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D50 Questionably Useful Magic Items
Because I am a terrible person and like to include magic items that are less than useful at first glance, here is a collection of 50 of them. I plan on making a zine with an adventure to go with these as well at some point. Note that these are written for B/X dungeons and…
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Actually Usable War Rules in Elf Games
I have read almost every rule set for large scale conflict in weird elf games, from Chainmail, to ACKS and Heroes of Battle, to several modern takes. I am sure plenty of tables have used these rules and enjoyed them, but they were all insanely fiddly with a ton of upkeep to track and tried…
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Convergent Storytelling in Elf Games 1-2: Showing My Work
After my post talking about convergent storytelling, I have had a number of people asking for more specific details. Here are some examples of that. Note that all the fictional names used below are just made up for this. I started initially with a list of things I could use to “break apart” a story…
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Stages of play in Elf Games
I received some great questions on my past posts asking for more context on the rough draft spread I made. Here it is again for reference . Let’s come back to this. For now let’s talk about “phases” of an rpg. When I mean phase, I mean a distinct portion of the game that has…
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Convergent Storytelling in Elf Games 3: Maps, Hexes, and Regions, oh my!
I’ve talked about how this project has grown in scope, and now it’s time to begin the struggle of forcing that massive scope into something that is manageable. Originally this post was going to talk about my hex map, but I decided that a hex map on its own just was not going to cut…
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Convergent Storytelling in Elf Games 2: Reasons and Worldbuilding
West marches has entered the modern parlance, calling into the mind images of vast wilderness, adventure, and a comfortable town growing over time. I’ve been ruminating on my own “marches” game for well over a year, but that idea has grown in scope so much it not longer is simple a “west marches” style game.…
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Convergent Storytelling in Elf Games
I don’t believe that tabletop RPGs are about telling stories. Tabletop RPGs are special because of player agency and immersion, so when you start out with a specific narrative and plot in mind, you are already starting down a dark road of stripping these elements away. It’s also just so much more fun to not…
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A Peek Behind the Screen
I read a lot of blogs about running elf games, full of inspiring tables and awesome lore. this is not one of those. This post is more of a real peek behind the stage curtain that is the DM screen. Come and see the grime and grit where we prepare for players and hold it…
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Creating Engaging Elf Games: My Occult Secrets
Ok, they aren’t that kind of occult. Occult as in hidden from view. These are techniques that you won’t find in most books and usually have to figure out yourself. I have been a forever DM for 15 years, and explored systems far and wide. In my heart though, I crave heroic tales of fantasy,…
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Sigil: Worlds Undone
This is the start of a game that was set in a multiverse after the great wheel collapsed. Basically, it was going to explore the “canon” of our game with the bad ending. It draws inspiration from the Demon, a SMT roguelike, as well as the monster taming genre of games in general. I want…
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