GM Resources

Posted by Shannon R

GM Resources

I created this page mostly as a reference for myself. Maybe you'll find it useful as well. This is a living document that I will continue to update as (a) I have time and (b) I find new great stuff I want to remember later. (The asterisk after some entries are just things I want to return to and read more closely - reminders to myself.)

Articles

GM Advice

Location Events: Making Rumors Natural - method for creating custom, evolving rumor tables from Behind the Helm.

Node-Based Scenario Design from the Alexandrian.

More Node-Based Stuff from the Alexandrian.

Running Narrative Adventures like Brennan Lee Mulligan - Polygon article which includes an interesting tidbit from BLM about how D&D isn't a combat-oriented game.

Good Lore vs Bad Lore from Mazirian's Garden

You Got Democracy in my Medieval Fantasy from Prismatic Wasteland - the comment from WizardThiefFighter at the bottom is worth it alone

Preparing a Published Adventure for Play from Patchwork Paladin

Monster Checklist from Goblin Punch. Steal these ideas for cool monsters and dungeon encounters.

Setting Up an OSR Sandbox by Roll to Doubt. A whole bunch of great resources and advice on starting a traditional (i.e., randomly developed) sandbox game

Basic OSR Principles (for 5e Games) by Yochai Gal

Adventures in Prepping by Vile Cult of Shapes*

Overloading the Encounter Die by Necropraxis

Hazard System by Necropraxis

Overloading the Random Encounter Table by Prismatic Wasteland

ICI Doctrine - Information, Choice, Impact by Chris McDowell

Running a City, the Ultimate Sandbox by Revivify Games

Yet Another Hexcrawling Procedure by Danger is Real - I used this to model my house rules

Hexcrawling Procedures: a Simple Guide by Vile Cult of Shapes

How to Setup and Use Factions by Elmcat

Sandbox advice by Mindstorm

Design

The Zungeon Manifesto from Playful Void - Demystifying Dungeon Creation

Designing Dungeons Course by Josh McCrowell (HMTW) and Warren D. (ICastLight! blog)

Caltrop Core from Titanomachy - Build your own game in minutes

Dungeon Room Index by Dungeon Scrawler - Examples of Dungeon Rooms by Type

Mastering the Megadungeon by In Places Deep*

What to Randomize When You're Randomizing by Idle Cartulary

Cairn Second Edition by Yochai Gal - eminently hackable... chunks can be used in other games!

Tools

Donjon, a bunch of cool generators and a calendar creator

Hacks, Tables, and Play Material

Anti-Spells, a hack for Mausritter from Bommyknocker. Sacrifice your humanity for more power!

d4 Caltrops, a blog of all the random tables!

Cairn 2e Dungeon Seeds - Yochai Gal, Full rules, but this link is to adventure seed tables

Practical Magic III by Warren D (I Cast Light! blog) - ideas for first level wizards in OSE

Theory

Mechanisms as Abstraction by Luke Gearing: Mechanisms abstract the thing they describe or simulate. Abstraction requires the loss of detail.

An RPG Lexicon from Rolltop Indigo

Six Culture of Play by The Retired Adventurer

Classic Dungeon Crawl Theory by Gus L. 6-part series on The Risk Economy, Exploration Play, and other topics related to dungeon crawls.*

Philotomy's Musings by Jason Cone. OSR philosophy and play suggestions

Sam's Three-Question Taxonomy by Sam Sorenson. Sam's take on categorizing RPGs and play styles - a 3 axis that accounts for storygames, OSR, and trad but in a different sort of framework.

The OSR Onion by Dododecahedron. Using a similar framework to how Vincent Baker breaks down PbtA, Dododecahedron considers the importance of layers of the OSR.