CHAINMAIL: 12.30.2023
Including - Sticky Goblins, The "Dungeon23" craze is taking over DnD, and D&D is not a game. It's games.
Sticky Goblins - False Machine
A really great breakdown of encounter design. "Stickiness" here refers to how much the encounter draws the players in. The system here breaks stickiness down into openness, neutrality, and consequences. This article does a great job providing a framework for analyzing encounters in modules as well as helping you design encounters that will entice your players into action.
The "Dungeon23" craze is taking over DnD - Questing Beast
It's the end of the year and one of your New Years Resolutions might be to be more creative in 2024. If you're looking for a project that you can slowly chip away at, day by day, I recommend taking part in "Dungeon24". This video is from last year but it helps explain the premise. Every day you create one room of a dungeon. Just one room. By the end of the year, you will have a megadungeon with 365 rooms to explore at your table!
D&D is not a game. It's games. - Wizard Thief Fighter
This article highlights the fact that within the "game" of D&D, there are actually fairly distinct sub-games that can function on their own without the others. These sub-games define the play culture at your table and can be a good indicator of the "type" of game you run. Dungeon exploration vs combat vs roleplaying vs hex crawling are all examples of these sub-games and an emphasis on one or the other happens naturally during play. Not really any advice here, but an important perspective on D&D and how it functions at a deeper level.
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!