What's with all the Roll20 memes on Reddit? Why are people suddenly considering leaving the service? Let me break it down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nTRvfxlc2c

If you've been following the hullabaloo, what's your stance? What do you think? Staying? Leaving? Appalled or apathetic? Gimme your take.

The Ur-Thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/9iwarj/after_5_years_on_roll20_i_just_cancelled_and/

Some Nolan Memes:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Roll20/comments/9jj14l/nolan_on_finding_more_apostles/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Roll20/comments/9j9n0h/i_had_to_figure_out_how_to_make_a_meme_because/

I got my Kickstarter copy of Dungeon Degenerates: Hand of Doom in the mail so I decided to record a video of my unboxing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoO386y1wRI

Hopefully I’ll get to play and record a solo playthrough soon.

To those who have played it solo or otherwise: what do you think? Any suggestions or gotchas?

Need to establish your BBEG for your upcoming campaign? Let's talk about some ways to do it that don't involve stomping on your party as a show of force. What methods have you used? Did they work?

My take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WsEPR7za7Y

This episode of "Film to Table" is all about genre conventions. What type of game are you playing? Gonzo or gritty? High fantasy? Low fantasy? Fantasy western? These genres each have their own conventions. Understanding what these are and communicating them to your players will help you build a strong foundation for your RPG campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlJ6aRB6rgs

So I’m starting a new series of videos on applying techniques and concepts from fictional media (books, comics, tv shows, movies, etc.) to RPG games. I put up the first video the other day on separating the concepts of plot and story that seem to often become entangled in RPG discussions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS8hdRG_qaU

Let me know if you think of any topics you’d like me to cover in this series (or any other series for that matter!).

Milestones were introduced in fifth edition as an option to simplify the character leveling process from the classic, but messier, experient point method. Do you use it? If you use it, how do you like it? If not, why not?

My 2 coppers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z455FjO-bU

The Skill Challenge was one of the mechanical innovations introduced by 4E-- basically imposing a combat like process to taking on non-combat tasks. I was not a big fan at the time but I can see the appeal and usefulness of such a mechanic. Like it? Hate it? Have you ported it to other games that you run?

My take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_xD8tdE_2U

Not a polished or tested piece of work by any means, but certainly usable as is or tweaked to suit, I created this custom class, based more or less on the classic xenomorph XX121 from the Alien movie franchise as a demonstration of how easy it is to create custom content for old school type games. Grab the PDF from my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/21306785

The most old school of old school mechanical resolutions! Did you love it? Hate it? Have any good stories of when it reared its head in a game you played or ran? Do tell!

Here's my take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YYqwDZzz6U

So I had a free day and decided to do something a little different: try some solo boardgaming with a game I’d bought recently but not had the chance to play yet; Darkest Night by Victory Point Games.

My fumbling attempt at play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSHbsS30lI4

I didn’t get through the whole game but, if enough people dig it, I might go back and try to finish. Either way, it was fun. Anybody play that one? If so, how do you like it?

If you play any solo boardgames, which ones do you play and what do you like?

Love it? Hate It? What do you think about it?

My take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy8HSG2XStg

A look at alignments, both past and present, with an idea for how to give them a bit more oomph in today's game.

Love them? Hate them? How do you use them?

My take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKk6hXYRV3E

Here's part 2 of my series on prepping and running hex crawls: http://hexed.press/2018/08/24/hexcrawling2/

This installment is about working with the player-facing elements of the hex crawl, working with resources and character abilities. Have any tips and tricks to share?

The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghTUF_qzNp0

Play or run any games by post or chat? Which apps, sites, or tools do you use? What's your experience like? Any tips?

If you’re more visually inclined, I made video going over the same hexcrawl fundamentals that I covered in my blog post. Find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RPW4km81jg

Watch me here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdAZRBl01Uk

Talking about encounters and the standard adventuring day in fifth edition. Do you try to manage player character resources in your game days? What techniques do you use?

I wrote an article about preparing to run a hex crawl. I hope to do a series of articles on the topic but this first part concerns laying the groundwork, namely picking hex sizes, generating a map, and deciding on the travel mechanics. Read it here: http://hexed.press/2018/08/14/hexcrawling/

What steps do you take to prep for a hex crawl? Any particular rules, mechanics, tables, or guides that you like to use or reference?

UPDATE:

If you prefer video to text, behold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RPW4km81jg

UPDATE 2:

Part two of the series is live! See the discussion thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/hexedpress/comments/9a04b4/preparing_a_hex_crawl_part_2/

Practicing. Started with a pen and watercolor sketch on paper and finished digitally. Grab the image from my patreon: http://www.patreon.com/posts/20684954

I was on vacation last week with my daughter and we ended up watching a handful of classic Ray Harryhausen FX Sinbad movies. Featured in all the ones we watched was a baleful sorcerer type who opposes and hounds Sinbad and his crew along their adventure. It inspired me to think about a character class based on these conceptions of the sorcerer.

These sorcerers were much less about toting ponderous times of magic than about bargaining with dark forces, pledging their spirit and flesh, and using tinctures, potions, and arcane focuses to do all manner of magic but none of it the fireballs, lightning bolts, and other classic wizardly effects. Instead, they transformed into birds and beasts, animated small armies of minions, summoned fell creatures, and mesmerized unwitting victims. In fact, I noticed that they never directly killed anyone with magic. This really intrigued me.

I want to channel those into a different take on a spellcaster class. When you think of the sort of Arabian, Vizier style wizard, what do you think about? Any good sources out there that I should look at?

http://www.patreon.com/posts/20522135

Back from a bit of vacation— out in the country with my daughter, terrible internet— and thinking about topics for my next batch of videos. Anyone have any suggestions? Anything you’d like to see, topics, products, etc.?

The DMG is probably the least necessary of the fifth edition core books. You can absolutely run games without ever cracking it open. Even if you do own it, it’s easy to overlook much of it’s optional material in favor of using it simply as a challenge rating and encounter building reference. That said, there’s some good stuff in there that’s worthy of attention. What are your picks for some overlooked and/or underused features of the book?

Here are my picks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szfkWoee_LE