RPGaDay 2025: Day 23

23. Recent

The hope of our hobby rests with the hobbyists. Hobbyists created it, and only hobbyists can keep it alive.

Solidarity.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 22

22. Ally

In a role-playing game, forging alliances is far more interesting than being a loner. Role-playing is a social activity both in-game and in real life. The more you interact and form bonds, the better it is. I have socially awkward street cred, so you can trust me on this.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 21

21. Unexpected

Table time!

Unexpected Visitor

Roll 1d20

There's somebody at the door...

1. An assassin.
2. A baby (and rightful heir to the throne) left on the doorstep.
3. A baby (demon) left on the doorstep.
4. A door-to-door tinker.
5. The Grim Reaper.
6. An imp.
7. An inebriated fop.
8. An itinerant cleric.
9. A missionary.
10. A pilgrim.
11. A robber.
12. A royal messenger.
13. A squirrel requesting a nut.
14. The taxman.
15. A troubador.
16. A weak and weary wandering knight.
17. A wizard.
18. Your arch-enemy.
19. Your evil (good?) twin.
20. Your mother.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 20

20. Enter

Time for a table!

How to Enter an Alternate/Parallel/Pocket Universe/Plane/Dimension

Roll 1d20

Via...

1. An alien artifact.
2. An altered state.
3. An archway engraved with mysterious symbols.
4. Astral projection.
5. Conveyance by an unnatural beast.
6. An earthquake.
7. A fissure.
8. A floating portal.
9. A free-standing door.
10. A funhouse ride/rollercoaster.
11. A giant hat.
12. A hole.
13. An ingenious contraption.
14. A magic pool.
15. A mirror.
16. A painting.
17. A potion.
18. A tornado/cyclone.
19. A wardrobe.
20. A vortex.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 19

19. Destiny

"Destiny." Bah!

Pass.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 18

18. Sign

In 2020, I addressed the subject of zodiacal signs and the Birth Augur rules of Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG in "Zodiac Birth Augur." I have also written a short article about adapting the Sumerian Zodiac to the Birth Augur rules. I can't quite remember why I never posted it. Maybe I should revisit it.

Aside from birth signs, perhaps adventures could profit from the addition of more prophets and the appearance of more signs and omens...

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 17

17. Renew

This prompt was also used in #RPGaDay2021 on Day 26. My answer then remains the same: I ponder the impossibility of playing Logan's Run, and wonder which system would facilitate the best adaptation.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 16

16. Overcome

How to overcome a really boring RPGaDay prompt...

Pass?

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RPGaDay 2025: Day 15

15. Deceive

Do not be deceived. You do not need the following to run or play a role-playing game:

• A fancy gaming table.
• A cast of voice actors.
• A celebrity Game Master.
• Splat books.
• An excessively detailed campaign world.
• An encyclopaedic knowledge of the rules.

It is much simpler and much less expensive than some would have you believe.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 14

14. Mystery

Mystery is one of the fundamental ingredients of a worthwhile role-playing adventure regardless of the actual genre to which it may belong. A mystery—or the mysterious—is what sparks curiosity, and curiosity is one of the most powerful forms of motivation known to playerkind. One needn't write fullblown mystery adventures (although they can be very rewarding), but it's worthwhile to drop a mystery here and there in the foreground or background of an adventure, perhaps connecting them with larger mysteries that might not even be revealed until a later adventure in the near or somewhat distant future.

Mystery is the spice of role-playing.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 13

13. Darkness

I may have given the impression that I intended to end my #RPGaDay2025 run, which is true, but I suddenly thought of something to write about regarding darkness vis-à-vis role-playing games, so my departure has been postponed.

Darkness as I See it

These are a few of my thoughts that can be applied to any role-playing game using its own rules system.

As long as a character has more or less normal vision, I do not penalize combat in partial darkness. If the moon is bright or there is any other light source (torches, phosphorescent fungi, glowing enchanted weapons, etc.), I assume the combatants can see one another well enough to fight normally. If the darkness is total (in a cave or under a moonless night sky without any sort of light source), then I penalize combat severely. It's as hard as fighting an invisible opponent, except you are blind to your surroundings as well. Unless extreme caution is taken with every action, the possibility of a dangerous mishap is significant. There are tactics that can improve player characters' chances of survival or even victory if they are cunning.

Exploration in total darkness is nearly impossible for normal-sighted folk, but it can be accomplished to a limited extent, albeit very slowly.

Most beings who can see in darkness are still limited in what they can discern. They might be able to see shapes or heat patterns, but they cannot read or see colors or two-dimensional images in the dark.

When a party is trying to navigate or accomplish anything in darkness, I prefer to allow them to communicate with one another freely and describe their actions, but I (as the referee) roll secretly to determine if they are successful. Hijinks will frequently ensue unless they are very careful. I prefer this method over having the players pass me notes about what they do and determining who actually does what to whom. First, it takes a very long time to resolve even the simplest actions, which leads to boredom. Second, it stops everyone from role-playing, which, again, leads to boredom. It is far better to let the players role-play openly and roll to see what really happens. Special tables can be be created for fumbling in the darkness. Special rolls can be introduced for determining who is unintentionally affected by another's action when the action critically fails or even just ordinarily fails. Just don't make the mistake of isolating players or restricting play. Keep everyone engaged in the game.

Those are a few of my thoughts about darkness. Maybe I'll continue with RPGaDay after all.

Maybe.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 12

12. Path

I may have reached the point where I must leave the path of this year's RPGaDay.

Farewell...

Farewell...

Farewell...

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 11

11. Flavour

How about Batman Slam Bang Vanilla (Banana Marshmallow in Vanilla-Flavored Ice Cream)? That's a flavor. (You can read about it here.)

The real question here is: What is Batman's favorite flavor? Or, more specifically: What is Adam West's Batman's favorite flavor?

I'm not sure how long I can last with this year's RPGaDay.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 10

10. Origin

Pass.

I hate to waste a prompt for RPGaDay, but some of these just don't warrant the effort without the promise of feedback from actual readers.

Moving right along...

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 09

9. Inspire

This prompt utterly fails to inspire me. Pass.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 08

8. Explore

For the purpose of this article, we are using this definition of "explore" from Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary:

2 : to travel over (new territory) for adventure or discovery

Any role-playing game can facilitate exploration as an activity. It doesn't matter what the game is. If it's a game in which players assume roles and interact with a world from a character perspective, exploration is possible. If it's a game in which story creation is the objective and players share the responsibility of shaping situations beyond the character perspective (sometimes to the point of creating the world itself), exploration as a player character activity is not possible. You cannot "explore" the unknown if you created it, because if you created it... it's known.

If exploration is one of the aspects of role-playing you enjoy, look for character-driven role-playing games—the more diegetic the better.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 07

7. Journey

Sherpa.

Sherpa is a role-playing game by Steffan O'Sullivan specifically designed to be played on the move (or, by extension, on a journey).

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 06

6. Motive

Here are some tables I've created in the past that deal with "Motive":

• Random Background Generator (Motivation for Adventuring table)
• Table: Reasons to Adventure
• Table: Ill-Conceived Reasons to Adventure

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 05

5. Ancient

I own several commercially published role-playing games that focus on the ancient world (Valley of the Pharaohs, Heroes of Olympus, Man, Myth & Magic, various GURPS source books, maybe some others), but the greatest role-playing game of that vast and loosely defined genre is, in my opinion, Mazes & Minotaurs. That's right, Mazes & Minotaurs. Eminently playable, excellently atmospheric, and still free.

(I may have mentioned it in a previous RPGaDay article exactly two years ago...)

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 04

4. Message

Taking the prompt, "Message" literally, I consider it good or bad depending on the context. In the context of a thing in the game world that can be sent or received by characters, it is good. It gets brownie points if it takes the form of a handout for the players. It gets extra credit if it is exceptionally well crafted. Messages at the character level provide an additional form of communication that enrich the role-playing experience.

In the context of GM-to-player, player-to-GM, or player-to-player table activity (that is, participants passing notes to each other in order to maintain secrecy at the game table), it is, in my experience, bad. It creates mistrust and it excludes some players from doing the thing they are there for: playing the game. Regardless of the intentions of the note-passers, it's quite frankly rude.

To clarify, I am not saying all note-passing at the GM/player level is bad. If the GM hands out a different note to each player describing the dream the character had that night, that's acceptable. No one is left out and valuable time isn't wasted. If the player characters are gathering information in different ways, there is nothing wrong with passing them notes so they can share the information in their own words (a trick that I think would work well in games where the characters are part of the crew of a starship).

The kind of GM/player message exchange to which I object is the kind that involves duplicity—player characters stealing from their own party, making secret alliances, or sneaking off on private side quests. It's all well and good if you're playing a game like Paranoia, which is overtly (and satirically) player versus player, but if you're not, it's a problem. It's bad for the characters in the adventure and the players at the table. Most role-playing games are cooperative games. They are better when participants cooperate. (And isn't that the real message after all?)

[I just noticed "Message" was a topic used in #RPGaDay2020 Day 12. This was my answer: "Player handouts, used sparingly, can be beneficial to immersion in RPGs. Messages written from an NPC's point of view work better when they can be read and narrated by the players rather than the GM."]

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

Animal Crackers

We interrupt this #RPGaDay2025 to inform you that the Cyclopedia of Common Animals by Daniel J. Bishop is "Now Available!" on DriveThruRPG.com. These are the DCC RPG stats you need for the real animals in your imaginary world.

RPGaDay 2025: Day 03

3. Tavern

My Advice on the Inclusion of Taverns in an Adventure

• Make every tavern unique.
• Make every owner/proprietor unique.
• Give every tavern a name (preferably one that means something).
• Give every tavern one signature drink and/or dish.
• Determine the prices of food, drink, lodging, and stabling beforehand.
• Describe the entertainment, e.g., music, storytelling, gambling, legerdemain, fortune-telling, games of skill, philosophical argumentation, etc.
• Prepare a random rumor table.
• Prepare a random tavern encounter table.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 02

2. Prompt

Ironically, the prompt, "prompt" does little to inspire me, although I have nothing against prompts per se. (If I did, I wouldn't be participating in #RPGaDay2025.) In general, I think prompts are more useful in blogging than in adventure design, but I think there is potential for their use at the game table as an aid in improvisation. I once used Story Cubes in a session of Ghostbusters to help me generate part of the story of a miscellaneous haunting the players were investigating (specifically, the name of a battle during the War of 1812). Story Cubes are specialized six-sided dice that serve as random prompt generators. With practice, I think I could learn to use Story Cubes rather effectively for a wide variety of role-playing purposes: rumors, songs, tales, omens, small talk, side quests, adventure seeds of any kind. The best thing about prompts in gaming is that they encourage you to explore new possibilities and surprise yourself. Prompts are good.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]

RPGaDay 2025: Day 01

1. Patron

Sometimes, the best way to create a patron for your player characters is simply to take a ruler from your campaign world and make that person the party's employer. When I was a teenager running a series of adventures set in TSR's World of Greyhawk (for the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons), there came a point when the party needed someone to direct them to the next adventure. The person I selected was His Illustrious Glory, Zoltan: the Beygraf of Ket and Shield of the True Faith. All I knew about him was that he was the ruler of Ket and whatever I could glean about his nation from a single paragraph in A Guide to the World of Greyhawk. I knew, for instance, that "the court of the Beygraf is a strange mixture of eastern and western influences." I decided that Zoltan would be a renaissance man, unusually open-minded and highly motivated to increase his understanding of the world, but also very cunning with regard to trade, foreign relations, and national defense. He was fascinated by maps and exploration, and he would generously fund expeditions both to appease his curiosity and increase his knowledge of world affairs. Naturally, this extended to the investigation of places and situations that might be of royal/national interest. The player characters, due to their reputation, were of particular interest to Zoltan who was in need of experts who could carry out special missions as needed. Zoltan could provide information, resources, and payment; the player characters could provide unusual expertise and plausible deniability. It helped that Zoltan was neither tyrannical nor insane.

There were no stats or biographical information about Zoltan apart from his name and title, but it was enough material to build an interesting and useful non-player character.

[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2025 specifically), read this.]