Bard of Valiant

Getting your players involved in your setting can take work but an effective rule of thumb is, don’t answer all their questions. If you leave holes in the setting, players are going to ask questions about it.
Don’t answer these for them.
Instead, tell them you’ve deliberately left some things about the world vague so that they [...]

Taverns are a staple of many fantasy games. Roll 2d6-1 and pick one of these encounters for this week’s game.

When the players walk in, everyone at each table in the common room is drinking through straws from a bucket in the center of the table.
Every inn and tavern in the town stops serving drinks at [...]

Image via Wikipedia

Magic is a huge part of any fantasy game and a common complaint for some is that it’s too common to the point of becoming mundane. If you’re hearing this at your table, consider this 3-part series by Scroll of Lankhmar on Keeping Magic Magical.
Part 3 is the best of the series with [...]

This guest post is written by Lord Oz in response to my post Classes and Levels Suck. Lord Oz is a fellow Steven Brust fan from Indianapolis, IN. today he writes about how to take level mechanics out of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons.

Not too long ago, my players and I all felt constrained by [...]

Image by Joseph Wu Origami via Flickr

A Blurb
ChattyDM and Chgowiz ran a contest featuring the One Page Dungeon layout. If you have not downloaded these files, then go do it now! There is, bar none, no resource on the internet you’re going to enjoy as much.
The Game
The party expressed interest in a) tracking down some [...]

It can be a real challenge to make a holiday festival for an RPG world that’s truly unique and interesting. Consider taking a tips from the Superbowl, arguably the most popular American holiday next to Christmas and add a sport to your game.
This article on the weirdest sports in the world is a good place [...]

Around the world, in most cities and communities can be found Firemongers. These people pay hefty prices to maintain a fire of their own, which they are allowed to sell to others. – Asmor
One way to personalize a culture for your world is determine what resource is rare but that people need enough to seek [...]

A Blurb
ChattyDM and Chgowiz ran a contest featuring the One Page Dungeon layout. If you have not downloaded these files, then go do it now! There is, bar none, no resource on the internet you’re going to enjoy as much.
The Game
After our introductory run through Secrets of the Old City, the players were above ground [...]

Much has been written about how to make holidays matter in your game. as this article on strange Sunday laws illustrates, one of the more common things about religion is its need to legislate activities on holy days.
Here’s a table to pick a strange law for your festival, adapted from those laws. Roll 1d12:

Dominoes may [...]

This d30 table has several columns: the containers things are found in, the things found in containers and the possible consequences of picking the items up.
Valiant is a cash poor, low magic campaign so these might not satisfy your players for treasure. The magical effects are notes only in an effort to be somewhat system [...]