CHAINMAIL: 09.15.2023

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!

Limited Monsters - Luke Gearing

Been getting obsessed with Luke Gearing's work over the past week. Luke designs some amazing products within the OSR space. I can't recommend his work highly enough. He also runs a blog where he posts thoughts like this one, which focuses on the value of running games with a limited selection of monsters, forcing you to explore the relationship between creatures and the world. Going to take some notes and try to apply this concept to my own worldbuilding.

Secrets of D&D Dungeon Mastering with Chris Perkins - Dungeons & Dragons

"DM Tips" videos are very hit or miss in my opinion. There are few that I actually recommend, but this new one by Chris Perkins is definitely one of those. Chris Perkins is one of my favorite DMs and I really enjoy the advice he gives. This one is a longer video, but if you have the time watch it!

Mastering Plot Twists - Jane K. Cleland

I am still reading this book but when I first picked it up I knew it would be a valuable asset to my DMing. the book focuses on TRDs which are plot twists, plot reversals, and moments of heightened danger to adjust the pacing of your story. While a lot of writing techniques are not transferable to TTRPGs, this one seems very useful. Pacing is something a lot of people struggle with and this resource feels like a secret weapon for mastering it.

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. You can also leave a comment below. See you next week!