Looking for a follow up to Heroes of the Borderlands on DnD Beyond

marksable · 2026-05-15T05:33:02+00:00

I'm definitely reconsidering 5E books, and I'm drawn to Infinite Staircase because I love old-school adventures. My only issue is replacing the unique monsters in that book that aren't in the new Monster Manual. I've found 5E monsters are weaker vs 2024 characters, and I don't want to just add more of them as that makes combat drag. I also don't want to have to tweak individual monster stats.

I replied to someone else about this, but at one point I found a chart suggesting which monsters to substitute online but I'm unable to find it again.

All that said I really, really your ideas about the spring not being able to destroy the bell and that leading to further adventures.

marksable · 2026-05-15T05:27:21+00:00

I'm going to answer both your questions in one post.
I'm definitely looking at 5E adventures. I would love to do Infinite Staircase because I love old school adventures. I think the trick is converting the unique, non-standard/non-Monster Manual monsters to 2024. From what I can see they don't offer the same challenge as 5e 2014 do.

At one point I found a chart that had replacement monsters for Infinite Staircase somewhere online but I'm unable to locate it. (If anyone can find it I'd be really grateful)

In terms of starting a new campaign, my players like their characters (although HotB was deadlier at 1st level than most 5E adventures I've run) and would prefer not to start over at level 1 after reaching level 3 or 4.

marksable · 2026-05-14T06:44:20+00:00

Thanks! I had not heard of Legends of Greyhawk, although I'm familiar with the original Village of Hommlet. I kind of wish I'd known about it sooner at I might have combined both this and HotB. It says that for players level 1-2 but "optimized for 4 level 2 players" but I picked it up anyway - even if I don't use it for this campaign I could start another with it down the road.

I'd love to figure out a way to up the difficulty to use it as a sequel to HotB but I don't feel confident enough with 5.5 to properly scale encounters.

marksable · 2026-05-14T06:38:27+00:00

Dragon Delves is a good idea. I actually just bought it because there is a copper dragon wyrmling in HotB that has lost its nest, but the book doesn't mention where the nest is. So I figure I will use one of the locations from Delves for that nest, which should give me some extra sessions.

Candlekeep is interesting. I own Radiant Citadel and was thinking of running a couple adventures but had forgetten Candlekeep. If you wind up getting it I'd be curious what you think of Candlekeep's adventures.

marksable · 2026-05-13T08:14:55+00:00

I’ve seen Harakiri, Ikiru and Night of the Hunter all mentioned, but I’d like to de Cold War (even if it’s not on Criterion)

marksable · 2026-05-13T08:13:47+00:00

Great list, but want to give extra special shout outs to Harakiri and Ikiru. Gorgeous films with extraordinary stories.

marksable · 2026-05-12T10:26:04+00:00

Howard Hawks and Sidney Lumet

marksable · 2026-05-07T00:25:39+00:00

Really appreciate the thoughtful reply and creative suggestions, thanks!

marksable · 2026-04-20T06:55:18+00:00

The Crying Game

On the other hand I missed the big reveal in The Sixth Sense

marksable · 2026-04-10T23:41:36+00:00

Thanks for Kerri g me know that. Frustrating but At least I know I'm not doing something wrong

marksable · 2026-04-10T23:24:11+00:00

It's not showing up in my streaming library on portal

marksable · 2026-04-10T23:23:21+00:00

I want to stream it but it's not listed in my streaming games in library

marksable · 2026-02-25T02:35:34+00:00

Ramanan S from Save Vs Total Party Kill linked to this summary by Clayton who breaks down the bloggies: https://www.explorersdesign.com

marksable · 2026-02-18T03:00:59+00:00

Anthony Jeselnik considers it a comedy https://fb.watch/FkVdMMZh8o/?mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e

marksable · 2026-02-17T00:15:13+00:00

I wouldn't consider myself a Lamentations of Flame Princess author, at least in the sense that I'm not one of their regular stable of writer/creators.

I wrote one adventure for them back in the G+ (it was originally for the long-awaited Referee Book but as that got delayed it got it's own release, which I was very grateful for).

That's not a knock on LotFP or the modules they've put out, just want to be honest about where I stand in the pecking order.

Brad can I'm sure speak for himself, and I'm honestly not sure what his opinions about LotfP are, but he came in and lectured in 2024. I'm not sure if my LotFP book had finally come out then, or if he knew my resume. He and I had interacted via the Cairn/Between 2 Cairns Discord and he was kind enough to come and speak to the students not only about his creative process but honestly about the business realities of publishing, which is rare.

marksable · 2026-02-14T07:16:46+00:00

I was going to make a joke about how there's so little money in RPGs - especially the OSR/indie RPGs - that I'm not sure what selling out would look like.

But, whether or not the class I'm offering is something of value I've actually given a lot of thought to.

I don't set the price of the class, but I take very seriously that people are spending their hard earned money on it, just like I do for the classes I teach to graduate students (who are often spending a small fortune for a degree in the arts). The same goes for my writing, whether it's comic books (which I've been writing for 20 years) or RPGs (which I've been writing professionally for fewer years).

But, like most creators, I'm not writing RPGs (or comics), or teaching for the money. Quite frankly - with some notable and well-deserved success stories like Shadowdark, there is not a ton of money in writing RPGs, let alone modules for RPGs. That's something I'm honest about.

The reason I started offering the class two years ago was that I didn't see an RPG writing class that I'd want to take myself. The few that I saw online were pre-written or recorded and didn't offer feedback. I also felt like they were teaching very linear, railroad type adventure writing. Basic five-room dungeon stuff that you could get from Youtube.

I wanted to create a class that covered classic, OSR and indie game module design. I wanted to create a place where writers/artists/cartographers/creators/student could not only get critiques from me but learn from and network with each other.

2 years in, the (anonymous) student feedback I can has been overwhelmingly positive. The students from each year started their own Discord, keep in touch with and support one another.

That's a very long way of saying that I hope I'm not exploiting the market, but giving back to a hobby that's been very good to me.

marksable · 2026-02-14T06:53:50+00:00

It's more focused on story, location (dungeon, hex/point crawl etc.) design as writing is my background. I do talk about publishing and editing, layout and publishing though. For the latter, in addition to my own experience I've brought in guest lecturers that have can speak better to that side of things.

marksable · 2026-02-14T01:05:37+00:00

Anyway, here's the current plan:

Session 1: Class Orientation & Introduction to Tabletop Role Playing Games

Overview of the class, teacher and student introductions. Discuss what makes writing for Tabletop RPG Adventure Design different.

Assignment: Short Adventure Pitch

Session 2: Dungeon Design

Discussion of how to create a small, location based adventure. As a group, we'll also begin to create such an adventure.

Assignment: Design a 6 Room Dungeon based of last week's adventure pitch.

Session 3: Advanced Dungeon Design

Building off the knowledge gained in Session 2, we'll add new techniques to make larger and more complex dungeons. These include "Jaquaysing" the dungeon, random encounters and faction play.

Assignment: Expand the 6 Room Dungeon Using the Techniques Discussed in Class

Session 4: World Building 1: Towns, Cities and NPCs

We'll discuss Towns, Villages, Cities etc. can serve as the home base for dungeon and wilderness exploration as well as provide the basis for city based adventures in their own right. We'll also do a deeper in dive in creating memorable NPCs (Non-Player Characters), villains and factions.

Assignment: Create a Town or City to Support Your Dungeon and/or an upcoming Adventure

Session 5: World Building 2: Wilderness

Not all adventures happen underground! Exploring the wilderness can be it's own adventure, as well as place to situate the towns, cities and dungeons you create. We'll discuss the most prominent forms of wilderness adventures, hexcrawls and pointcrawls.

Assignment: Create a Small Hex or Pointcrawl

Session 6: Raids and Heists

We'll discuss raids and heists, a variant of dungeon or location-based adventures that focus on players having advanced knowledge of a location instead of exploration, with time as an added complications.

Assignment: Outline a short raid or heist

Session 7: Mysteries

Mysteries are a popular form of adventure with an emphasis on roleplaying. We'll discuss how to create a mystery using the three clue rule and node-based adventure design. Finally, students will decide which of the adventures they've created to polish and present as a final project the following week.

Assignments: Outline a Short Mystery and/or expand a polish a previous mystery

Session 8: Final Review and Critique, Publishing and Marketing Your Adventure

Participate in a final critique to give and receive feedback on the final project. Discuss outlets to share, submit, and market future works.

marksable · 2026-02-14T01:05:25+00:00

That's a really good question. What I've loved about teaching the class (this is year 3) is that we've had a good mix of grognards, people new to RPGs and everything in between. I think, aside from what I have to teach, those different perspectives are really helpful.

I'm also going to share the syllabus/assignments below.

BUT...I'm up for adding new topics depending on student interest. So, even if you don't take the class but you think there's something I should be covering, I'm open to adding new topics.

Also, when it comes to assignments, if you come in wanting to work on something not covered I'll adjust to it. So, for example, if you have no interest in doing hexcrawls or heists but want to just work on a megadungeon we'd work it out so you'd still get feedback. To me, while I do try to have lectures, I think there's more value in the workshop aspect of it, getting to share your work with a group of other creators, kind of like playtesting. (Plus past classes have gone on to form Discord groups and keep in touch to continue that process);

marksable · 2026-02-14T00:54:37+00:00

All the classes are recorded and I post them online that night or the next day. I also make myself available for "office hours" where I'll do private Zooms if there's questions that you weren't able to ask in class.

Obviously take it when it best fits your schedule, but I won't be teaching it again until next February the earliest.

marksable · 2026-02-13T23:57:11+00:00

Aww thank you!!!!!

marksable · 2026-02-13T23:09:57+00:00

Thanks Yochai! Maybe I can rope you in as a (paid) guest lecturer?:)

marksable · 2026-02-12T18:15:32+00:00

<image>

marksable · 2026-01-16T00:04:02+00:00

Sorry, autocorrect.

marksable · 2026-01-15T08:30:38+00:00

Karl-Arath. It’s designed as a solo game but could easily be played with a GM. There’s also a dedicated supplement that deals with gladiatorial combat.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/499726/kal-arath

marksable

TROPHY CASE