Dicegeeks March Newsletter

This newsletter contains some goodies!

There is another guest post. This one is about creating bonds between characters. We have our first guest map, which is quite excellent.

Of course, there is the usual dungeon map drawn by me. Two new free 1D100 tables and a new blog post with several 1D20 tables.

Work is continuing on Realms of Understreet. We had an awesome playtest session that you can read about below.

I'm putting together another edition of ANARCHY. I'm practicing my design and layout skills, so I can create the best products possible. The new edition will feature a new cover and other improvements. 

Keep gaming!
Matt

Support dicegeeks on Patreon

If you gain value from the newsletter and the RPG products I create, please consider supporting my work on Patreon. Every little bit helps me create more RPG content, most of which is free. 

Dicegeeks Patreon Page

This Month's Free Dungeon Map

Here's a fun little dungeon. I went with a more "exotic" name this time.

The Pavish Auqom - FREE PDF

Two New 1D100 Random Tables - Free PDFs

There was a bit of a lull in 1D100 tables recently. I'm sorry about that. However, I tried to make up for it by releasing two this month. Check them out!

Mountain Encounters - Free PDF

Items in a Bandit Hideout - Free PDF

GM Tip: Establishing the Adventuring Party by Jason Watson

Here's a tip I have found to be particularly useful when running con games, but can also be used in your home games as well. 

It's an age old problem that usually ends up with the party starting off in stereotypical settings, such as a tavern or a prison. How do you give your players a reason to stay together as a group? 

In home games it is normally an easy problem to solve, you encourage a discussion about PC backstories and what led them to join forces prior to the game; allowing you time to prepare an appropriate beginning to the story. Although, this isn't always the case.

It's enough work for any GM to develop a one-shot or any session for that matter without having to encourage the group to stay together or give them cause to work as a team. 

Begin by setting the scene as usual, allow the characters to introduce themselves and inform them that they have been on a previous quest before. This is where the fun begins, hand it over to the group to explain what they did and what happened on their previous adventure. 

This helps in two ways, firstly, the reason for the players working together comes from the players themselves, this firmly imbeds the team mentality right from the get go; secondly, it helps identify to the DM (particularly when playing with strangers) who the outgoing players are and who is more likely to sit back and watch the rest of the group. This immediately identifies the people that are more likely to hog the spotlight and the ones that are going to need encouragement to engage. 

Whenever you use this technique its also helpful to try and incorporate the players previous quest into the current game you're going to run. This will help smooth out the kinks in the players version of events that might otherwise cause issues with your game. 

For example:

The players explain that they all raided a bandit camp on their previous quest that plagued a nearby city and were rewarded with one-hundred thousand gold pieces! 

Instead of becoming frustrated with the notion of your players having a game breaking amount of gold and saying, "no you weren't!" you could say "you were indeed, the city council was extremely grateful and generous, but following a night of celebration you awoke to find your previously overflowing chest empty, save for a note that reads...insert plot hook here.."

There are many ways this technique can be used but every time I have used this I always end up with satisfying results for both me and my players. Give it a try next time and you won't need to start your campaign with the previously obligatory prison escape or bar fight (although I do love a good bar brawl).

Jason Watson is a writer and designer for a tabletop media company called Wisdom Save Media. Along with his partner in crime Marshall they write, produce and support tabletop gaming content. Their most recent publication is an adventure written for a science fiction RPG called N.E.W.

Realms of Understreet - Playtest Report

Clint and Jake, members of my gaming group, helped me test out the "Escaped Lab Rat" background that I am creating for the campaign setting.

Jake created a great old one warlock, half-manx rat called "M." Clint created a salamander ranger called "Slick." 

I started them in Central Park scavenging for food. They were attacked by a cat, which they dispatched quickly. After resting, they decided to go back to the cat's corpse for more plunder. 

However, three sewer rats had caught the scent of the cat and came to check it out as well.

This proved to be a mistake on my part. Since they handled the cat, I thought the sewer rats wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong. The sewer rats outmatched them and killed both of them.

This being a playtest and not a "real" session, I decided to have them both just knocked unconscious so we could keep playing.

After recovering a bit, the two made their way into the sewers. They built a boat out of soda cans and Styrofoam. They survived several dangers but made it to the Smoking Devil Inn.

We had to end there, but we all had fun. It was a good experience to see how the new background worked in play.

If you would like to learn more about Realms of Understreet, click here.

New Blog Post - D&D ENCOUNTERS - 1D20 RANDOM TABLES

Random encounters can be the life’s blood of the game. That’s why I love random tables. Here are some geared for D&D.

D&D ENCOUNTERS – 1D20 RANDOM TABLES

Terrene Map by R.R. Calbick 

This is a Darlene style map, originally used in the maps of the AD&D Greyhawk Folio and 1983 boxed set. While the hex layout obviously isn't the way terrain is laid out, it was only intended to illustrate the dominant terrain for that part of the landscape. Details aside, I've always loved those old Greyhawk maps (I still have them!) and the Darlene style and felt it was time to finally create a cohesive map of my own world of Terrene. The plan is to eventually have at least 24 of these page-sized maps that can be pieced together into a much larger one. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it.

The map is dominated by the Dwerfyræg Holds of Goln (dwerf, or dwarf). Ruins are all that remain of a few once mighty fortresses along the coast, the remaining population having retreated to the depths of the mountains at the center of their lands. It is there that what remains of a diminishing race fights for its very survival against the güblyn. Over many years the güblyn have slowly taken over the old tunnels crafted by the dwerfyræg in Faoi Ríochtaí, the Under Realms, which originally brought them to Terrene from Corre.

Terrene Map - PDF

R.R. Calbick has been playing RPGs since he was ten years old, primarily D&D starting with the “blue cover” boxed set and all the way up through Pathfinder and 5E. He’s married, with two grown children, works as a web developer for Fun.com, and is a Gulf War veteran and reserve police officer.

Realms of Understreet - Pre-Order

In the summer, I will be releasing a full campaign setting for Realms of Undertstreet. This will be a full 5e campaign setting packed with incredible details of the world and tons of original content.

The introductory PDF has been getting great reviews. Check it out here. 

Pre-Order Realms of Understreet

Write for the Dicegeeks Newsletter

Want to write about RPGs? Submit articles or artwork to the Dicegeeks newsletter. Click here to read the submission guidelines.

Dicegeeks RPG Resources

Please check out my other RPG resources at DriveThruRPG. Most are free!

Check out my RPG-themed t-shirt designs.

My Store | Other Great Designs