🤫 The Biggest Lie in TTRPGs
The idea that you need to worry about game balance when running your game is a myth.
💡 Use Your Best Ideas Now
Don't save your awesome ideas for some future moment. Use them now.
Organizing Campaigns for D&D in Obsidian
How to organize multiple D&D campaigns in Obsidian.
🗺️ Overland Travel Is a Dungeon Crawl
We don't need to overcomplicate overland travel.
👑 The Kingmaker Companion
The idea of a kingmaker companion is a simple, powerful, and lightweight tool for gamemasters.
🪦 Making Death Matter
The threat of death provides excitement and meaning to our choices as players. We should make it meaningful.
🌋 Landmark, Hidden, Secrets and Clues
What if there was a way to make secrets and clues easier to design and deploy? Enter the idea that information can be landmark, hidden, or secret.
📝 What's in a Name?
Naming things in D&D is hard. But it doesn't have to be.
⌚️ Running Shorter Sessions
We don't need as much time as we often think to run meaningful RPG sessions.
☝️ There Is Only One That Matters
When a magic sword is the only magic sword, it instantly becomes interesting. The same goes for a dragon or beholder.
📝 How to Make a Great RPG Recap
Recaps are the unsung hero of tabletop roleplaying game adventures.
☕️ Coffee & Campaign Building RPG Community
The Coffee & Campaigns RPG community forum is officially open for business.
🔗 Organizing Obsidian for D&D - Linking
Links are one of the most popular features advertised by RPG campaign management software. Obsidian provides powerful linking capabilities.
🫥 Empty Rooms
We fill our games with interesting worlds, dungeons, and stories. Empty rooms are a simple yet powerful tools we can add.
🎲 Don't Optimize the Fun Out of Your Game
When we focus on productivity at the expense of the experience, we risk destroying the fun.
An Obsidian Philosophy for Life
In this article, I propose my own philosophy to help guide how we use Obsidian for RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons.
🗺️ Organizing an Atlas for D&D in Obsidian
How to create an atlas to organize your D&D location notes in Obsidian.
🎉 RPG Resource Repository New Website
I've migrated the old RPG Resource Repository (formerly just a Github repository) to a new home at https://open.phd20.com.
🤔 Reflections on the 8 Steps of the Lazy GM
Reflections on my time using and pondering the 8 Steps of the Lazy GM.
🧙♂️ NPC Paradigm Shift
NPCs can transform your Dungeons & Dragons experience. With a new mental model, we can change the game and have more fun.
🌏 A Living World Every Session
The ability for players to interact meaningfully with the setting is important in RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. We need a way to make the world feel alive around the player characters.
🎭 The Best Villains
Become a Patron and get exclusive resources for Obsidian & TTRPGs. The Best Villains A good villain elevates our Dungeons & Dragons game by creating fun...
🧙♂️ My Obsidian Setup for D&D
Let’s take a look “behind the screen” at my setup for Dungeons & Dragons. This is how I organize my world and campaigns within Obsidian.
🔓 How to Share Your D&D Vault in Obsidian
Whatever your motivations, Obsidian comes with options for sharing TTRPG vault contents. But the nature of its design offers us the opportunity to reexamine how we share in our games. And that’s worth considering.
🧐 Make Each Session Better Than the Last
Most game masters want to improve their craft. They want to make better monsters, craft better worlds, and run better games. But with the inundation of online advice that can feel overwhelming. By inspecting our own games, we can learn and grow for the future.
⏳ 4D Combat
Combat is the largest “engine” or “subsystem” within the Dungeons & Dragons 5E rules. One under-appreciated aspect of combat encounter design can transform your experience.
📝 How I Prepare for D&D with Obsidian
When it's time to plan my next Dungeons & Dragons session, I fire up Obsidian. But then what? Here's a behind-the-screen look at how I prepare for D&D using...
🎨 Creative Origins
All of the articles and advice we read on running Dungeons & Dragons, while useful, can’t replace what you bring to the game. Your experiences, inspiration,...
🎲 Power of Polyhedrons
In RPGs, dice can transcend the players and game master as the ultimate arbiter and creator of outcomes. Without rolling dice (or insert other resolution...
The Elusive Game
🧌 The Elusive Game We’ve all thought about running the perfect game of Dungeons & Dragons . A game that maximizes everything we desire in a TTRPG and...
Beyond the Plot in D&D
🧙♂️ Beyond the Plot in D&D In a game where the game master only presents plot, much of the value of our hobby is lost. The opportunities for players to...
Books Over AI
📚 Books Over AI At the time of writing, I'm using "AI" to refer to generative AI tools, in particular those that use large language models. When you reach...
🧙♂️ PhD20 Newsletter | Obsidian Edition
Obsidian.md is one of my favorite ways to manage my notes and worldbuilding for Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Read to the end for a single page guide...
⏩ Fast Forward
Fast Forward Not every moment in a TTRPG campaign needs the spotlight. Focus in on the moments that matter to you, your players, and your campaign themes....
🔎 Everything is Something
Everything is Something A setting that feels alive encourages enjoyment and even immersion. It aids in the suspension of disbelief that allows us to explore...
🎭 Selling in RPGs
Selling in RPGs Here’s an idea that will level up any game you’re running or playing in: improve roleplay and engagement by selling. As a game master, we’re...
📈 Improving High Level Play
Improving High Level Play High level play is a hot-button topic for 5E as well as previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons. Few groups experience high level...
📜 Make Your Lore Optional
Lore is a tricky beast in tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Many game masters learn early on that writing too much lore isn’t the most...
📆 Best of 2023
Best of 2023 Let's take a quick look back at the best of PhD20 in 2023. Organizing Obsidian for D&D This series helps game masters simplify and secure their...
🔖 Organizing Obsidian for D&D | SRD & External Resources
Organizing Obsidian for D&D | SRD & External Resources As your journey with Obsidian continues, your vault grows. You create new information and add...
🧭 Chronicle RPG Adventures with Discord Embeds
Chronicle RPG Adventures with Discord Embeds Discord’s built-in embeds are a great way to chronicle your RPG adventures. Give weight to the moments that...
🧙♂️ TTRPG Creators to Follow
Here's a non-comprehensive list of TTRPG creators that I've found inspiring and/or valuable over the last decade. Questing Beast. Ben has an excellent...
📖 Getting Started with LegendKeeper for D&D
Are you looking for an easy way to build and manage worlds for your Dungeons & Dragons campaign? Look no further than LegendKeeper. “Discover the ultimate...
🌒 The Dark Side of D&D Beyond
D&D Beyond’s tools are great. But they come with some unintended consequences that impact our creativity and play. All that convenience comes with a dark...
🗡️ 4 Ways to Improve Initiative in D&D 5E
4 Ways to Improve Initiative in D&D 5E Crow's Nest by maxprodanov (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) “Roll initiative.” Two of the most exciting words in D&D. Almost always...
🦄 3 Myths About Using Published Settings
3 Myths About Using Published Settings Artwork by Zsolt Kosa from Crown of the Oathbreaker I used to scoff at the idea of using a published setting for my...
✏️ Kobold Hall | A Dungeon Design Exercise
Designing dungeons is one of the many fun jobs of a game master. But designing a dungeon from scratch can be daunting and time-consuming. In this article,...
🐉 Why Your Next D&D Campaign Should Use the Nentir Vale
A map of the Nentir Vale from D&D 4E The Nentir Vale is the main area of the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons "points of light" general fantasy setting. The...
🏷️ Organizing Obsidian for D&D | Tags and Properties
Organizing Obsidian for D&D | Tags and Properties Organizing Obsidian for D&D is a big topic. But understanding the big picture and adhering to a few...
🔥 Running Great Gauntlets in Shadowdark RPG
Art by Lucas Korte from Shadowdark RPG In Shadowdark RPG, the Gauntlet is a deadly, 0-level adventure used to determine players' starting characters for a...