One of the easiest ways to make your campaign and your setting feel real, immersive, and unique is by taking away the certitude that magic is always going to act the same way. This mysterious, world-altering energy should not ever be completely understood by your characters, as the discovery of it is a big part … Read more
Greetings, 3WD-verse! DM Chris here. As we love to say, schedules are the BBEG. Especially if you’re running a larger group. Unexpected life events, sickness, and the struggle for work-life balance can create large gaps in your campaign. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but also forgetful. How do we use the often lengthy time … Read more
Greetings gamers from all systems, places, and timelines! I can already feel some of you asking when in the nine hells would I ever need to do this? However, this is not about need, at least not exactly. In a similar vein, you might not need anyone else to help you move everything out of … Read more
For five years before its release, Tracy and Laura Hickman ran the original Count Strahd adventure, Ravenloft, as a Halloween, one-shot tradition. It’s easy to understand why… Count Strahd von Zarovich is one of the most infamous villains in D&D (and beyond), and what better way to get into the Halloween spirit than by exploring … Read more
Greetings gamers from all systems, places, and timelines! My girlfriend Jenn had been asking me for close to two years now to read Fourth Wing. Because I hadn’t, at least to her knowledge, it made the perfect foundation for a surprise birthday game one-shot. However, writing this game was a daunting task because, as they … Read more
Greetings gamers from all systems, places, and timelines! I’ve been running games for over three decades now, and my favorite campaign of all time, ironically, is my current one. Not because my table is filled with rule or dramatic roleplay experts. Actually, quite the opposite, as two of the players had never played a TTRPG … Read more
Movies. TV series. Books. Other DMs running games. There are a multitude of sources that provide fodder for our imagination in developing cool ideas that we want to play with in our own games. But how many ideas are TOO MANY ideas? Can you have too many ideas? In this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave … Read more
One of the most rewarding experiences as a DM is watching the players at your table roleplay their way through the world you’ve created. Whether they’re laughing over a campfire, arguing over strategy, or carefully stepping into a haunted ruin, the joy of TTRPGs like D&D lies in the shared storytelling. It’s the players interacting with the world through their characters – and that’s where the magic happens.
Our last episode was the preamble. Last week’s article discussed some of what we learned from playing with new people. But, in this episode, Tony, Chris, and Dave sit down with the newest addition to our gaming group, Elizabeth, to delve deep into what went into running the Call of Cthulhu one-shot, playing with brand … Read more
Greetings gamers from all systems, places, and timelines! As some of you may be aware, we at 3WD appreciate one-shot adventures and player birthday games. To which, we just completed a horror-style adventure in honor of a birthday in my all-girls campaign, which was inspired by Game of Thrones and Stranger Things – two of the … Read more
