Background Events
One of the things I love about Blades in the Dark is that it has a mechanism for creating background events for your campaign. During Downtime (though I do this after a session), you roll to see how various factions make progress (or not) on their goals. Mechanically, this is a series of Fortune...
Read MorePrepping Your Game in Obsidian
The perfect game notebook doesn’t exist. That said, out of all of the notebooks I’ve tried—physical, digital, or otherwise—I’ve yet to find an option as close to perfect as Obsidian. I love it a lot, and what’s the point of writing for a TTRPG blog if you can’t share that nerdy love with others? So here’s a rundown of why I think you should try Obsidian with some tips for how you can use it to organize your campaigns, improve your prep, and evolve the way you run sessions.
Read MoreGnomecast 225 – What’s Your Type?
https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GC_225_Whats-Your-Type-.mp3 Join Ang, Jared and Josh as they talk about the types of characters they like to play, why they love those types, and why it’s also good to branch out and try other characters. Links: Global Comix Seth Skorkowsky...
Read MoreMake It Personal
Session zero is packed. Like, really packed, with so many things to do and consider and take care of. There’s establishing the style/theme/tone of the game. Discussing safety tools. Establishing a genre to experience. Determining which system to use. Figuring out what setting to romp around...
Read MoreGnomecast 224 – Tabletop Safety Toolkit Interview
https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GC_224_Safety-toolkit-list-Final.mp3 Join Jared as he interviews Kienna Shaw and Lauren Bryant-Monk, the folks behind the Tabletop Safety Toolkit, a resource providing gamers with access to a variety of safety tools. There’s a ton of options...
Read MorePreludes
In my current Blades in the Dark game, I started to post preludes in our Slack channel a few days before the game. These preludes are short narrative pieces, centered on one of the characters, and convey some information to the players about the upcoming session. It is not the first time I have...
Read MoreSmall Groups vs. Large Groups
How large is your RPG group? Small? Large? Average? What are the ramifications of each size of group? Do you have too few players? Too many? It all depends on what you’re looking for in your games and sessions. Back in early high school, the largest group I was part of had 15 players and 22...
Read MoreGnomecast 223 – Getting Spooky with Bridgett Jeffries
https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GC_223_Getting-spooky-with-Bridget-Jefferies_final.mp3 Join Ang as she chats with guest Bridgett Jeffries about all things spooky and scary games. Need some insight into how to bring the best of horror to your table during this spooky season? Listen...
Read MoreMaking Second Chances Cinematic: Introducing the Invocation Reroll
The problem isn’t the mechanic. It’s the framing. Rerolls are inherently dramatic — a refusal to accept failure, a desperate second chance — but most games treat them as paperwork.
The solution is simple: give rerolls a ritual.
Read MoreA Look at The Art of Kobold Press
Kobold Press sent me a review copy of The Art of Kobold Press, a book showcasing the artwork used by the company over the course of its lifespan. That gives me the perfect opportunity to recall my connection to RPG art over the years. I was really fortunate to play RPGs in an era when some amazing...
Read MoreHow to Steal a Story (to Use in Your Campaign)
“Everything’s a reboot. There’s nothing original anymore.” Boring statements. Defeatist. Ironically, not even original complaints. “Everything’s a remix.” Punk as hell. Creates opportunities. Empowering. Whether we’re talking about Marvel movies, the...
Read MoreGnomecast 222 – Combating Analysis Paralysis
https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GC_222_Combating-Analaysis-Paralaysis-final.mp3 Join Ang along with Jared and JT as they talk about how to combat analysis paralysis! What do you do when your players get stuck overthinking and overanalyzing things and start dragging the game down!...
Read MoreMaking Weapons More Interesting
Your weapons are more than just damage dice.
Read MoreBasic Elements of NPCs
NPCs in your RPGs come in all shapes, sizes, purposes, abilities, and reasons. It’s near impossible to enumerate all of the facets of an NPC or why they are in the storyline. Despite the Herculean task before me, I’ve done my best to outline what I think are the basic elements of NPCs...
Read MoreWhat’s Your Pre-Game?
Every week, I run a game on Sunday evenings. Currently, I am running Blades in the Dark and Neon City Blues on alternating weeks. Every Sunday afternoon, I start my pre-game so that I am ready for game night. What makes up my pre-game changes depending on the game, where it is being played, etc,...
Read MoreIt Came From The Stew Pot
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