Alex Ward

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Dev Log - Week 5

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When do you care about your character?

When exactly is it that you come up with a character background and motivation in OSR games vs. story games? Let's explore.

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Dev Log - Week 4

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The Solo Mine: SoloDark

Cthos walks through another solo play session. This time we're revisiting Shadowdark with some draft rules from the discord.

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Horror Atmosphere in VTTs

Running Horror Games virtually can be hard, we present some tips on how to maintain a spooky atmosphere.

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Dev Log - Week 3

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Dev Log - Week 2

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Ironsworn Delve Actual Play Transcript

A full transcript of a Solo Ironsworn Delve play session.

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Random Maps 4 - Ironsworn Delve

Alex talks about Random Map Generation in Ironsworn: Delve.

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Cascading Consequence in PbtA Games

Please sit back and enjoy some of my thoughts around how you, the GM, can make consequences of failure exciting and spiral your players further closer to their doom - all while making it feel narratively fulfilling.

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Nix Noctis Design Goals

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Dev Log - Week 1

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New Year: New Focus

Work starts today! A Quick update about the state of the blog and projects.

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Welcome to 2024!

Hey everyone, and welcome back! Thanks for bearing with me as I took a brief break over the holidays to rest and recharge. 2024 is going to be a fun year for me and Cthonic Studios - I'll be working on doing TTRPG stuff full time for at

tencandles

It Lies Dreaming in the Deep

Stranded on a mystery island with mind-bending structures, can you repair your ship and escape? Will you wake the dreamer instead?

announcements

Holiday Break

Taking a brief holiday hiatus on the blog.

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The Last Flame

Take the light of the last flame and save the world (or die trying) in this module for Ten Candles

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Modern Prometheus

Become a modern Prometheus in this setting for Ten Candles, and escape from a research facility deep on the edge of colonized space.

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Random Maps 3 - Four Against Darkness

The third post in the random dungeons series, looking at Four Against Darkness as a dungeon generation mechanism.

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Inside the Ancient Castle

Deep in the forests of the Homeland lies your ancestral home, a castle built in a time before memory. Before history. As far as you know, it has always been there. Each stone laid by hands lost to time. Every feature carved with an artistry that borders on the supernatural.

tencandles

It Came from the Sands

On its face, the proposal was preposterous: “An instant oasis, deep in the desert. Just add a single drop of water.” But this wasn’t a hoax, nor an elaborate ruse to gain additional research funding. It was real, and you were there to witness the very first field test.

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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

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

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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