One challenge I've faced as referee is awareness of the reversibility of my decisions. When I started my AD&D campaign, I was very much wrapped up in wanting to understand AD&D deeply so I could provide the "correct" experience for my players.
Referees should not attempt to emulate a computer. Over-engineering gameplay with low-value formula and procedure does little to improve the campaign. Gamists such as myself are particularly susceptible to this behavior, which I term "spreadsheet gaming." (Perhaps unfairly, as there's nothing inherently wrong with using spreadsheets.
Referees want to know how long they should spend preparing a scenario and how to be more efficient. This is understandable. But this focuses on the wrong problem. Instead of thinking up tricks, referees should cultivate themselves. Appendix N is often viewed as a historical novelty, when in fact it&
It's fun to place wishes other than those found "naturally" in magic items. It's classic adventure gaming! Here are some ways to sprinkle wishes into your game: * Whenever you create a new scenario or dungeon level, throw percentile dice once. If you roll the
The AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide includes a sizable block of example text detailing the outfitting and packing of two adventurers. In my opinion, the inclusion of this example does damage to new players' understanding of AD&D, because it depicts impractical gameplay, at length. Let'
In my old blog, I wrote an article called "Dead Simple Door Spikes," which contained something of the opposite. Too many numbers to memorize! Door spikes do not need a custom subsystem, however simple it may be. This is not worth space on your screen, or in your
Some referees have wandering monsters come from other areas of the dungeon. When the monsters show up, the referee crosses their numbers off from some other section of the dungeon. Another way to do it is have a "patrol list," a pool of wandering monsters to draw from,
It's been a while since I've shared the happenings in my own gaming. This month, I decided to close down the open table campaign that I started three years ago. There had been some growing social issues in the group, and I didn't want
This article is going to show you the only two programs you need to make dungeons on the computer. These are the two programs I'm going to use in my upcoming video. First, you need a mapping program. Xournal++ is my preferred tool. It's also great
Welcome. What I plan to do here is share high-density information, amateur research, and opinion on 1970s-style adventure gaming. Dungeon Blaster's chief purpose is educational. What I hear from people is there just isn't enough information on how to actually play these games. "How do