9 June 2026 "There are other worlds than this..." Module vs. Campaign vs. World

     There is a small but vocal (and caustic!) faction online the the TTRPG space called the BrOSR. These guys tend to be Christian, conservative, and deeply knowledgeable about the roots of Dungeons&Dragons. They are often bombastic and drive the sparkle-trolls insane. While I am reminded of the old saw about academic politics (they are so viscous because the stakes are so low), I admit that I often find their gleeful dick-slappping-across-the-forehead of 5e players to be...satisfying. 

    Yesterday I got sucked down into a BrOSR rabbit hole by one Jeffro Johnson and another dude who goes by Crossface. The essential point taken by these two (and this is a generalization) is that all of us who have been playing D&D have been playing it wrong. That the rules exist for a reason, and if you are not playing with the rules as laid down by Gary Gygax (he of blessed memory) you are doing it wrong. We can call this point provocative, to say the least, but like the best Biblical scholars, they back up their assertions with chapter and verse: the words of Gygax himself, in the seldom (never?) read introductions to books like The Dungeon Master's Guide, or in Dragon Magazine, or wherever else. It's a jarring thought: I have had my DM's guide since 1981, and played a melange of D&D/AD&D for a decade without using 1/2 of the rules in the book. So what was I playing? Folk D&D, I guess, not 'fantasy wargaming D&D' as envisioned by Gygax, with his weapons speed tables, his strumpet tables, his wind effect tables...In the olden days, someone had to show you how to play; there was an oral tradition behind the game, and I think it is safe to say that Gygax was writing--at least at first--for wargamers who already knew how to war game, and who were adding his rules to games they already played. 

    All of this got me thinking about how I play D&D. In the olden days, 1981-1992 or so, I just ran modules. There was no idea of a 'campaign' in our games: they were episodic adventures based in whatever TSR was selling. I did linked modules for sure: Pharaoh/Oasis of the White Palm, Giants-Descent-Demonweb, Master of the Desert Nomads, etc. but overall none of these adventures had any connective tissue going between them. They were more like Conan stories: in one story he's in Aquilonia, in the next story he's in Stygia, etc. Call of Cthulhu was similar: I ran modules and investigations that had no real connection to each other. I wouldn't have occurred to me to run a campaign, at least in the modern sense of the word.

    When we played 3rd edition in the late 90s-early aughts, I was a player in my brother's campaign, and that's just what it was: all of the modules were connected together in an overarching story. When I returned to GMing in 2019, I did the same thing: a group of adventurers playing through a bastardized version of Tyranny of Dragons. The characters had backstories, there was an overarching narrative (Tiamat's return) and all of what we did was related to that larger story. It was set in the Forgotten Realms, where most of my games took place post-high school (vs. Greyhawk, which was the assumed setting in the early days). My second 5e campaign was based--again, loosely--on Descent Into Avernus, although I mostly used Adventurer League stuff vs. the main book. I made up a lot of this game on my own (believe it not, for the first time!) and played very loosely with the actual published book. It was fun! By the end, when the party had moved to the Moonshaes, it was all home brew setting and storyline. 

    What I have never done is a sandbox. I have never let the game emerge from player choices, and have things I've already put into place and lightly penciled in--factions, say, or NPCs, or 'campaign characters'--evolve and change in reaction to what the players do...or even harder to grok, evolve and change on their own! So that's my next challenge: an emergent game world using 1:1 time with some kind of verisimilitude in regards how the world operates. Ed did a little of this with his DCC campaign: as my group moved through the world, we heard tell of things his other group had done, like legends and rumors and tales of their adventures. This kind of world building creates a 'subreality': a sense that things are happening in the world despite, or inspite of, the players' actions.

    On interesting idea: keep NPCs and campaign characters (kings, wizards, demigods) on index cards.

    I am hoping to do this using the OSE rules, set in Greyhawk. I also am going to sell a lot of my stuff: games I am not playing (or going to play), books I purchased on a whim, just stuff that is imagining for me vs. sparking my imagination. I want to have a little of this imagined for me as possible. I want it to come from my own mind (with a liberal helping of the many, many, many fantasy books I've read thrown in!) We shall see how all of this develops. 

 

 

7 June 2026 The Harlot's Tale-- Shadowdark and OSE

     Yeah, yeah, I know: I am a game whore. I admit it. I spend more time thinking about games than I ever will playing them. This week I have been thinking about Shadowdark, and here is why: first, I own it (because...of course I do). Second, it is very popular. People love this thing! Third, I have listened to a bunch of podcasts interviewing the creator, one Kelsey Dionne, and she is just good energy; a lovely person who loves these games and seems incredibly sweet. The rules of Shadowdark are simple (to say the least).  The designer basically took the parts of OSE, 5e, and DCC that she liked, disregarded the parts that she didn't like, and poof! Here's the game. Interestingly, Shadowdark is written at an 8th grade reading level (vs. Castles&Crusades, which is written at a college level). So we end up with a game that is a melange of modern rules--unified d20 system, funnels, advantage and disadvantage, luck points, etc. and written in very bare and simple prose with really cool black and white art. Even the torch system--something I've never seen before--is derived from Index Card RPG (I think...)

    I have not played this game, but I think I could pretty easily. There isn't really anything "new" here ("new" meaning post-2014 #I-am-old); it is instead a culling, and reorganizing, of modern RPG rules. It looks like it would be great for crawls, and probably serviceable for overland adventures. The role playing is on the players and the DMs; you don't really need a lot of rules and/or tables for that (do ya hear me, 5e?). It is a highly lethal game (like DCC...). Naturally I backed The Western Reaches Kickstarter because...have you met me? I also think my crew would find it a bit boring, to be honest. With the exception of the torch timer adding tension, this might be a bit too basic. Maybe I'll do it as a one-shot or something, just to see how it plays. 

    Which brings us to Old School Essentials. OSE is a redo of the old B/X rules of blessed memory (Moldvay and Cook), with a further reorganization of Gygax's AD&D (the Advanced Fantasy Player's and Referee's Tomes). The rules are essentially the same as they were in 1981, with an option for an ascending AC (vs. THACO, which is in there). The art is beautiful, the books are beautiful, and the rules are...well, old school. Roll high saving throws (only five!) Roll low attribute checks. THACO or ascending AC (either/or).  Very retro action economy: declare spells and melee movement, initiative, monster morale, movement, missile attacks, spell casting, melee attacks, repeat). It has been decades since I've played this version of the game, and I remember being a bit frustrated by it at higher levels because combat felt like chopping down a tree. In modern D&D, the action economy is very different: readied action, action, bonus action, movement variance, etc. I suspect this game will play great, but I'm unsure of how my crew will react to it, although I have to say: no one seems to miss the superhero vibe of fifth edition. 

    I also noticed that the amount of arguing with the GM (me!) is vastly reduced in both DCC and C&C because the expectations of what the character can do are vastly reduced. All my guys did was fight with me when we played 5e; it was like someone cast Rules Lawyer on all of them. Super annoying. So I am looking forward to running OSE in the near future, but I think I'm going to solo-play first and see how it goes. 

    I wonder if Pirate Borg is any good...

    

29 May 2026 Ending the Seige

     We are on our 24th session of a Castles&Crusades game set in Greyhawk, and it's been great so far: super easy system to use on my end as a GM, and more challenging--in a good way--for my players. The magic system is stable (I'm looking at you, Dungeon Crawl Classics!) and the characters are not overpowered in the least (that's right, 5e!) which has required the lads to be a bit more strategic and cautious. All in all, we are rolling right along.

    At the end of our game last night, Ed mentioned that he didn't love the Siege Engine mechanic because it seems like you have to roll really high to so something simple. For example, Ed's dwarf was trying to jump from a boat to the shore. The dwarf was fully armored, it was pouring rain, so I said we'd make Dexterity check to see if he could do it. Seemed reasonable. In order for the dwarf to do this successfully, he had to roll above an 18 or above since Dexterity was not a primary attribute. Because he had help--his companions were with him, giving him a shove/hanging to to him in cased he slipped, I didn't add a CL to it. Nor, as it turns out, did we remember to add the dwarf's level to his roll, which is a part of the mechanic. 

    Ed--who is one of my best friends, who is deeply committed to gaming, and who is a hideous rules lawyer--pointed out that he didn't love this part of the game, and upon reflection, I think I agree. The Siege Engine was created in the very early 2000s, and has remained a constant over the past decades as a core part of C&C. It is mathy, with primary, secondary (optional tertiary) rolls that require applying a CL, adding levels and modifiers, then beating a target number. It's not that it doesn't work; it's more that it isn't as good as the D&D difficulty class system. In D&D, the game master states a DC, and characters use whichever attribute is appropriate to roll above. The only thing you add is your attribute modifier (and your proficiency bonus, but that's not in C&C). Same with saving throws, which may have class or racial bonuses that are applied to saves: roll a d20, add mods, beat the target. Easy. [C&C has 13 different saving throws. No gracias!]

    I don't think that would break the game, but is it solving a real issue? Kind of. I like rules-lite, mechanics-in-the-background systems, so simplifying this game even further is appealing. My fear is that there would be a downstream issues that I am not anticipating. For example, without primary and secondary target numbers, would it somehow make saving throws (which I hate) janky? I need to noodle this more. 

1-3 May 2026 Adventure Idea: The Red Queen

     I need to looks this up, but as I recall, in Aihrde, the Red God Ornduhl put gems and jewels in the earth that can corrupt those who find them. Ornduhl is the greed of the All Father personified, and it was under his influence that the first goblins were made from dwarves who fell under his sway. 

As is told, Ornduhl mined all the deep places of the world and set there precious metals and gems of his own design. These he buried in the rock so that none might find them, for they were his most precious creations. But more, he imbued the precious metals with his own desires, casting enchantments upon them, so that any who handled them ran the risk of being cursed with the desire to possess it ever after. These precious gems, gold and silver veins, and other metals lay hidden from all for many ages (Codex of Aihrde, pg. 199). 

    I am trying to find any information about a region of the map of the world of Aihrde called Damenfaur. So far, I can't find a thing. But I'm trying to place something far enough away from the core areas (the lands of Ursal) so I can world build without stepping on anyone's toes. 

    My thought: there is a large farm in an agricultural area (sort of Anglo-Saxon vibe). On one of these farms is a little girl named Margen. Margen is the daughter of a thrall who died giving birth to her. Margen has known nothing but cruelty, want, and indifference her entire ten years of life. She is barely fed, treated slightly better than the dogs, and is either tormented for sport or completely ignored. She is, literally, no one, has no one, and is cared for by no one. Her life is horrible.

    One day Margen, after being soundly cuffed for spilling a pail of goat milk, runs off into a stony field to cry tears no one will ever see or care about. While she is standing there, miserable and alone, a new emotion begins to arise in her young mind: hatred. Hatred for those who hurt her, hatred for those who ignore, and hatred for everyone she has ever met. As she stands there, turning red with rage and black with hate...she notices an unusual glint in the frozen ground beneath her holed shoes: the glint of a gem! Falling quickly to her knees, she begins to claw at the hard dirt until she uncovers something utterly beautiful: a many faceted, richly red gemstone the size of her fist. Where this treasure came from she does not know, but to Margen, this is the most important moment of her sad life because this gem begins to speak to her. 

    The gem warms Margens heart, and for the first time in her life, she feels love. She begins to sob even harder as the gem fills her mind with visions of ample food, warm clothes, a soft sleep pallet by the fire, and the smiling faces of people who understand her, care for her, and wish to hear her thoughts and desires. All this, the gem whispers, all this for you, Margen, but first... 

    Margen can feel the gems power burning around her, then in her. The gem fuses to her right hand and begins to emit an hellish, pulsing light. Margen returns to the farmhouse, then enters into the main room where the large family and their servants are eating their dinner. There are bright flashes of blood red light, screams of pain and horror, then silence. Moments later, Margen emerges. Her tattered frock has changed to a long crimson cape that she wraps around her thin body. Her eyes, too, glow with the red fires of Orndul while behind her, those who tormented her or ignored her lay dead...for a moment. With a flick of her gem-fused hand, those whom Margen slew raise again to serve her. 

   Six months later, in [someplace] rumors have began telling of a great evil that has been born in [someplace]. A creature calling itself the Red Queen has been destroying thorpes, villages, and towns with armies of the ravening dead. Worse still, these armies are now moving toward [someplace]...

    Fun, right? So what's the adventure? The party can be hired as spies by a local ruler to go and learn what is really going on. They could be part of a militia that encounters the forces of the Red Queen and get stranded in lands she has conquered. They could simply be curious, or be sent on an errand by a patron. Whatever it takes to get them into the area where Margen and her forces are becoming more powerful. So...a point crawl? 

    In any event, I'm kicking this idea around. 

3 May 2026

    Thinking this through a bit. This isn't an adventure, it's a campaign, or a very long scenario with overland travel, point-crawl encounters, random encounters, and some kind of exploration/crawl at the end. One of the problems I have re: designing is my canvas is always too big! This would be like 30 pages were I to write it all down. Maybe I will, just for fun, but I have found that I don't really enjoy writing adventures that other people will read. I like making them for my players, but it's a bit tedious to do for (possible) public consumption. 

 

16 April 2026 Greyhawking (1)

    I had a printed copy made of the 1983 Greyhawk Box Set, which we have an original of, but I wanted one to mark up and carry around. The actual box and its books are now 43 years old, so it's better not to handle them too much (although, in reality...what are we ever going do do with it?) So I have nice bound copy that I am reading through and writing in, reestablishing my connection with this venerable setting. I have also been listening to The Greycast, a podcast about Greyhawk. 

    I don't think I've read through this material since I was an early teenager. I distinctly remember sitting on the porch in Marshfield going through this book with the huge map spread out in front of me, and being a bit numbed by how much of what was being described was related to troops and military powers. Knowing what I know now--that D&D arose initially from miniature wargaming, and that Gygax was a wargamer--I understand why it is like this. War is a feature, not a bug, in this world. Similarly, since this world is so old (relatively speaking), there are far fewer muppets races to be, and to interact with, in Greyhawk. Definite classic feel.

I have a huge map of Greyhawk on the wall in front of me, so I've been locating each place on the map as I read, which has been harder than it sounds! There are a lot of kingdoms, baronies, prelacies, theocracies, brotherhoods, counties, marches, lands, and holds! I'm not onto the "Geographical Marvels, Regions, & Prominent Features" part of the book, which will be fun.

    Thus far, a few places are jumping out at me as far as potential campaign settings:

- The Bone March (overrun by humanoids; humans enslaved)

-Highfolk and Highfolk Valley (elven realm, reminds me of Raymond Feist for some reason)

-The Horned Society (deviltry and humanoids!)

-Irongate and the Iron League (an organization created to oppose Ivid in the Great Kingdom)

-The Scarlet Brotherhood (humancentric nation what hates all demihumans and humanoids)

-The Spindrift Isles (Bone Hill, lands becoming Fey again; elves dominate)

-Country, Principality, and Dutch of Ulek (demihuman nations)

-Valley of the Mage

-The Wild Coast

    My current campaign started in Perrenland, then moved north to Blackmoor. The only reason I did that is I didn't want to learn all of Greyhawk, and wanted someplace smaller and more self-contained to play in. 

12 April 2026 Castles&Crusades and Greyhawk

 12 April 2026

    Not too much going on, gamewise. We are playing Lord of the Rings 5e, which we are all enjoying. Dan is certainly a master of Middle Earth! I am desperately trying to get my Greyhawk/Blackmoor game up and running again, but it's been hard since people--including me--have to keep cancelling. It pisses Ed off to no end, and I don't blame him. He's a social guy, and when he plans to play, then doesn't, he gets cranky. Of all of the players in our group of six, Ed is definitely the most consistent. 

    I am going to sell some stuff to Noble Knight if they offer me a fair price. I am getting rid of things I don't want or need, and I am not buying anything new, even though there are some tasty Kickstarters out there from the Troll Lords. If I am patient, I can get the stuff for 50% off once its in circulation. One thing I learned during Lent: do not impulse buy. But: it is hard. My precioussssss...

    I also told my brother that I am not too into his grand idea of turning this into a business. I love, love, love these games, and I love playing them, but creating content isn't something I really enjoy. I take stuff from all over, chop it up, slap it back together, add my own ideas, then run it. That's what I've always done; that's the joy for me. I love being a game master. Writing modules? Not so much. 

    So I'm kicking around the idea of just running in Greyhawk going forward, and using Castles&Crusades as the ruleset. I do still really like DCC, but it's a bit silly for me, even though it's super fun to play. It's a true beer-and-pretzels game, and all we do is laugh! But I like to run a bit more serious of a game, so C&C in Greyhawk will be my jam. This week. God knows I've changed my mind before. I have been listening to a podcast interviewing a guy who has been running the same campaign for 46 fucking years! Amazing. 

    This guy, Lord Gosumba, has had God knows how many players and does something I find interesting: he sets up a region that evolves in response to what his players do, but also evolves on its own without their influence or input. So I thought a bit about this as I was walking this PM. Identify a region, set up an onion (low level danger, connected to medium level danger, connected to high level danger), advance the timeline, and when when group is done, start the next group in the same place. Ed has done something similar with his DCC game and I like it. I'm thinking this through, but it's an intriguing idea. 

26 Mar 2026 On Not Being A Writer

     I have come to the realization that I don't like writing adventures. I'm not sure why this should be a surprise: in 45 years, I don't think I've ever actually written a full adventure. What I do do is take what other people have written and make it my own. I suppose this is good information to have and my little brother is trying to start up some kind of a gaming company, and would like me to be a part of it. I fear he may be disappointed. 

    Here is a true story related to this issue. In the summer of 2003, I decided to finally write a novel. At that time, Wizards of the Coast was still publishing many, many fiction books set in their de facto campaign world, the Forgotten Realms. The things that had always held me back from my dream of becoming a writer were no longer an issue. I had a full-time job, I was happily married, I was no longer in school. My life had settled down into a very happy and comfortable place, and now--now at last!--I could do the thing I had dreamt of doing for most of my life: write. I had the summers off. I had a genre I loved. I had time, time at last, to be a writer.

    And...I fucking hated it. I wrote one chapter then stopped (it was a good chapter, I'll say that much). I would put off writing, write then delete, write a little, write a lot, disregard, avoid, and generally not do the thing that I had told myself I wanted to do for (at that point) twenty years. I felt guilty. I felt frustrated. I felt disappointed. I felt a bit angry. I felt sorry. Finally, by mid-August of that year, I gave myself permission to stop putting so much pressure on myself and just stop. When I did, I felt this enormous wash of relief come over me. I knew then, 23 years ago, that I was not a writer, that I wasn't going to become a writer, and that the gap between how I imagined it and how is actually was was unbridgeable. I don't think I've written a single piece of fiction longer than five or six pages since then. 

    So pecking away at module/adventure writing over the past six months or so has reminded me that I am, in fact, not a writer. I don't enjoy it, I'm not that good at it, and I feel the same kind of pressure that I did in the summer of 2003. I am stopping. I don't want to. And that's fine. 

    My wife is a writer. She writes full-time. She published books, goes to author signings, and makes mad money. The sheer amount of work that she does--most of it not related to actual writing, but rather to the running of her business--is exhausting to simply watch, let alone do. Living with a real-life working author has only underscored the reality that I am, in fact, not one. So be it. 

What does that mean going forward with the inchoate Wicked Place Games? Well, my super power--the thing I absolutely love to do-- is run games. I am a game master, and I am good at it (I think). Running games, creating stories, connecting things together, taking an idea and running with it, and using my imagination to cobble together disparate parts from all of the bats flying around in my belfry--books, stories, movies, songs, legends, lore, myths--is the part of the TTRPG space that gives me energy and gets my mind roaring. So Dennis and I will work out something; some way to make this a part of our lives as we approach retirement and begin the next phase of life. But writing is not going to be it, I think. I just isn't something that I enjoy.