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You are here: Home / Archives for History

The Architect DM: Creating Histories – Part 2

May 18, 2011 by Bartoneus

Last week in my first post tackling the subject of creating histories for an RPG world I discussed relatively “meta” and experimental concepts. This week I’d like to get down to some specifics and hopefully address the concept a bit more directly. The exact question/suggestion that inspired this topic was worded as, “In my homebrew, creating histories in specific territories is a challenge – particularly linking them to the whole world.”

Filed Under: Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: advice, architect dm, creating, creation, D&D, DM, dnd, dungeon mastering, Dungeons and Dragons, GM, histories, History, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games, world building, worldbuilding

The Architect DM: Creating Histories – Part 1

May 11, 2011 by Bartoneus

World building can be one of the most intimidating tasks for DMs and GMs when it comes to running their own RPG campaign. No matter how much advice you read or receive from your friends, creating a world of your own or modifying someone else’s world can still feel incredibly daunting even for people who are experienced at running their own games. In my last solicitation for questions and suggestions to discuss in this series on twitter, clampclontoller said this, “In my homebrew, creating histories in specific territories is a challenge – particularly linking them to the whole world.” Since this is an issue that I’ve struggled with many times myself, it feels like a good topic worth exploring here!

Filed Under: Roleplaying Games, The Architect DM Tagged With: advice, architect dm, D&D, DM advice, dnd, Dungeons and Dragons, History, roleplaying games, Roleplaying Games, Tips, Tricks, world building, worldbuilding

An Undead History

April 30, 2010 by guest

Have you ever written a detailed and complex history for your campaign only to watch it gather dust as your players focus on the now and not concern themselves with the prior events of your campaign world? As a player, have you ever been intrigued by a campaign settings rich history only to find that your GM never uses anything from the campaign’s past? Providing interesting and detailed histories for your campaign can really help the world come alive on the table and within your players, however it is far to easy to create a detailed history and then focus on the current and future events of your game. This doesn’t have to be the case; some of the more interesting games and adventures can be fuelled by events that have happened in the world before your adventurers even arrived. Below is a detailed scenario in which new adventurers can become involved in a historical event that never concerned them.

Filed Under: Flavour Feast, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, 4th Edition, Curse, Cursed Items, D&D, dnd, Dungeons and Dragons, History, Necromancer

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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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