Campaign Mastery

Iteration is one of the most useful campaign planning tools I can think of. This article demonstrates the technique and why it should be your favorite, too. It’s been a while since I wrote about iteration and how to use it – in fact, the last time it was the focus of attention was, (I […]

We all have expectations when we belly up to the game table. Sometimes, the GM delivers on promises both real and implied, and sometimes those expectations were never realistic in the first place. After struggling with the most recent installment of the Topologia game setting (it really should have been three parts, maybe 4, but […]

With the economic foundations sorted, this part gets back to the distribution of fortifications, defensive networks, and Inns. Table Of Contents In part 1: Chapter 5: Land Transport 5.1 Distance, Time, & Detriments 5.1.1 Time Vs Distance 5.1.2 Defining a terrain / region / locality      5.1.2.1 Road Quality: An introductory mention 5.2 Terrain 5.2.0 Terrain […]

While working on the subject of population and its distribution, I stumbled onto a method of using a Realm’s economics for worldbuilding and history generation. Originally subordinated to the main thread, I’ve decided to break it out into it’s own post. Note that the unfinished part that’s been set aside for the next post is […]

Today, Part 2 of the Topologia campaign setting details the Glassdust Desert, the Fields and Farms of Gardenia. But first, a section that got inadvertently left out of last week: Walking Out Of Splinter There are four compass directions, and walking in one of them leads to the edge of a different territory. The river […]

Part 1 of a campaign setting with some unique features – like limited immortality, topological insanity, a touch of the Wild West, and the Church of the Holy Octopod… 40,000 words done for the next post in the Trade In Fantasy series and it’s still not ready to post. So it will be a monster […]

There are ways of imparting dynamic life to a background and to characters that are hard work and ways that are easy. This is one of the easy ways. This is the latest in my series of time-out posts in between the Trade In Fantasy series. I’m concurrently reading two books right now: Dr Who […]

Starting and Running a campaign is a lot easier if there’s a clearly understood process that maximizes the opportunities for success and avoids the largest traps and pitfalls. As usual, I worked on the next part of Trade In Fantasy until it became clear that it wasn’t quite going to be ready in time, then […]

Rivers provide a natural alternative to roads and overland travel, if the river happens to go where you want it to. That’s more likely than it might initially seem, because rivers provide natural resources and defenses that make them natural locations for settlements, with transportation of cargo a bonus on top of those advantages. Table […]

I was recently offered the opportunity to review a copy of Mythwoven, a new RPG supplement by Sphynx Tale Games, by the Author Brett Moore. His description sounded intriguing: a collaborative worldbuilding game designed to enhance session 0 and immerse players in the game world’s lore. From the additional details that his email disclosed, I […]

The 4th chapter of the Trade In Fantasy series looks at Modes Of Transport and trade route planning (9th post in the series). Table Of Contents: In today’s post: Chapter 4: Modes Of Transport 4.0 A Word about Routes 4.0.1 Baseline Model 4.0.2 Relative Sizes 4.0.3 Competitors 4.0.4 Terrain I 4.0.5 Terrain II 4.0.6 Multi-paths […]

The last installment of the third Chapter of the series looks as worker productivity and how race and other factors influence it. It’s been an interesting 2025 so far, characterized by things going wrong in unexpected and unusual ways and recovering from those problems. It actually started on New Year’s Eve, when I rebooted my […]