CHAINMAIL: 12.09.2023
Including - The Mediocrity of Improvisation; The Best and Most 'Stealable' Mechanics from Tabletop RPGs; and Ground Up Campaign Setting Building, Or: These Goblins Ride...
The Mediocrity of Improvisation - Roles, Rules, and Rolls
"But maybe the best thing is to see it the same way as improvisation in music - great material for a cadenza or a solo, but ultimately dry and flaky without support from the rest of the concerto or the rhythm section's steady groove."
This article highlights the need for structure in order for your improvisations at the table to be interesting. While we as DMs may pride ourselves in our ability to improvise really cool stuff out of thin air at the table, that pure improvisation usually falls short of improvisation taking place within a pre-considered structure. When we improvise we default to what we are creatively comfortable with or we over-consider the consequences of our choices. Check out the article to get some ideas on how to overcome stale improvisation.
The Best and Most 'Stealable' Mechanics from Tabletop RPGs - GDC
This GDC talk does a fantastic job of running through a bunch of different TTRPGs and summarizing the cool unique mechanics they include. A lot of these mechanics are fairly modular and can prove to be very useful at the table regardless of the system you use. Example: Blades in the Dark's progress clocks have become a staple for me as a DM.
Ground Up Campaign Setting Building, Or: These Goblins Ride... - Monsters and Manuals
This is a fun exercise in ground up setting design vs top down setting design. The premise is to start with the phrase: "These goblins ride...what?" Considering what mounts the goblins in a region ride could be the creative spark that expands a whole culture. Inspiration tends to domino as one idea jumpstarts many more related ideas.
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!