Posts

I’ve been iterating on how I create my session notes recently, by dropping in obvious placeholder content. Things like “comical situation involving an usually small troll under the bridge” or “a fight of some kind, something native to this area”. This framing means I can move quickly through an outline or set of ideas and then flesh things out to be better later. I think this is fairly obvious, but it’s not part of my norm. Then just last night I saw this Bluesky post that led me to the linked article and this quote hit home:

What keeps drawing me back to RPGs is the experience they create with other people. They combine story, flexibility, and shared play in a way that board games never quite managed for me.

The most common form of a portal that your players will experience is a door. A door by itself is boring, it has a knob and it divides rooms from other rooms and hallways. However, that door breaks up the dungeon into individual segments that can be processed one at a time by the players. The GM may not be so lucky if the players are making a lot of noise, they’ll need to keep track if whatever is on the other side is aware of the players.

I usually handwave long travel, but the ride itself can still be worth focusing on when it’s fun enough. The dinosaur race in Tomb of Annihilation is a great example of travel that stands on its own.

Some of the best RPG moments come from close calls: fights barely won, clues found in time, or villains stopped at the last second. Those scenes are memorable, but it’s just as fun to let players completely outplay a situation when they’ve earned it.

If you’re looking for an adventure hook, somebody always needs a favor. A small request can turn into travel, danger, betrayal, or a larger obligation with very little effort.

I like fantasy that goes a little gonzo without tipping fully into horror. Mixing in aliens, lasers, dinosaurs, or other outlandish elements can make a dungeon feel strange in the best possible way.

Players can solve a surprising number of problems with simple tools if you give them space to think through the situation. A trapped barred door in my game turned into a good reminder to build problems that reward practical solutions like levers, ropes, and pulleys.

Humor is something I want at the table, even if the game isn’t a comedy. It’s worth talking about up front, and when it lands well it can make a session far more memorable.

Modern D&D and old-school D&D make a useful contrast because they put the edge in different places. In one, player characters usually have the advantage; in the other, they’re constantly looking for any advantage they can get.