The Dash Action

  Image by Free League [7 min read] As part of my ongoing research into new tabletop RPGs, I’ve just finished a solo run of Dragonbane , using Alone in Deepfall Breach . Instead of packing the game away, I found myself wanting to stay. Not just to keep playing solo, but to extend the experience into party play. That’s usually a good sign. What follows isn’t a review in the traditional sense. It’s a snapshot of how Dragonbane feels in motion, first as a system, then as a solo experience, as seen through the eyes of a long-time Dungeons & Dragons player. Dragonbane as a System: Old Bones, New Muscles At its core, Dragonbane is a roll-under d20 system. If that makes you think of early D&D, you’re not wrong, but it’s also not the full story. Dragonbane traces its lineage through Swedish roleplaying rather than directly through Dungeons & Dragons , even if the family resemblance is obvious. Most of the time, resolution is simple. You roll under the relevant stat or ...

Image by Wizards of the Coast [15 min read] Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms Dragonlance Planescape What's next? About a year ago I started thinking about my legacy. Not my positive impact on the world. Not the balance of the family trust fund. No - even more importantly   -  which of my favourite imaginary worlds might my kids explore and fall in love with?   That thought sent me down a rabbit hole - which stories are worth preserving? What content might still bring joy even today? And how do I make sure they're not lost to time, from a flooded basement or an impenetrable wall of digital rights management? Read all about that here.   Welcome to my  "Why I love..."  series, a collection of love letters to the creative works that have shaped my love of games. I'll share what they are, why I love them, and how you can step into them yourself, based on my experience of getting joyfully lost in them.  And I'm starting with th...

Image by solorpggamer on itch.io  [11 min read] Benefits of solo roleplaying I consider myself lucky - I run or play in three different groups - one in-person, and two online. So in any given week, I am getting one or two group tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) sessions with varied experiences. But even with this regularity, making progress through  campaigns  or trying out new systems is slow going. And I have so much content that I want to dive into! Enter solo roleplaying. What started as a way to try out D&D 5E adventures before running them (you can see some of my  solo adventures here ) has become a key area of focus moving forward. And this is for two main reasons: It is a low stakes way of getting experience with new content or systems before running them live with a group I get to play adventures that I am interested in without having to defeat the scheduling monster that comes when organising a group Key choices before playing But if getting into TTRPG...

WOTC OGL 1.1 - well that escalated quickly!  [4 min read] I am not going to discuss in detail the absolute fiasco that is Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) and their attempts to introduce a new Open Gaming Licence (OGL 1.1) - Dungeon Dudes and Nerd Immersion have done it better. But needless to say, this unforced error from WOTC is probably making tables around the world rethink their Tabletop Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) of choice. Ours certainly is. Here is how I feel about it.  I love D&D 5e. Our group been immensely enjoying three different campaigns over the last two years. We are deep into the D&D Beyond ecosystem - I've personally spent hundreds of dollars on D&D content there and we use it in every session since it makes things so convenient. I even like the direction that One D&D was heading - tightening up some broken rules, creating greater consistency, introducing a 3D virtual tabletop. And we don't even use third party content in our games - everything is...

Image courtesy of Treantmonk's Temple [5 min read] I have now been playing, DM'ing and voraciously consuming D&D content for over a year now, and I think it high time to talk about those content creators that have sustained me between sessions the most. I consume these in Podcast and Youtube audio form whilst I handle the mundanity of life with two small kids, so I have centred the lists around these channels. But I also read Reddit, Quorum and an assortment of other blogs when I am at the desk and looking for a quick hit. These written sites are not included below, but I might do a blog roundup in the future! Best for players For players looking for general lore, guides to the rules, character builds and optimisation, here are my most recommended channels: The Dungeoncast Image by The Dungeoncast If you're new to D&D Fifth Edition, start here! This long running podcast runs through races, classes, sub-classes, deities, monsters and planes of existence, not only int...