The Heart Monitor
Story So Far: Why You Should Keep A Campaign Record
Running a campaign has many parallels with live theater. The show runs for a period of time, sometimes months, all the while entertaining its audiences. The cast of characters grows close and makes lasting memories. But eventually, the curtain falls for the final time, the cast and crew say their final goodbyes, the set is dismantled, and with that the story is over. The only thing that remains is our memories of the show, perhaps some photos, and a souvenir playbill. Similarly, wrapping up a campaign can feel the same; aside from some character sheets, there is often not much left other than the fond memories those who played in the campaign now share. This got me thinking about how I could preserve a telling of the story for myself and my friends that we could look back on in the future
A Diabolic Dissection of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus
The party stood in the brimstone filled streets of Elturel as the river Chionthar reflected the warm light of the morning sun. They had succeeded where lesser heroes would have failed. They had redeemed a fallen angel, defeated multiple demon lords, and returned their beloved city from the nine hells to the material plane and most importantly, they were home at last…
This is how we wrapped up our campaign for Descent into Avernus this past weekend. I was very pleased with the results of an 18 month campaign and felt that it was a satisfying conclusion. This is actually the second campaign Open Heart Games launched and, due to scheduling, it was the first to wrap up. From here on out, expect heavy spoilers! Ye be warned!
Why I ❤️ Call of the Netherdeep
It has been over a year and a half since we launched our first campaigns and now those campaigns are coming to a close. . . .Next month, on August 21, we will be launching our next campaign Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep and I look forward to sharing this unique world with our community! I am excited today to share my spoiler-free thoughts on this module.
D&D News: DMsGuild Partners with Roll20!
Lately, there always seems to be some news for D&D and RPGs. It is a very exciting time to be in the hobby. . .I was especially excited to see the recent announcement from DMsGuild and Roll20 announcing a partnership which you can read about in more detail here. This is a big deal for all of us who run games using Roll20 and I will tell you why.
Now You Are Asking the Right Questions
In a previous blog post, I gave several tips for online play and today I wanted to dive deeper into the topic. I especially want to highlight ways to ensure that each player has their time in the spotlight and gets to shine. I think it comes down to making sure you are asking the right questions in your sessions as a Game Master and giving each player an opportunity to speak.
Advice for Remote Play
When I was recently at Ravenwood Castle, it occurred to me that I am well into my second year of running role-playing games almost exclusively online, a fact that I reflected on in a previous blog entry. I was speaking to a new friend about how running games in person is so different from running games remotely and that got me thinking about how I had to learn to run my games differently when I began running sessions remotely. Being the naturally curious and research-driven person that I am, I began a deep dive into the web to discover the best way to translate the excitement of roleplaying from the tabletop to the digital realm when I decided to begin running games online. Here are some tips and resources that I have found useful.