CHAINMAIL: 09.08.2023
Including - Fantastical Scars, the Art of The Boss Fight, and Describing Rather Than Defining.
Fantastical Scars - The Alexandrian
Some fantastic worldbuilding advice by the master, Justin Alexander. This article is about visualizing your worldbuilding as scars on the peoples of your worlds, whether it's diseases leaving a permanent mark or diets altering physical characteristics. It's something that happens in some of our favorite fiction and is easy to add to your own creations.
The Art of The Boss Fight - bizlychannel
This is a really fun video outlining everything we love about bosses in video games. It's long but super well edited and the majority of the advice is relevant to TTRPGs, as well. Give it a chance and reminisce on some of the most memorable bosses in gaming.
Describing Rather Than Defining - RPG Design Theories
This is a bit of a hot take by Monte Cook, but I really appreciate him bringing this up. The article is about the tendency for DMs to focus on worldbuilding instead of encounter or adventure building and how that can be a detriment to your game. While I think it's safe to say that all DMs love a well crafted world, it's easy to get carried away and ignore the valuable information that will be directly encountered during play.
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!