Last year, I did a fun game design experiment where I asked Call of Cthulhu fans what some of the most underused and forgotten Lovecraftian monsters were. I then took one of those obscure creatures — the alien Insects of Shaggai — and wrote an entire adventure around them. Centering an adventure around a monster […]
This month, I followed the trail of some good one-shot adventures, and discovered two fantastic ones that are worth checking out… especially if you’re a fan of the undead (and honestly, what kind of GM isn’t…?) Spoilers ahead! Tomb of the Savage Kings – Classic Mummy Horror Dungeon Crawl Classics has a fantastic collection of […]
I’ve written a lot of adventures for this site over the years – twenty-seven in all! Somehow, I also find time to run other adventures, too. I recently had a blast running Goodman Games’ Tomb of the Savage Kings for Dungeon Crawl Classics, my favorite OSR game, which was only improved by the appearance of […]
I have sometimes found great inspiration when I am angry at the failed promise of another RPG adventure. As Yoda might have said, “anger leads to hate, hate leads to inspiration.” Years ago, I signed up for a one-shot Star Wars adventure at a local convention. The adventure sounded great — the PCs were a […]
Those of you who have read this blog know that I’m a big fan of cliffhanging pulp action. I think it’s one of the best genres for one-shot adventures — exotic locales, big villains, and fast-paced action! Plus, players are already familiar with the conventions, since it takes place in the real world and everybody […]
Part of the job of running a site full of self-authored RPG adventures is making sure I find time to play other creators’ great adventures! Recently, I had the opportunity to run two great fantasy adventures (light spoilers ahead!): Creep Scrag Creep Review Dungeon Crawl Classics is my favorite OSR-style games. It feels so much […]
I started this roleplaying blog over two years ago now! My mission has always been to make it as easy as possible for GMs to run an fresh, new adventure for their friends. As a result, I created this blog to give GMs an easy way to do something new, whether it’s run a game […]
This month’s free adventure is St. Cecilia’s Blasphemous Bordello. It’s a creepy, investigative horror adventure set in the old west. But I’m going to use this adventure to talk about the problem with all modern-era big bads. The problem is this. With magic and melee deemphasized, the toughest RPG boss can barely last a turn […]
One-shot RPG adventures are great for players and GMs. For players, one-shots offer a chance to try something new — a new genre, different character types, or even a hot new RPG system. One-shots also offer fresh opportunities for GMs and can recharge the creative batteries. Adventure authors approach pacing, threat levels, and scene descriptions […]
I envy the evil overlords who are about to start construction on their newest dungeon. There are hundreds of fantastic blogs, Reddit threads, and books on how to best construct a world-class dungeon for roleplaying games. Sinister ghosts however get the short end of the stick. There’s sparse advice for GMs on how to create […]
