KL Forslund

I’m starting a Forgotten Realms D&D campaign. This article is for my players. Forgotten Realms Summed Up Forty years ago, a Ed Greenwood’s personal D&D campaign setting turned into a major published setting for the Dungeons and Dragons game. All those Baldur’s Gate games are set here. There’s over seventy novels written, many of them are about Drizz’t Do’Urden. You might have heard of him. It’s a realm of many gods, adventures, evil conspiracies and because of all those books

It’s time to make your new character, and while you want to fit them into the world you know little about. So how do we navigate this brave new world of backstory and motivation in uncertain climes? Flexibly. Now this article will be about fleshing out your character rather than rolling stats and picking skills. Whether you do that before or after figuring out who they are is up to you. But I find it’s a back and forth as pieces come together. First Chapters Get Cut As a writ

These days, everything starts in Saltmarsh. Which might be fine if I had an observatory, perhaps just outside of town. We’re remote enough I might get a clear view of the sky. Especially from that old house on the cliff we first explored. In any event, one Albrick sent for our party, The Salted Blades, to his home. A mansion of great wealth, at least in former times. Albrick it seemed, had been a successful merchant with a shipping industry. His ship, the Emperor of the Waves

A few weeks back, when we captured the Sea Ghost, we discovered the passengers, a group of lizardfolk. The town of Saltmarsh didn’t trust them, so put them up in a secure location. I still don’t think that was a good idea, but finally, the council came to us to head out to the lizardfolks’ home and discuss the situation. Penelope and Vantiss scarpered off on some hairbrained quest with the druid we’d met in a bar. Then, as part of this diplomatic mission, the dwarves “tricked

I’m preparing to run a Star Wars RPG campaign. It’s my practice to explain my house rules, game expectations, etc so players know what they’re getting into. Surprises should be narrative, not miscommunication. I also need a place to park information I’ll need. Let’s get to it. Setting The Republic fell five years ago, but in the Outer Rim, it’s business as usual. Do the job. Get paid. Avoid attention from the authorities. Try not to let your past catch up with you. Nothing ch

Remember when science fiction said we'd be eating food cubes and pills? Yeah, that's not happening. Food is more than nutrients, it's culture, family, and moments all served on a plate. Issue 34 of Boundary Shock Quarterly asked the writers to imagine food on a galactic scale and we brought a full menu. Links To Buy Here's links to everywhere you can buy this issue in alphabetical order: Apple Books https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id6761338369 KDP Paperback (Amazon)...

After we returned to Saltmarsh, a stranger enlisted us in a quest that turned into a kidnapping of sorts. It started in the pub with most of us eating dinner. Vantiss communed with nature. Or dead things. Maybe both. A stranger approached in the typical way they do with a job, and even an unknown patron joined in. The next moment, we were whisked away to a set of trials to entertain giant powerful beings. My recollection of what all entailed became fuzzy on our return. Obviou

We’ve returned from the Sunless Citadel, and I think it is telling that I was the only one who couldn’t see in the dark. From my last entry, when we broke camp in a room we’d holed up in, things felt off. Nothing interrupted our rest. No one waited in ambush. Certain members of the party held general impressions or understandings of the complex layout. With no map, they still knew roughly where to go. Which led us to deserted rooms. One held a red dragon statue standing in fr

Back in mid-summer, an opportunity came up. Blaze Ward put out a call for new contributors to his zine Boundary Shock Quarterly. I answered, and since he'd published something from me a few years back, he trusted me to jump on board without much rigamarole. So, with a month and half left in the quarter, while my old dog Athena had health issues and passed, I managed to crank out a tale with hacking, and slashing and brilliantly lit ships because that' how they go faster. The

At the start of the year, it was obvious companies were enshittifying software with AI. So I wrote an article with ways to shut that off (See references section at the end for link). Now, at the end of the year, it’s time to take further steps. Here goes. Why Stay on Windows Depending on what you need to run, I assume you need to keep running Windows, and just want to shut off as much crap as you can. Maybe I’ll explore a linux conversion someday, but for now, I need a Window

After years of wizardly planning, everything’s coming together, but first, I needed to reach the toilet paper. I leaned over, careful not to tip over the five-gallon bucket I sat on to reach the roll that fell off the other, upside down one I’d set nearby. Once I’d gotten ahold of it, I checked for scorpions; just dirt and those sticker things. That’s when I heard the vehicle roll up, and car doors open. “Alex! Where are you?” Skit. Crappy timing. I rushed to finish up before

The further we go into the citadel, the less I recognize myself. After spending the night in the tower, we opted to rappel down a rope via the central shaft. A mere eighty feet into the darkness. I lost my grip, fell a ways and managed to catch the rope again. There was no time to catch my breath at the bottom, skeletons, twig blights, and a bug bear greeted us with violence. My contribution to the battle consisted of sending errant blasts of eldritch force that at best kept

This week, I ran across a bit of DMing advice to just tell the players the hallway has a trap. Which makes one wonder when searching for traps would ever get used, or worse, how could we ever spear a character who stepped onto a pressure plate? But the crux of the idea got me thinking, why would a character who isn’t actually their player, not pick up on all sorts of details that the game master isn’t fully communicating to a player who also isn’t really there? Much has been

What a difference a day makes. We woke up in the kobold village and went to bed in the goblin village. Sometime during all that, a lot of...

You step into the Lost Hand Cantina looking for something. While mostly empty, a group of players sit around a table rolling chance...

Ever find combat to be a slog? Catch your players drifting off when it’s their turn? Maybe you need faster combats! But seriously, here’s a few things I’ve found that might help with the feeling that combat takes too long. Run Fewer Combat Encounters Read a book. Or watch a movie. How many fight scenes are there In your basic action hero tale? Now how many encounters have you got in your adventure? Fighting could be a cathartic release to dramatic tension. Instead, we’re

Thennek, 2nd level human Warlock Forces unseen, like gravity, move us toward something. Is it the Eye? Maybe. Did it all start with my...

How much background or backstory do you really need to play your first D&D session with a new character? I bet it could be none for some...

Thennek, warlock of Ilian Observatory The Salt Marsh city council summoned us at the end of our week in town and demanded a name....

Thennek, warlock of Ilian Observatory The sound I heard while we rested in the undead alchemist’s lair may have been a portent. She...

Thennek, warlock of Ilian Observatory After the fighting ended, the pain from the acid hit me. My hands shook as I fumbled in my pack for...

They said if we allowed, the revolution would be bloodless. But they were ready for the alternative. Eager, in fact. Carving up the body...

Every librarian hopes to provide a safe place for learning and community, but my guide wolf might have other ideas while there’s Nazis...

You’re in that movie where the villain is holding your spouse hostage. Nobody will listen or do anything. So, you grab a weapon and work...

AI is the devil, and we need to turn if off everywhere we can. Let’s get to it. I’m a Windows user so some of this is not going to apply...

It’s Turkey Week, nobody’s happy about the election of Remington Quill for president, my position is up for a vote, and today we’re...

I played a lot of Coruscant Shift Sabacc this weekend and decided the rules need a bit of cleaning up. Less about changing the game, more...

I've been under the weather, so the wife fired up an old BBC series we hadn't seen that had portals and dinosaurs in it. I'm a sucker for...

Except in novel writing, I am a man of too many words. Sure, I can plow through a scene in less than five hundred words (not a good...

We might see a hurricane here in Houston. Per the latest news, Hurricane Beryl could take a right and curve up toward Houston. My sources...

If you haven’t watched the series finale of Star Trek: Discovery, go watch that. I’ll wait.

How do you know if a book is fostering bigoted values? How do you know if the author is a bigot? This week, a friend of mine brought the...

This is a woke article about potential pitfalls in casting characters in your stories. There, that should chase away the jerks. Let’s get...

This is part two of how I “wing” DMing an adventure using a few tricks from my writing toolbelt. I started with showing how to make up an encounter or scene on the fly because a story is a bunch of those with a narrative thread. There’s a lot of ways to run a game, my goal is to provide a fun series of game sessions that in the retelling of it sounds like a cool story. Some gamers just want the DM to simulate a world and let the players do what they will. I’m all for letting

Before the D&D campaign begins, it would help if I knew what the setting looked like. Technically, I have skipped everything but naming...

It’s the end of 2023, and the future is coming. Who doesn’t love cryptic predictions. Plus, I need the practice for the wizard novel....

I liked chess as a kid because it gave me so many choices. The kids at school hated playing chess with me because I took away all their...

I did it! I sold a story. As this website and blog are evidence, it took awhile. Let's get to the cover and links before I tell the back...

The world began with an idea, which began with a being. At first, darkness covered the land and stayed that way for a long time. But then...

The party is on its way to the dungeon that sounded appealing. It’s hot. Mosquitos are biting. The trees are just standing there as the players go by. It’s time for something to happen. In Dungeons and Dragons, they call that an encounter. In Writing, it’s a scene. Today, we’re going to apply some tricks I learned to make it easier to make that encounter. First Timer Info There’s a good chance you’re here because you are a Dungeon Master (DM) for a D&D group, or about to beco

After a long hiatus, I am back in the Dungeons and Dragons saddle. I started with 2nd Edition back in 1990. Played tons of 3rd edition, while skipping the alleged miasma of 4th Edition. Alas, when 5th Ed. came out, time became scarce and I played maybe two sessions of it. But now, the stars have aligned, a party has gathered, and it’s time. Time to, um, whip up some house rules. House Rules Any good Dungeon Master has a few things they do differently from the stock rules in t

Captain Locke pulled the chain next to the door. A bell rattled on the other side. A moment later, a pale butler opened the door. The...

A long time ago, in a year called 2010, I had a pain in my back. Right around where the kidney was. A trip to the doctor, and an...

Life is pain. That’s what the Dread Pirate said. At some point, you get used to it. The aching knees. Fingers that don’t bend so...

Lucky sat patiently while kids droned through the Happy Birthday song. They were at the Norns verse. He didn’t know why they came. His...

Steampunk is set in the era of machine replacing man, but that’ doesn’t mean the genre is in favor of that. Quite the opposite in fact....

Am I the only person curious if something can be done, but not keen on seeing it? The internet is flooded with AI generated images and...

They say you shouldn’t start a story with dialogue. But sometimes that’s how a story starts. A question. An answer. A moment later the...

I'm sitting here this Christmas morning with my dog snuggled up next to me and the water shut off so the pipes don't freeze. It's a good...

Landing in Houston should be the last leg in my odyssey. My neck hurt from staring out the window at the grey clouds with my good eye. It...