In D20 games, like Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition, when in a battle, play is generally determined with characters travelling around on a grid, turns among themselves and opponents determined by rolled initiative ratings. Battles can sometimes last an entire play session. Some people like this. While I do like a D20 system, I am […]
The following is from 15 years ago, today. This is where it all began. I sat in my computer chair and watched as Ame cocked her head side to side. At first I thought it was due to the blinds swinging back and forth and light spilling in and out and into her eyes, but […]
I recently tested some of the Bug & Claw character-creation methods on some friends and colleagues. I did so knowing they weren't used to OSR games where you quickly roll up a character. I wanted to see some of the common barriers for them getting into an OSR game or something other than D&D 5E. […]
In my last post of descriptive adjectives I recommended this site to help with adjectives. Well, I found another! Anywho, when you start your adventure, your clothing is _____. You'll have to tell the rest of us why it's like that. Feel free to use this for your other OSR games.
I'm still deciding whether to separate groups of arthropods and create a "playbook" style for different creatures. Crabs, isopods, and beetles are the more dominant species in Bug & Claw, and a playbook style may help specialize certain tables for each. That being said, I've been creating a great many tables like these that will […]
Infection and resonance are two concepts that effect most things in Bug & Claw. Every Bug-kin has a crystal in their head. Over time, collaborating with others through arduous scenarios and encountering other strange, crystalline structures can increase the "resonance" of their crystal. Meanwhile, seeking rare ancient treasures in irradiated or chemical-doused lands and battling […]
Your journey and adventures demand a lot of your characters, but shouldn't demand as much from you Do you know what one of the biggest things I love about tabletop roleplaying games is? Epic adventures! In that regard, do you know what I dislike about some solo tabletop systems? They're too open-ended. Sandboxes are great, […]
One of the things I do in my day job is help teams focus. Part of how I do that is to ensure we're looking at our work through the right lenses. Like making design corporate, team, or design principles that we can then utilize when brainstorming to help generate ideas, or afterward when pairing […]
We already have the pocket filler table, but what about regular old general items– things that you can find in most any town or village? Well, here is the first batch. Most of these shouldn't be too surprising, as the majority are pretty standard OSR fare. There are a few in here however that you […]
As I get more budget for Bug & Claw, I have been trying to use it to collaborate with excellent industry creators. The last big one was a reimagined logo and brand identity by Tim Hastings of MindKillerInk. Now we have a few more excellent spot illustrations from tabletop legend Hodag! The following illustrations cover […]
