And so the students at the School of Adventure have completed Year 3, and my older kids have now left the school where the club takes place. Back to the dungeon I decided to go back to the dungeon format for the Year 3 test, with monsters, tricks, traps and puzzles. It seemed to… Continue reading School of Adventure—Year Three
Author: Ian
Pick’n’mix race for D&D 5e
I’m keen to develop a version of race in fantasy roleplaying games that doesn’t bake in the notion that people are divided by ancestry into essentially separate groups that differ dramatically from each other. (Later note: in 2021 I ended up doing a number of further posts on this theme. Here is a summary post… Continue reading Pick’n’mix race for D&D 5e
Historical pub signs and names
I’ve seen people asking for inspiration about names for inns and taverns. So this post is all about pub names in real world history, and how they can provide inspiration for your game world. It is the third (and for now last) post in a mini-series on refreshment in the middle ages. Generic product signs… Continue reading Historical pub signs and names
Hostelries
Characters in fantasy roleplaying games and stories seem to spend half their time staying in inns, gossiping in taverns and carousing in houses of ill-repute. So what blog featuring historical inspiration for gaming would be complete without a post on historical types of hostelry? This is part of a little series, so check out the… Continue reading Hostelries
School of Adventure—Year Two
We have now finished Year Two at the School of Adventure. The club has been conducted entirely online in April and May as the players have not been attending real-life school and aren’t allowed to meet up to play. Keeping it simple The (real-life) Year 6s are leaving at the end of the term, and… Continue reading School of Adventure—Year Two
Drinks in medieval England
Many games and stories feature foaming flagons of ale, fine wines, and suchlike. So this post outlines drinks of medieval England. You can use it to add detail to drinking in your historically-inspired settings, from a peasant’s humble table to a lordly feast or a raucous tavern. I plan to make more posts on some… Continue reading Drinks in medieval England
School of Adventure—moving online
As the end of term (and the climax of the first-year test dungeon adventure) approached, the COVID-19 coronavirus came to London. I spent a bit of time worrying about how I would notify parents if I or anyone in the family started showing symptoms and we had to self-isolate so that at short notice I… Continue reading School of Adventure—moving online
School of Adventure—First-year gameplay
I have now completed the first adventure with each of my two School of Adventure club groups. My intention was just to give them something very simple. With hindsight it could have been simpler, but it was fun enough. Outline I started with a five-room dungeon model: entrance guardian; puzzle or roleplaying challenge; trick or… Continue reading School of Adventure—First-year gameplay
School of Adventure – character building
At the start of the School of Adventure club, I did my best to simplify the character creation process. It is still complicated, especially making characters for six beginner players at once. I think I’ve learned some lessons. There’s an appetite for RPGs in primary schools The school agreed readily to my pitch. I sent… Continue reading School of Adventure – character building
School of Adventure – concept
I’ve started running a roleplaying game (RPG) club at my kids’ school. The game I’m using describes itself as “Age 12+”, but the school only goes up to age 11. So I kept the club to the oldest two year groups (Years 5 and 6 in the English system, ages 9 to 11) and I’ve… Continue reading School of Adventure – concept