CHAINMAIL: 08.26.2023

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!

Shut Up and Fight This Thing! - DM David

One way I think a lot of GMs could improve their games is by taking a look at their combat encounters and why they happen. Understanding the purpose of your game design is essential in creating memorable and exciting moments. This blog post by DM David uses that lens to discuss combat encounters and historically what they've been used for and how to understand some of their purposes better.

Better Dungeon Master Tactics! - Map Crow

Baldur's Gate 3 has already become a cultural phenomenon. I've said this on stream a thousand times but I'll say it again here: We are in the middle of a D&D renaissance. With the D&D movie, Critical Role's continued success, and now a major D&D-based video game; so many new people are being exposed to TTRPGs as a hobby.

Now the old heads might not like what I'm about to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. We can learn from video games. It is arguably the closest medium we have to TTRPGs and there is so much valuable insight we can adapt to the table. Especially with a game like Baldur's Gate 3 that is literally based on the 5E system. Map Crow's video is a breakdown of D&D combat tactics and what we can learn from BG3. Map Crow also starts the video with a comparison of video games and TTRPGs, showing where they are different which I think is important because they are not the same. (But they are still very useful)

Intentions Before Actions - RPG Design Theories

Monte Cook is a design mentor for me. He has helped design some of the cornerstones of the hobby and now offers up his insights in his blog/newsletter, RPG Design Theories. This one is an essential read. He goes over the importance of understanding your game's intentions before designing the actions. I don't want to say too much, give the article a read. Monte does a much better job explaining things.

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. Leave a comment down below and let me know which resource from this week's newsletter is your favorite. See you next week!