Last night, I ran a big boss fight in Draw Steel (which has a lot of very tactical combat) that involved lots of leaping from ledges, off of boulders, and lowering chunks of the ground into pits. It was a blast, and it got me thinking about different terrain pieces and how they affect the game, whether in a tactical pushing minis one or a narrative fiction-first one. What terrain or environmental features have given you good success for dangerous situations? I'm preaching to the choir a bit, but I think there's lots of ways to think about it. One of my favorite ways to set up battlefield terrain actually comes from Grimdark Future (a wargame, not a TRPG). They suggest making sure any battle has: - Terrain that blocks line of sight (walls, etc) - Difficult Terrain that limits movement - Dangerous terrain that damages or inflicts a condition In an RPG, I'd add two other common types: - Elevation! Rooftops, boulders, hills, cliffs, etc. - Vision obscuring (not solid, like walls, but can allow ways to hide, like shadows or mist) And lots of less common stuff that defies category. Portals, waterfalls, polymorphing effects, gravity reversal, etc etc etc I think this works regardless of how tactical a game is, at least in my experience---in most of the rules-light games I've played, terrain is important to provide tools the players can use to solve the "puzzle" of combat and make some cool plans. In tactical games, they've even more important! They're opportunities for creative play. Have you run any battles with terrain that you're particularly happy with? I've had great success with some simple platforms above some dangerous terrain, like spikes or piranha-infested waters! Suddenly, the jump rules become a lot more fun and dramatic, and everyone wants to shove their enemies around.

I have been reading through draft character goals for the new campaign and nearly snort-laughted at this one ... "He intends to complete his mission in spite of his assigned party's incompetence, and will succeed in not only identifying sources of arcane power, but in securing them for responsible exploitation." Not quite the format I asked for, but I can completely picture this character now. I am curious what you would pick as a favorite character goal...

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be here, I have joined the community for a while now 🎉

Hi all. Was wondering if there are any creators out there that would be at all interested in helping to contribute to/participate in/or be a guest on (particularly if you have. project coming out etc) a podcast project I (and several others) have been working on over the past year. We interview guests and generally just talk about TTRPG related content in a silly and open ended way though not without getting into the proverbial weeds as it were. Anywho, anyone who might have a project coming up or has any interested said me DM or reply here.

Just curious -- I generally have instrumental music on in the background when I write (I find stuff with lyrics distracts me). I tend to listen to Danny Elfman on shuffle when I'm writing. I know a lot of people like Spotify stations but I don't use them because they're evil (you gotta pick your battles). Does anyone else listen to music and -- if so -- do you have a go to artist or album?