Dungeon Delve #4 - Into the Haunted Library (The 2024 Bloggies: Gameable)
Its a winter of useful tomes! We check out three blog posts, all winners of 2024s Bloggies. We also explore BREAK!! RPG (discounted), Grandpas Farm, and Grimwild FREE!!
I. You Enter The Next Chamber…
A foreward.
Through hallways that branch, twist, and curve, a moment reveals the way forward is lost. Stubborn, the paladin presses, on despite the worry of the sage and the thief.
A wisp of light appears around a corner, halting them in their path. Listless it hangs, until a chime of bells can he heard as if acknowledging the intruders. Slowly it floats away, prompting our adventurers to saunter in its trail.
After a labyrinthine journey, one final turn unveils an open archway. Beyond, upon balcony of bronze rail and bannister, the room opens into a splendorous mirage of bookends and shelves, several floors up and down, and a hundred fathoms deep. Across similar balconies, fellow wisps float and chime, their light revealing dimensions of dull reds, greens, and raw umber.
The paladin sighs. The thief spies. The sage's mouth drops with glimmering eyes.Salutations, friends!
This week, we revel in some of the winners of a little community-friendly awards ceremony on the tabletop RPG blog-o-sphere known respectively as, … The Bloggies!
It’s ritual that the winner of the past year hosts the event (this time “sachagoat”) to highlight some of the most influential think-pieces of the year. … This year has revealed some solid medal achievers for the “Gameable” category, covering stuff that can be applied to the experience at the table! … So, lets dig into some magic tomes and learn something new!
II. The Sage Speaks!
The sages backstory quest to build a master dictionary, one issue at a time!
TTRPG Glossary
Encounter: Any moment on a characters journey where they stop to interact with their environment. This can include a confrontation with monsters, crossing paths with another NPC, discovering an object to investigate, a dangerous trap, a clever puzzle, and more.
Exploding Die: A dice-rolling mechanic in some TTRPGs where rolling the highest number on the die prompts the user to roll that die again, and add the amounts together. This can be continued and accrue a larger and larger end value as long as the highest number is rolled on each resulting die.
Dice Bell Curve: In TTRPGs, referring the probability of obtaining any specific end value when rolling multiple dice, often demonstrated with a numerical line graph.
Worldbuilding / Writing Glossary
Info Dump: In terms of story writing, a massive amount of background information for readers to parse through, rather than allowing the information to unfold naturally thought the course of the narrative.
(Example: pulling readers out of a characters conversation to explain the foreign policy of a specific kingdom, rather than presenting the details using action or careful dialogue it when it becomes relevant to a scene.)
III. Markings on the Wall
Latest rumors, discoveries, and puzzling finds in the RPG world and beyond!
2024 BLOGGIES - Best blog articles of 2024!
(🎲Gameable Category)
Overloading Your Random Encounter Table - Prismatic Wasteland - Bloggie 🥇GOLD in 🎲Gameable Category.
How do you get more out of an encounter table with less rolls? PW proposes a clever way of using 3d6 dice to their fuller potential, including doubles/triples for distance and surprise, median # for disposition, and much more!
The Bell Curving Encounter Table - Pointless Momentum - Bloggie 🥈SILVER in 🎲Gameable Category
Another great use of multiple d6’s! … How do you represent civilization, borderlands, and wilderness in your encounter table with a single roll? PM explains the bell curve of dice rolling multiple d6’s, and how to leverage its power to exact the right balance depending on the setting!
A Person Shaped Hole - Mindstorm Press - Bloggie 🥉BRONZE in 🎲Gameable category.
How do you get characters to know each other from the very start of a new adventure or campaign? Mindstorm proposes the “Linchpin”, a singular NPC that ties them together, and motivates their first party engagements.
TTRPG News and Findings
BREAK!! RPG is out NOW, and discounted! - 2024 ENNIE Award winner and highly anticipated game inspired by fantasy video games like Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and more! … The new store is live, with the game discounted for a limited time!!
Grandpas Farm, and RPG by Possible World Games - Ever wanted to play your own Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, or Animal Crossing-like game? … Get your pen and paper, a deck of cards, and get farming!
Worldbuilding Links
Characterization and Worldbuilding Through Fight Scenes - SWFA - Writer Corrine A. Kumar describes how to augment the world building power of fight scenes by leverage aspects such as status, expertise, culture, technology, and more!
A Maniacs Insight (Where I quote an adjacent Substack blog)
If you can’t read the book because it’s in eldritch runes you don’t recognise, what do you do? You have to find a way to translate it. … … Not being able to read or speak a language is the interesting situation here, since it actually promotes interaction with the game world.
IV. Looting the Room
Free and PWYW Stuff
Grimwild: Free Edition - Oddity Press - A DnD-inspired heroic epic with a narrative cinematic rules system! Featuring freeform magic and a new take on 100 classic monsters!
Fantastia Archive - an offline, open-source, and free world-building & writing tool packed with awesome features for writers, storytellers, and game masters alike!!
Free and PWYW PDF’s by Never Engine - A seemingly “inactive since 2017” Wordpress site with a number of handy downloads, including system agnostic encounter generators for your table!
V. Treasure Chest (Sponsored Ads)
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