Why you should buy spindown D20s

Let's talk about spindown D20s and how we can use them to their fullest potential. If you don't know what a spindown D20 is, a regular D20 has the numbers 1 through 20 scattered around the die in a non-sequential order. A spindown D20 is in sequential order so the 17 is next to the 18, is next to the 19, is next to the 20. How could that benefit us? Well…

Counters

Let's start with what numbers were invented for. Counting. What could we count with some spindown D20s? Count the parties stock on torches, count the enemies hit points left, count the amount of creatures in a swarm. Why would you need to keep track of this stuff on a dice of all things? Convenience. Stop taking away time during the game scribbling and erasing in your notes. Need to keep track of multiple things at once? Get a red die for the goblins HP and a green die for the amount of arrows it's carrying.

Welcome cartographers! This is part 1 of my How To Start An RPG Campaign series. As you might have noticed, we're talking about making maps. So get out some pencil and paper, and let's begin.

Section 1: Why a map?

You might be wondering why we're starting with a map. We don't even have a setting yet. Well, we're gonna kill two birds with one piece of paper.

Through making a map we'll not only be giving the players a place to explore, but if we do it correctly it will give us a good starting off point to add detail in the future. We don't need a large map either; just the starting area. This is because we want to make our setting as we play.

Hello and welcome! This is part zero of my first make-a-long: How to Start an RPG Campaign. This is a series overview where we will go over what will be covered in the following parts and why.

Section 1: What is this?

Like the title implies, this is an instructional series on how to start a campaign. When I was first getting into TTRPGs, I desperately wanted a walkthrough on how to be a GM. For someone to show me the exact steps they took, from staring at a blank sheet of paper, to sitting at the table. This is what I want the series to be. Hopefully, it will scratch the same itch I had for any other aspiring GMs.