The Caffee Rules

This post is meant to provide guidance for those who wish to improve their ability to create and run tabletop games. This particular installment is going to focus on the initial task of designing a fantasy setting or campaign world. Obviously, many Dungeon Masters prefer to set their games in worlds found in published setting books. There is nothing wrong with using published material, but I would think that most DMs at some point or another will try their hand at world building. Unfortunately, many fail. 1. You are building a campaign setting, not writing a novel.  These are two different skill sets with two different goals. Build a world to explore, not a story to entertain. 2. Be vague.  A friend once consulted me on a campaign he was putting together. He informed me that the adventure would take place during the Fourth Age of Man. He asked me how much he should write about the first three ages. I would mention that the characters were living in the Fourth Age of Ma...

This first post is something I have been working on to help those who wish to not suck at writing. No amount of helpful advice is going to make you into a great writer, but not being laughably terrible is a good start. I should not have to learn a fictional language to understand what the hell is going on in the novel / story / comic book / campaign setting. Per above, no more than one made-up word in the title. No calling your book The Glarzax of Noku Land. It just doesn’t cut it. I should not have to take an advanced history course at Geek University in order to know what the hell is going on in your made up little world. Who cares what happened 1,000 years before the story begins? Does it have a direct bearing on what the characters are doing right now? How could it? How often do you really think about what happened in the year 1015? You think the Spanish caliphate has anything to do with your daily life? Per above, you should be able to sum up the plot in a few ...