As TSR continued its dominance of the table-top roleplaying genre, it found itself dealing with a few problems at once. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was popular, but it required a great deal of support while still managing to alienate some players. The outside media was also providing a great deal of attention to the morality of Dungeons and Dragons, something that had always been outside the mainstream. The company … [Read more...] about D&D Editions: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989 – 1995)
RPG
GPT-3 AI for Dungeons and Dragons? Yes!
How I received access to the GPT-3 API from OpenAI and continued my work on a set of RPG content generators. A couple years ago, Janelle Shane wrote about using an RNN (recurrent neural net) to create D&D character backstories. She used a dataset supplied by her readers. I stumbled across her blog post while researching during my experiments with a character backstory generator of my own using GPT-2. … [Read more...] about GPT-3 AI for Dungeons and Dragons? Yes!
Bellow’s Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Generators
"You know, for Gamers!" ~ Paul Bellow I've got some good news for gamers and lovers of LitRPG. Are you ready? This is really big. Seriously. Prepare yourself. Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Generator? Maybe. LitRPG Adventures workshop is a set of fantasy RPG content generators created by me, Paul Bellow, a LitRPG author, game developer, and community publisher. My newest project allows people to … [Read more...] about Bellow’s Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Generators
LitRPG Video Game: Early Access
What a year it's been, eh? Actually, the last three years have been amazing for me. While I discovered proto-litrpg back in the 80s with Guardians of the Flame, it was in late 2016 that I first heard about LITRPG. I knew I'd finally found my literary home. Over the last three years I've published many books under this name and others. Earlier this year, I had a chance to work on the narrative design for … [Read more...] about LitRPG Video Game: Early Access
How RPGs Have Shaped My Writing (and Vice Versa)
Guest Post by Jon Sprunk I will never forget the first time I encountered Dungeons and Dragons. It was 1978 and I was eight years old. My family was visiting a hobby shop. While the others browsed the trains and model airplanes, I spotted a cardboard box on a shelf. The box’s top face had an illustration of a dragon battling a warrior and a wizard. I did not know it at the time, but this moment would change my … [Read more...] about How RPGs Have Shaped My Writing (and Vice Versa)
D&D Tips: Winging it Like a Dragon
New guest post by Brokk Martin. He has played D&D for over 30 years. Every game master has had that moment where they look at the pages of prep for game night go out the window in the first five minutes of an adventure. Although it is recommended to prepare for the session, there are times when you have to go off the cuff. Sometimes, the party goes into the dungeon and instead of going left or right, … [Read more...] about D&D Tips: Winging it Like a Dragon
Why do we love RPGs?
New guest post by Edwin McRae! I am going to put this to you. What if it’s about the gods? Yes, Aphrodite and Zeus, Thor and Odin. I’m speaking from a strictly western perspective and those are the two pantheons that arise in games time and again. Greek and Norse. These are the examples I’m going to draw on but there are many other divine influences besides them. They’re just the ones that tend to pop up in video … [Read more...] about Why do we love RPGs?
Writing Dragons: The Epic, and The Letdown
New Guest Post by Aaron R. Holloway We have all been a part of an RPG game or read a piece of writing where the DM or author has attempted to add dragons into the story because of their amazing and epic glory. We have all (hopefully) seen a situation where this worked wonderfully! Where everything from the clues, to the quest giving, to the final reveal and epic fight with the great dread wyrm was satisfying. We … [Read more...] about Writing Dragons: The Epic, and The Letdown
Our 7 Most Recommended Homebrew Rules for a Dungeons & Dragons Game
Guest Post by Ted, Chief Adventurer at SkullSplitter Dice Some campaigns prefer to use the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition rules exactly as printed. But every campaign is different. And for many campaigns, creating “house rules” can allow the game to be more fun and more interesting. Below, we’ve compiled the most popular “homebrewed rules” used by Dungeons and Dragons players and DMs. If you’re looking for … [Read more...] about Our 7 Most Recommended Homebrew Rules for a Dungeons & Dragons Game
History of the d20 RPG System
There are have been many gaming systems throughout the years. If you started to play around the year 2000, there's one that stands out more than others. The d20 system was introduced alongside the third edition of Dungeons and Dragons, but it quickly came to dominate the shelves of gaming stores across the road. Taking a look at how this system came to be - and where it eventually went - is a good way to begin … [Read more...] about History of the d20 RPG System
D&D Memes: Rogue Edition
Truth be told, Gord the Rogue is likely one of our favorite rogues due to nostalgia, but D&D is full of all sorts of rogues. In the earliest D&D edition, thief reigned supreme. Elves were also a character class, so who knows. All that aside, we're going to share some of our favorite D&D memes with rogues as the central focus. For those keeping track, we recently did the DnD Memes: Dungeon Master edition. … [Read more...] about D&D Memes: Rogue Edition
D&D Editions: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1985)
This is the third part in our ongoing series looking at all the D&D editions over the years. Enjoy! Original Dungeons and Dragons was a success on a scale that was hard to predict. It managed to be much more than a simple hobbyist's modification to an existing strategy game. It was a cultural phenomenon, one that was more restrained by its initial form than anything else. Dungeons and Dragons would have to … [Read more...] about D&D Editions: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1985)