I’ve been a wandering these plains, searching high and low for fine posts to bring to market. Check out the teeth on these fellers.

Tools:

Want to whip up a monster style NPC for 4e in a minute? Check out the flash based NPChimera (beta). It uses PB1 races and classes so far.

Hate the math of encumbrance, but don’t want characters to carry 20,000 copper in their pockets? Take a look at D7’s lightweight encumbrance system.

Want a prompt for making unique monsters? Look no further than Chaotic Shiny’s Monster Generator. If you like the tool, consider entering the contest, and winning cool prizes.

World Building:

Check out these Inkwell Ideas for building more complex cultures.

Want your fights to be more interesting than blank squares on a battle map? Look at Johnn’s Hazards of Combat series, starting with Types of Combat Hazards: Terrain.

Gaming Theory:

Sometimes you want to turn the dial to eleven, sometimes you want a system that better supports casual engagement. My group faces that issue– when we game on Friday nights, my wife is often exhausted from the work week and it’s nice to have strong systemic backup. Doyce looks under the hood in Min Maxing Fun and sparks a good discussion in comments.

Making tactics matter in abstract combat systems. (From D7)

Buried Without Ceremony has a good post about Saying No and hearing no. Sometimes no is more important to a story than yes.

Bankeui has a pair of posts about fruitful group character creation. It’s a casting process, where the interactions matter as much for story completeness as any character.

Buried Without Ceremony has another good post, plugging in scenes and system, that might help you diagnose unenjoyable play. It’s very possible that there’s just a disconnect that needs bridging.

Industry:

MJ Harnish asks “Is Savage Worlds the new D20?“. It’s an interesting question– given the love that Kurt and other gnomes have expressed, it sounds like an interesting chassis to build on.

Living Dice has links for 29 OGL scenarios for Living Arcanis. If you’re stumped for play tonight, check em out.

What Impressed You Recently?

Audience participation time– seen anything interesting or useful? Throw it in a comment with a brief description and share it with the world.