maps Featured Map Mine: Shadowdark Random Dungeon Generation Welcome to part 2 of this mini-series where I'm walking through some random dungeon generation methods found in various tabletop game systems! In the previous post, I examined D&D 5th edition's random generation rules. This time we'll be walking through creating a Shadowdark dungeon using the methods found in
musings Featured How I Approach Published Adventures So, this post has been a reasonably long time coming - it's taken me a bit to get to the point where I could even begin to approach writing about it. There are a lot of thoughts swirling around in my head that need to be let out, and the
Members only tencandles Ye Be Cursed For centuries you’ve plied the open waters of the Atlantic, eternally seeking ships to drag down the briny depths. Countless vessels have fallen to your predations, consigning their souls to hell simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yours is a name that strikes fear
Members only tencandles Chionophobia It started with the weather forecast. A foot of snow predicted over the next several days didn’t seem like much of a problem. Unfortunately, the snow never stopped falling. Ten days ago, the dream of a winter wonderland turned into a climate disaster, as the sky grew dark and
Improv During Sessions I’ve long considered the core way that I engage with Tabletop RPGs as a form of shared storytelling, and as a part of that my regular group (over many years and some member changes) has established a pattern of play that resembles something akin to something an improv group
Members only tencandles The Proposal Get ready bachelors, bachelorettes, and non-binary dateable entities! You’re the latest contestants on “Haunted Love”! In this thrilling new game show, 16 contestants will compete for the love of the elusive "Apres Sovereign". No one knows much about them, for the duration of the show their voice will be
Members only tencandles Carl: Your Robot Overlord We have been on the cusp of the most fundamental breakthrough in human history for years now: Artificial General Intelligence. Now, we may have finally broken the barrier and created a being born of our collective imagination, feeding the world's content to it until it awoke to a true semblance
Members only tencandles Sailing the Starlit Sea You know not when the first ancient ones rose from the depths of the sea. Massive creatures, reminiscent of whales, yet ancient and terrifying. Your ancestors made the pact with them (or perhaps, more accurately, they made the pact with your ancestors). In the centuries that followed the Aspidochel have
Members only tencandles Sleep Paralysis The scientific term for those little demons that sit on your chest in the dead of night, holding you still, dripping ruin into your nostrils and stealing your breath is "sleep paralysis", apparently. A trick of the brain, they say. It's not really a hellspawn ready to torment you in
maps Random Dungeon Generators Part 1 Hello, and welcome again to another edition of the Map Mine. After a brief hiatus (due to Extra Life 2023, replays of which will be up soon) we're back to bring you some random map generation techniques from various games. In this two (or three?) parter, I'm going to use
product reviews Avatar: The Last Airbender Welcome back again for another review / introduction to a game that I definitely wanted to love, but ultimately had a lot of problems with. This week is Avatar Legends by Magpie Games. I was a Kickstarter backer for this game for the digital version of the game (really, I am
Members only tencandles Resist ⚠️Content Warning: Depictions of Suicide "... at this time we do not know what is causing the mysterious psychosis, only the rapid onset of symptoms which invariably leads the afflicted to engage in extremely risky behavior. The government has advised that all families stay in their homes unless absolutely necessary, and
Members only tencandles Malevolent Gods (Inspired by "I have no Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison) It's been over a century since the world ended. Since we ended it with our never ending desire for war. We were obsessed with fighting over the same scraps of land. Perpetuated the cycle of violence by
Members only tencandles Stained Glass Crunch. Snap. The sounds of the glass breaking under the weight of something large. Something deadly. That noise will be etched into your mind until you lay down to rest. Ten Days ago the sun went out. For the first couple of days, it was just like any other natural
Members only tencandles Statues in the Mist A once-in-a-lifetime backpacking trip to the European back country sounds like an amazing prize, right? That's what you thought when you opened up the mysterious letter that arrived under your door. You didn't stop to question why the postal delivery technician hadn't just put it in the mailbox with every
Members only tencandles The Back Halls Liminal spaces, they're called. The places behind the real world, endless corridors, hallways, and tunnels. Transitory locales, the way to get from here to there - they exist in their own right but are often ignored. Temporary parts of the journey.
announcements Extra Life 2023 Hey folks, just a quick note to let you all know that I won't be doing a Map Mine post this week, because I'm doing my annual Extra Life stream this weekend and need the extra time to finish prepping! My Link is here, and I hope you will be
Members only tencandles Spelunker's Nightmare The thrill of exploration is what brought you down into these depths. Well, that and the lure of a solid gold treasure hoard. Your small band of archaeologists (treasure hunters) set out on what was to be your tenth expedition - exploring twists and tight tunnels, braving the claustrophobic environment
musings Influence of XP Design on Player Motivation I've been thinking a lot about game design lately, and one topic that I keep coming back to is character growth and player incentives - namely, how the character growth system (experience points (XP), generally) can influence player behavior through the desire to advance the character. 😈As usual, I'm not
Members only tencandles Tenebrous Echos You’ve always been a little strange. Touched, your parents said to you at the time. Cursed is the more appropriate word for it. Ever since you can remember, you've seen them. Just at the edge of your vision. Shadows - not unlike the spirits or "ghosts" that you see
Members only tencandles Psyche Ten Days Ago, the light went out. The woman's body went limp as she fell to the kitchen floor. Her husband rushed her to the hospital, where she was hooked up to machines that beeped to the rhythm of her weakening heartbeat. Tests were run, but the doctors could find
maps Cavern Maps Take Two Well, we're back at it again. Making Caves. Being really bad at making caves. Slowly getting better at making caves. In the last post in the series, I took a crack at making a cavern map in Dungeon Scrawl. Let's take a look at version 3 and where we landed
Members only tencandles Hunted in the Wild You've never really had a good relationship with sleeping. Whether it's because you've dedicated yourself to work or you can't shake the nightmares, a restful night's slumber has long eluded you. Surprising, then, the last thing you can remember before waking up among the underbrush was your eyelids getting heavy,
product reviews Lost Roads A game of climate migration in a bygone age If you've read the other posts in this series, you may have noticed a bit of a theme. All of the games so far have been at least adjacent to (but mostly squarely in) the horror genre. This time, we're going
Members only tencandles Tranquility Nestled in a quiet valley, deep in the tranquil mountains, far away from the din of the city lies a village quite unlike any other. It's said that the people there have found the secret to eternal life, and that they're willing to share it with whomever can make the
Members only tencandles At the Edge of the Universe "It's all fun and games at the edge of the universe". That's what it said on the brochure anyway. No, really, the Europa expedition actually printed leaflets with that slogan on it. Don't think it convinced very many potential recruits into signing up. Regardless of the ill-informed ad campaign, you
