Happy new year!
I'll begin the 2021 run of this blog by listing my current projects. If you want, let me know what you find interesting - or come up with your own suggestions! I asked the same question last year, and I think it worked out well.
There is no deadline for these ones; most are in a very embryonic stage. Surely, more stuff will come up eventually.
Curse of Strahd (blog)
I have endless comments about CoS, in addition to the ones I already made. The sad part is that I'm not currently planning to run it again, so many good ideas will go unused... let's see.
Tomb of Annihilation (blog)
Like CoS, a good but flawed campaign - the one I'm currently running. I might have a tip or two, but not as many as CoS.
Reviews (blog)
RPG reviews are hard to do. They take some work to write, and I'm always very cautious to be both fair and respectful. In addition, my reviews do not get many views or comments, so I'm not sure anyone is interested. Sometimes, I read a book that interests me, and I publish a short review - including non-RPG stuff. Or just a recommendation - something brief.
Maybe I'll add a "currently loving..." tag to my posts? If you want to know which RPGs I like, I'd say try Shadow of the Demon Lord. It has been my favorite for a while.
D&D 5e Light (blog + PDF)
My minimalist version of 5e. I will continue to write about it on the blog and might publish a PDF one day. I'm aiming at 20-40 pages for the PHB, might add a minimalist MM and DMG too.
D&D 5e Dark (PDF)
A small collection of house rules to make 5e a bit darker. Many people did this before but I want to give it my own spin. About 10-20 pages or so.
Teratogenicon (print)
I really want to make a POD version of the Teratogenicon. It is a bit harder than it sounds but I think I can do it.
Dawn of the Bloody Sun (PDF)
My post-apocalyptic setting. Only a collection of ideas so far. Even the name is temporary... but yeah, something akin to Dying Earth, Dark Sun, Mad Max... Red Sun, Mad Sun, Scorched Watelands and so on.
Dark Fantasy Cyclopedia (PDF)
Dark Fantasy Basic plus monsters and a combination of all my booklets. Just calling it "cyclopedia" makes me nervous, I'll admit, but aiming for the stars might be a good idea.
Weapons and armor (blog)
I'm not really focused on that right now... But it is a subject I love, and the ideas keep coming. So I'm probably writing a bit about that in 2021.
I might also make Manual of Arms: Armor, a defensive counterpart for my MoA:Weapons.
EDIT (04/2021): Manual of Arms: Armor and shields is now available!
Suggestions?
If you have any ideas, let me know! Do you like OSR, RAW 5e, minimalist 5e, other systems...?
5ed light is my favorite
ReplyDeleteNoted! Thank you!
DeleteLooking forward to Tomb of Annihilation (Id like to run it one day), 5E light and 5E dark!
ReplyDeleteNoted! Thanks!
DeleteAlways great to see the tips / lessons learned from campaigns run. Almost always really helpful.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Will do!
DeleteDefinitely interested in your minimalist D&D work.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any interests in changing how spells mechanically work? I like the idea of spell points + free form spells to do things, so you have the resource management, but more creativity when it comes to spells.
If your happy with the system as is, that's fine. I know you had a few write ups on spell systems a while back.
Thanks Sean!
DeleteYeah, the minimalist D&D thing certainly changes the way spells work; no "spell slots", for example. I wrote a few ideas but I'm certainly planning to write down the entire system.
The main idea in having a pool of inspiration points (IP) equal to level + 1, that the magic-users may use to cast spells, probably no more than HALF your maximum IP at once.
So, casting a 9th level spell requires 9 IP, which you can only do at level 17. It has been working well although it is not exactly aligned with 5e.
Anyway, I plan to turn it into a coherent system soon.
I like the idea of this at in terms of keeping high level spells expensive and rather rare without having an artificial cap (thinking of the current spell point system with only one of 6-9 spells prepared)
DeleteDo you think it's worth doing a "build a spell at the table" system vs. pre defined spells? I know my argument for such a system also works for spell research/game development even if at the table the spells are strictly defined. However, I think there is also merit in spell casters having the flexibility to develop unorthodox solutions. An example, using Lightning Bolt on a pond to get a crowd of enemies that are not in a straight line.
I DO think it's worth doing a "build a spell at the table" system (for example, "2d6 damage per level", etc.). 5e already took a big step in that direction, I'll take things two steps further!
DeleteHowever, there should always have some space left for creative problem-solving, such as your example. In fact, you just convinced me that I should add a paragraph or two about creative spell-casting when I write my next PDF...
I can help with some brainstorming through comment section on here if you want to throw out some revised ideas in a new post (vs. coming through older posts, since some ideas I think are in completely different posts).
DeleteThank you! Your comments are always welcome. Will do.
DeleteI am a sucker for minimalist systems and I am eagerly waiting for your comprehensive take on 5e Light.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Duly noted!
Delete