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You are here: Home / Archives for encounter

The Architect DM: Give It Some Height

July 13, 2011 by Bartoneus

I’m going to clue you guys in to a nifty little secret that I’ve been using for a while now in my RPG encounters – adding height to a tabletop RPG can be one of the best ways to invigorate your encounters. You must be careful, because using something like height in your game can become something of a gimmick or a trick and if overused could become predictable or boring to your players. However, when applied correctly and in the right amount height and depth can create some of the most memorable moments of your game and can also help enforce or dissuade certain styles of play.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, advice, architect dm, D&D, design, dnd, Dungeons and Dragons, encounter, gimmicks, height, Location, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games, Tips, worldbuilding

The Architect DM: Negative Space in Dungeons

February 23, 2011 by Bartoneus

A very important design concept used in Architecture that I would like to discuss today is the concept of negative space. This topic flows naturally from the discussion in last week’s post about the open spaces in an urban setting being defined by the buildings that are placed around it. In addition I have been thinking quite a lot about the topic since seeing the post on Boing Boing about classic style D&D hand-drawn dungeon maps. If you haven’t seen those maps yet, they are indeed very classic but they are also, unfortunately not examples of good dungeon design.

Filed Under: Featured, Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: advice, architect dm, classic, D&D, design, dnd, dungeon, Dungeons and Dragons, encounter, Location, negative space, Roleplaying Games, roleplaying games

The Architect DM: Function & Playability

August 25, 2010 by Bartoneus

Welcome to the second installment of my series about applying real world design concepts to your own personal D&D or tabletop RPG world. Last week’s post was a relatively broad overview of the basic aspects to consider while designing a location. Today I would like to look at a different approach to designing locations, which involves thinking more about how the game will actually play out and how your players (and you as the DM/GM) will use and interact with the environment you’re creating.

Filed Under: Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: architect dm, architectDM, design, dnd, dungeon mastering, Dungeons & Dragons, encounter, encounters, Location, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games

About the Author

  • Bartoneus

    Danny works professionally as an architectural designer and serves as managing editor here at CH, which means he shares many of the duties of being an editor but without the fame and recognition. He also writes about RPGs, videogames, movies, and TV. He is married to Sucilaria, and has a personal blog at Incorrect Blitz Input. (Email Danny or follow him on Twitter).

    Email: bartoneus@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//author/Bartoneus/

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