CHAINMAIL: 06.02.2023

Interesting Terrain for Better Combat - Tales of the Lunar Lands

This blog introduces a fantastic system for applying "terrain tags" to features of your encounter settings in order to encourage your players to interact with their environment. As soon as I read this article, I knew this was something I needed to add to my design toolbox ASAP.

How the Nemesis System Creates Stories - Game Maker's Toolkit

Ever since I encountered the Nemesis system in the Shadow of War game, I was HOOKED. There is something so addicting about the game reacting and adapting to your actions in the way the nemesis system does. The thing is...That's exactly what TTRPGs are all about. Instead of a computer, we have a real person playing all of the enemies and NPCs, basing their actions on what happens at the table. Except the Nemesis system does something deeper that I had never really thought about in my own GMing. The Nemesis system utilizes simple mechanics like kill, flee, heal, injure, or question to explore the narrative more deeply. I want to write up a much deeper article (maybe even a youtube video) about how this can relate to TTRPGs, but for now, I'll just keep studying this video in the hopes that I can start wrapping my head around the concept better.

Worlds Without Number - Kevin Crawford

This newsletter has never been about promoting system-specific material, and while Worlds Without Number may be a fully fleshed out TTRPG with all the rules necessary to run a campaign, it is also much more than that. Worlds Without Number includes an enormous amount of worldbuilding resources and DMing tips for all systems of play. There are guides for campaign prep, there are tables for generating factions, there are tips for handling player disputes, and much more than that. I have never run a game of Worlds Without Numbers but I constantly pull out this PDF when I am in a creative bind. Give it a read, I can't recommend it more highly.

I hope these resources inspire you! See you next week.