Meaning - Pastel Dungeon

Making choices lies at the center of all TTRPGs. This article does an incredible job at breaking down the specifics of the different types of choices, what makes a good choice, and why that is important to your games. This is an extremely important concept to understand. If you are not presenting your players with well-constructed choices, then your game will suffer. Bookmark this with all of the other articles I've defined as game-changers and give it a focused read.

I hope these resources inspire you! If you haven't already, the best way to stay up to date with everything hothead related is to join the discord. See you next week!