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I. Foreward
Salutations, friends!
A day late, but no dollars short! … I’ve been away at TTATC, the regional burner event in southern MN, enjoying the sun, volunteering at the bar, dancing, and being everyones favorite loveable weirdo!
This summer has consisted of improv jams, geeky seminars, road trips, performing arts events, assistant T-ball coaching, and a ton more. Indeed, if I were a fantasy NPC, I’d be the ever bizarre well-traveled tavernkeep, and stage performer/MC. … Has this pulled me away from the weekly duty of bringing you the latest and greatest news, finds, bundles, GM advice, and other oddities? Absolutely not!
In fact, in a week-and-a-half, I am gearing up to host the RPG Blog Carnival, an online event of article writing and TTRPG knowledge sharing!
The topic of July, … “Improv, Roleplay, and Warm-ups!” … In a few days time, I will be providing knowledge from my few years of improv into a suggestion guide on how to add some more bits of improv into your games, as players and DMs!
Here are some rogue bits of advice you’ll see from the upcoming article:
In the performing arts world, Warmups are a big deal. Singers warm up their voice before a concert. Bands tune their instruments. Improvers run exercises to get the flow going. Why not implement some into roleplay?
Stimulates the nerves/neurons associated with the activity.
Gets the juices flowing as to be more responsive.
Immerses into a brain-space built for the activity (similar to “muscle memory”)
Helps inspire creative problem solving from an earlier opportunity.
Banter before a session is valuable time! … 5+ minutes of ice-breaking. DM leads with a speculative question concerning their character in a made up situation (vacation, minor inconvenience, how would they respond, etc.), and goes around to have everyone answer it. Helps to prompt POV thinking.
Music and audio is a powerful tool! Using familiar music to signal the start of a session is a mental cue. It helps kick on the mind-space people keep for the game, and quickly immerses them.
Recaps are also super powerful! Assign players the duty to share the recap of the last session, as it actively brings them back into the setting. Encourage each of them to talk about it for a couple minutes so they are exchanging those memories with each-other, not just relying on you the DM.
A fantastic game idea I stumbled upon a few weeks ago; a character dialogue scene. Everyone rolls a d20. Highest asks lowest a question. Simple character questions in the midst of a tavern drink session, downtime, or casual wait.
During your games, Spread out the spotlight. Ask each player individually what they do in the circumstance, rather than letting only the active players respond.
When a scene changes and the scene description is mostly unfilled, choose an opportunity to ask the characters what they see. Give the chance for the characters define the scene.
The theme of this week, Put a Pin on It, presents a small number of ideas worth remembering! As usual, if you enjoy this content, consider SUBSCRIBING for free weekly updates and goodies!
Without further ado, let’s get to the rest of the newsletter!
II. Looting the Room
RPG Sales and Deals
Limithrons Guide to Naval Combat is a fantastic supplement to add ship management and combat to 5E games!
$9.99Become a No-Prep Gamemaster! Check out this guide to help your improvisation skills for running the game!
$4.99$2.99The Bundle for Ukranian Hospitals in itch.io has 253+ items towards the rebuilding the healthcare sector destroyed during the invasion. …
$1208$8Support the Trevor Project; Monsters, Traps, & DM Tricks provides 5E, DCC, and system neutral resources to bolster your GM armory!
$801$45Bundle of Holding is hosting Pride Games, such as Thirsty Sword Legends, Star Crossed, and more!
$41$9.95Remember: Our affiliate Phoenix Dice is having a SUMMER SALE of up to 30% off of a bunch of dice sets! … Add another 10% off with the code DELVE25! Support the newsletter! Come get your dice!!
About to Expire:
[4 DAYS LEFT] Add NEW obstacles, NPCs, and other tables to YOUR campaign! The RPG Game Master Book Series is raising money for breast cancer research! …
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III. Markings on the Wall
Latest rumors, discoveries, and puzzling finds in the RPG world and beyond!
A Bunch of Tabletop RPG Jams
Here are some jams we’ve highlighted and still open for submissions! WTFJam 2025 - Murkdice Mork Borg Minimalist Mini-Megadungeon Month - Poetry Inspired TTRPG Jam - Build a Better World TTRPG Jam - “Get Razed” Dirtbags RPG Jam - Sci-Fi One Shot Jam - FIST Anniversary Jam
NEW Crowdfunding Projects
PINQUEST 2025 is HERE! - Backerkit is hosting an amazing collaboration of fantastical enamel pin projects! Back 3 or more projects and earn a freebie quest item pin! Collect your favorite beasties!!
CBR+PNK OVERLOAD - The first expansion for the ENnie Award winning cyberpunk RPG has dropped! Play guns-for-hire on their last run before the big score!
RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD RPG - Inspired by the 1985 punkish horror-comedy movie, this book puts you in the midst of an unkillable horde of brain-hungry zombies. Tear them apart! Blow them up! Burn them to a crisp!
TTRPG News and Finds
Super unexpected news!! … Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford have joined Darrington Press, the publishing arm of Critical Role and the producer of the wildly popular Daggerheart RPG!
FREE RPG DAY is coming up quickly! … On June 21st, head to your local participating game retailer for some of the latest games, adventures, previews, and accessories! … See the full list of publishers in the link!
Three cheers for worker power! The TCGplayer Union wins additional severance and benefits for its laid off workers, Rascal News reports! A reminder that collective bargaining and boycotts do work.
Hasbro undergoes another round of layoffs, and an additional 3% of its workforce, 150 out of 5000, is now out of a job. … Of course, perhaps other game designers may snatch them up for new positions?
Theory and Design Advice
LootLootLore offers a small array of clever insights based on the myth behind our magic weapons and items when playing RPGs, and using a mythological lens to approach how we deliver them in-game.
A really cool thought experiment going on this month concerning tracking favors and reputation!
Choir of Fire presents the idea of the gift economy and a tablefill resolution adapts to the major and minor favors performed within a town by the party! Not unlike the gift economy of small communities in real life! This same concept applies to encounters and environmental factors as well!
Naybasplacetoputrpgideas expands on this idea to cover more long-term, reputational factors within a neighborhood or town.
Whether you’re running a tight-knit table game, or a sprawling west-marches campaign, the puzzle of downtime activities will come about between delves and quests. The Colours of Pentagrams presents what they’ve learned works best for their table.
A Maniacs Insight (Where I quote an adjacent Substack blog)
The tavern is a busy place, and many a conversation is happening!
I tried to run a heist in 5e, but it didn’t feel like a heist.
Since then, I had been seeking redemption. I wanted to run a heist that actually felt like a heist. Fast and dangerous, without hand-waving the specifics of the plan.
I finally found redemption with The Job.
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