iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 12h

In more than 100 years of systematic archaeology, scientists only found seven +1 swords & three +2 swords... until two years ago, when they finally found a +5 Holy Avenger.

Twitter post from 2024: "A very well-preserved 3000-year-old sword was found inside a grave in the town of Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany."

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Don't start your adventure in a tavern. END there. It's natural, & you can feed the players 3 leads to choose from for next time. Then—after you've written up the one they chose—they get the full background & start out. That makes it easy to have a meaningful encounter (not always combat) early on.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

TSR's 1990 Campaign Sourcebook & Catacomb Guide: - 50 pages of etiquette, bad DMs & players—2 F-bombs(!) - 60 pages on creating campaigns, maps, & NPCs with no maps or tables - 6 maps of real places—unsuitable for gaming At one point, it suggests getting books on caves & castles FROM THE LIBRARY.🤷‍♂️

cover image of AD&D 2e Campaign Sourcebook & Catacomb Guide

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Why would you use "Coin" as your metacurrency? That's CURRENCY.

monster stat block for a crushing attack that says "Whenever a foe successfully Defends your attack, spend one Coin to negate it."

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Players love to be in the right. Let the heroes… - Gather evidence of a crime or prove their own innocence. - Prove they have/were granted the right to do something. - Prove something about the existence of a certain monster. Let the pedants be pedantic in-game. Say the spectators applaud! #Drama

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Trying to up my dungeon design game. Every video game discussion about level design says the same stuff but doesn't give many examples. The best I find come from Tommy Norberg's tweets(?) Here, 1-3 are inspired by him. In short: provide mechanics to throw opponents & places for that (or archery).

Examples of interesting elevation changes in a dungeon. 1, 2, & 3 came from a graphic attributed to game designer Tommy Norberg. 4 thru 7 are mine.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

"Puzzles don't make sense in a dungeon." You enter the dusty, wood-paneled chapel. There's a loft above the altar with a glint of gold from your torch in a shadowy niche. How do you get up there? Levitate? Climb? One of the wall panels swings in—a concealed door to a tiny, winding staircase.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

"Mount Doom" is a little on the nose? How do you feel about "Death Valley"?

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Ask your players to write down a magic item appropriate for their current level that they’d like to have. But don’t just seed your next adventure with them. Mention them as part of your adventure leads, so they have to choose which lead—& item—to pursue.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My favorite idea for a campaign setting is one with realms that have distinct Euro flavors, so you can play a character named Alric Fairdale or Jalêvre Yprênne or Vintero Coronus. Alric has seen the firedrake & troll, Jalêvre the tarasque & gargoyle, & Vintero the hydra & cockatrice.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

A fun thing to do would be to tell the cleric that there’s ONLY good & evil but tell the druid that neutrality DOES exist. The cleric can hold that a creature’s true nature will come out but that creatures can change. And the druid can hold that neutral creatures aren’t changing, just situational.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

1-mile hex is 0.86 sq miles 3-mile hex is 7.8 sq miles 6-mile hex is 31.2 sq miles 9-mile hex is 70.1 sq miles

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

These are 5-mile hexes. That means this region is a quarter of the size of Ireland. 🤷‍♂️

Regional map of Neverwinter and Phandalin.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

What’s the best catalog of clothing, gear, houses, ships, etc that adventurers could buy?

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Reposted by Zarban TTRPG

Ty @mindstorm.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

One fun inventory management thing I used once: before heading out to the dungeon, pay the upkeep fee on gear to equip it. Doesn't matter if you end up not using it, just putting on the armor or bringing the rope required the upkeep! To make it easy, it was just 1/10 of the cost of the thing.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Idea: instead of combat bonuses, you can raise an attack's result tier: miss (low roll), blocked, hit, crit. To hit AC 14, you need to roll nat 14+ or use a boost or 2. NO MATH. Advantage/disadvantage still work. Some penalties raise the opponent's AC. Boosts are gained per encounter for…

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Imagine if Necrotic Gnome made a new campaign setting like Dolmenwood but more traditional & included an old-school system like OSE Advanced but with d20, roll-high elements to make 5e kids more comfortable. Seems like an obvious win.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

My stand-up comedy act consists of just reading bad, old RPG rules. Here’s a piece of D&D 2e’s 8 paragraphs on how to open an unlocked door.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Some YouTubers are only good at reading a script. Make your point & give me something actionable.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

A cool thing would be a clock with the numbers 1 to 100 around the outside, so you could just look at the second hand & get a random number.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Hey, include pronunciation guides in your published material. Gygax didn't do it, & we got a whole generation of nerds that mispronounced names & slightly unusual words.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I only just now looked at the Old-School Essentials Advanced 2026 update preview doc. I can't wait. With just a few house rules, this could be my perfect game.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

thunderclap mushroom: Largish mushrooms that explode for 1d3 damage if stepped on, etc. If sliced cleanly (fail on 1 on d20), they become stable enough to carry & throw for 1d3 damage, but if you fall down, they explode. Primary ingredient in potions of growth & gaseous form.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Things that actually happened in medieval Europe you could use in your campaign: 🐖Animal put on trial for killing/injuring a human 🧑‍⚖️Trial jury asked to do its own investigating 🪙Outlaw buying a pardon from the king 🩻Executed criminal hanging in a gibbet for years ⚔️Trial by combat as an option

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Pro tip: Create puzzles & predicaments where the heroes need a pry bar, mirror, rope, spikes, candle, ball bearings, etc. Make their equipment choices matter.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Thinking of making a rules-light RPG with a d20 central mechanic supported by pages & pages of tables of DCs for leaping a chasm, disarming an opponent, befriending a beast, etc. Class features then just give you a bonus on such things.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Warn players if they’re about to do something dumb. The player can’t see the scene in your head to know exactly where the monster is. The bonus is that they only have themselves to blame if they go thru with it.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I couldn't buy this book fast enough. This is what's been missing for 50 years. www.youtube.com/watch?v=glMG...

youtube.com

What D&D Combat Desperately Needs

YouTube video by Trekiros

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Simple way to let the dice tell the story in a d20 system. Roll d20 & your damage die together: - If your modified attack can't hit AC 10, you missed entirely. - If it hits the opponent's AC, you do damage per the damage die. - If it's between 10 and the opponent's AC, then… (1/2)

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Good adventurers should have good instincts. Highlight your clues. The second time you mention a clue, outright say "This seems strange/unusual/important/intriguing/suspicious".

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

How PCs get magic items should shift over time. 🎲At first, items are random (more fun if the PCs roll). 🗣️Then they hear rumors about items & can go after them. 🪙Then they can donate treasure for divine visions of where to find one they really want. 🤴Then a noble offers a powerful one as a reward.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I love history, but I don't want to play in a historical version of medieval Europe. I want to play in a fantastical version. And that means nothing that overly evokes the modern age, like flush toilets, general stores, & chocolate.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Why do you need to create factions in your cities? The early days of D&D had so many players that they created their own factions, which made for wild & woolly adventuring; the PCs should take sides or make their own faction. Alexandrian quoting Arneson's BLACKMOOR:

Many building on the map belonged to players & their henchmen, which created vibrant play between factions within the city.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

YouTube keeps offering me videos from Diversity & Dragons, the white boy grievance channel that’s just endless whining about DEI. Gross.

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Reposted by Zarban TTRPG

Sol's Roles (He/They) -On Hiatus- @solsroles.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Tag creators when you post about using their work at your table. "Running @ Creator's adventure tonight and my players are loving the puzzle design!" Seeing their work in action makes their day.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Part of your session prep should be keeping a short list of NPC names. When you use one, check it off. Then you won’t forget it later.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Younger gamers may not get the joke, but #GenCon got its name from the fact that it was held in Geneva, Wisconsin, which made it a play on Geneva Conventions, a series of treaties about what's fair in war—deliciously appropriate for a gathering of wargamers. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_...

en.wikipedia.org

Geneva Conventions - Wikipedia

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Never have your PCs captured, no matter how cinematic it would seem. As almighty GM, you always have that ABILITY, but player agency is the point of the game, so there's an unwritten contract that you WON'T. Many players would rather their PC die.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I can't stop thinking about creating a book of monsters & maps.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

When you roll up a random encounter with a creature, also roll up what it's doing... (1d6: 1=seeking something; 2=resting; 3=eating/drinking; 4=fleeing danger; 5=patrolling its territory; 6=doing the bidding of another).

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

There's an inherent advantage to theater-of-the-mind w/o opportunity attacks. PCs & monsters move around tactically. The great hall isn't that big; just rush a little & you can be anywhere. Use a battle mat for positioning, not Monopoly movement. Combat is dynamic, not static.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Some RPG designers want to perfect the mainstream concepts according to their taste. Others want to blaze a quirky new trail thru the wilderness & produce something brand new. The former is just going to be more popular, especially if they're known from YouTube and/or supplements or other games.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

I’ve never liked the battle bikini art esthetic, but Deathbringer might nevertheless be one game i back instead of acquire after publishing.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

A good way to handle monsters is to say "rock trolls" & "forest trolls" have different abilities & vulnerabilities. Martial characters have "monster lore" skill & can roll to identify the creature as "rock troll with X abilities" or just "troll of some kind". No more "Troll? Hit it with fire!"

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

There are lots of TTRPGs, supplements, & adventures getting published, but layout & publishing vids still seem very rare.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

“It looks to you like it might be a deadfall trap or a way to block the corridor once you pass,” is one of the most powerful things you can say to a player.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

I see a lot of discussion about old-school D&D being more lethal. But the real difference from modern D&D is the focus on problem-solving.

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

I think a good way to manage encumbrance is by saying "you have item slots equal to your STR" but also "here are kits that equal 1 item": 🕯️ flint & tinder, 2 candles, 2 torches 🔥 6 torches 🔨 4 spikes, 1 hammer ✒️ chalk, pen, parchment, ink 🍖 3 days' food 🛠️ thief tools, dice, gloves, glob of grease

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Zarban TTRPG @zarbanttrpg.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I really think low-level adventures should have low lethality. More puzzles than traps (cross the open pit/watery pool; figure out the gate levers). Info from fun NPCs along the way. Really basic monsters (giant rat, large spider, skeleton). Just 1 or 2 intelligent foes. More wonder than danger.

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