HHC NEWSLETTER: 08.18.2024

cjsomedays -
This 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!

Running Mysteries: Enigma - The Alexandrian

From the writer who gave us the three clue rule, this article goes in the other direction. Most mysteries in our game are placed specifically so that the players will eventually solve them. The three clue rule helps us make sure the players have a chance to figure out the solution so that our campaigns and adventures continue moving forward. In this article, Justin discusses situations where it might actually be better to have mysteries that are not meant to be solved, but instead meant to be enigmatic and cryptic. With these loose ends, the players can't help but be drawn deeper into the puzzle.

Build a Fantasy Town in D&D | The G.U.A.R.D.S. Method - Loot Goblin Marketplace

This video gives you an acronym to help you easily remember what you should include in your town and city designs. If you can check off all aspects of the G.U.A.R.D.S. method, then you'll be in a great place to start off your city adventures.

PUT YOUR RPG CAMPAIGN ON A DEADLINE (IT’LL BE OKAY.) - Silverarm

I think this article is actually extremely important. I've had all of my campaigns come to an end due to scheduling issues. These campaigns were ran like traditional long-term campaigns. We had no end in sight, just wanted to play every weekend. If I would've predefined an end state and set that ahead of time with all the players, I think they would've been more likely to see it through. This would allow people to take a break if they needed to when the campaign ended or pivot to a different TTRPG. This article talks about how you can tackle this sort of "mid-term" campaign structure.

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!