rootring
rooted in blogs, linked in a ringRoll to Doubt
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On the ring since 2026-05-25
Latest activity 2y ago
136 posts
Earlier
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Now and again people discuss how to bring elements from video-games to TTRPGs. There’s a lot that is easy to bring: lore, item descriptions, monsters, maps. The same you could...Linked by the ring
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A craft is “a pastime (…) that requires particular skills and knowledge of practiced work”. The whole of craft also includes perceiving what the untrained observer wouldn’t,...Linked by the ring
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Blackbox (AKA HUDless) gaming is when the players are unaware of any mechanical tool used to establish and provide resolution to situations and conflicts. They may roll dice...Linked by the ring
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Whether due to Appendix N being the popular mélange of fiction considered key to understanding old D&D’s genre emulation or other reasons, discussion of the 1974 rules seems to...
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D&D and its ilk are built on colonialist assumptions, noticeably through their fictional inspiration (sword-and-sorcery and westerns). They are also a recurring topic of this...
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Each player rolls twice for their class. Of course you may add tables for backgrounds, traits etc. I made the questions simultaneously generic and somewhat evocative to the...
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So, I started the Providence campaign this last week. The hook is “Silent Hill meets Gangs of New York”, as investigators from a strange organization deal with the supernatural...
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A small dungeon for modern times. Note: the above map uses the architecture of the first floor of the Alchemilla Hospital in Silent Hill 3, redrawn for utility. There’s a...
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An improvised node dungeon. Slightly revised for sharing with extra description but unchanged gameplay wise. Referee Information Adelaide produced art in town for the local...
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My New Year Resolution includes doing stuff that normally scares me in different parts of my life. In the tabletop arena, that includes running zero-to-almost-zero prep games,...
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(This is just a bit of system stuff. I feel better throwing it in a blog and letting it go than mustering on my files, especially because most of it ends never being used...
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I love duet gaming. At some point I realized it was my favorite play configuration. I enjoy a group – usually 3 total, 4 if really pushing – but duet games work on a different...
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Continuing from this post. Character Creation Character creation is the most important part of the play process. “No, play itself, interacting with the environment, that’s the...
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(Inspired by a conversation earlier today) Fighters aren’t boring. As expected from a game about simulating challenges in a fictional world, old D&D is informed by the logic of...Linked by the ring
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So, this blew up. The positive responses humbled me and I’m thankful for the critical ones regarding writing so I can do better. This is a follow-up with more practical...
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The genre of supernatural horror is a privileged site in which this paradoxical thought of the unthinkable takes place. What an earlier era would have described through the...
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W.F. Smith from Prismatic Wasteland suggested I should participate in the Resolution thing. I said I was considering a “second shot” at an old post to explain it better and...Linked by the ring
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I trashed a draft about OSR Maxims and Misconceptions after being informed of Gus’ post. Only one aspect remained of interest in my draft, which was about “OSR doesn’t develop...
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I have been following Jenx’s latest blog series on hobby best practices with joy. I believe he will be pleased in seeing me and others tackle the issue from our perspective. I...Linked by the ring
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Social conflict in roleplaying does not depend on personal charisma and improvisational acting skills from the players. While such brings enjoyment to the activity and should...Linked by the ring
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My creative life has been a bit of a rump these past few days due to exhaustion. It includes writing, scholarship, and roleplaying. This made me reflect on my own methods...Linked by the ring
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Trust comes up often in roleplaying discussions. Relevant to my articles is defining FKR as a “high-trust” style as it is frequently called, but what is trust in the gaming...Linked by the ring
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This is not prescriptive. I don’t know your setting, the rulesets you may have used in the past, or your players. But I do know that FKR can intimidate people, mainly by two...Linked by the ring
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(My sincere thanks to Jonathan, Justin and Ven) You end up seeing Principled Freeform referenced in some communities, but receiving a definition involves jumping from old forum...
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(This is the third post in my recent series on FKR. I recommend reading the first one for a clearer understanding of this one). My thesis here is that an arbitrary attribute of...
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My previous post had a much bigger reception than expected. I’m very happy with the discussions and would like to take this opportunity to share a few disagreements, since they...
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EDIT: This post now serves as a Megapost collecting all my posts on FKR in a link tree for simple reference, updated as new articles are written: Introduction FKR (Free...
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There’s a certain appeal among some groups for resolution with 50/50 probability (or Coin Toss). For it to become clear, we first need to unpack the appeal of the binary result...
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There is a peculiar drive towards qualitative assessments that lead, in the end, to discussions of who or what is the greatest in a certain category. I’m positive many people...
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A friend wanted to run her first adventure game, with a two-page RPG, and asked for advice. Here’s what I told her: “First of all, communicate clearly to the players how...Linked by the ring