Alphastream

The Alphastream Game Design Blog

Lessons One D&D Could Learn From the D&D Next Playtest

The D&D Next playtest resulted in an incredibly popular 5th edition of D&D. Here is what One D&D can learn from D&D Next!

December 8, 2022 · 2 Comments

Your Guide to the D&D One Playtest – Origins

D&D will have a new version in 2024! Let’s take a look at the first playtest packet for character origins. And, how good is the survey at asking the right questions?

September 4, 2022 · Leave a comment

Adamantine Chef: Supreme Challenge!

My new adventure pairs action with humor. The menu includes high-flying martial arts action, wild animal hunts, shopping, haiku, and, of course, a food fight! Makes me hungry just typing this!

January 21, 2016 · 2 Comments

The Magic of Items

Does a certain number of magic items per PC make D&D Next better? There are better and more important questions to ask.

October 20, 2015

D&D Next: A Touch of Class

Class, subclass, build, kit, theme… just what goes into defining a character’s class?
What do we gain, and how best can we reflect commonalities and differences between the different varieties of classes in the game?

October 20, 2015

D&D Next: A Model for Skills

How D&D Next can bring skills and feats into the game in ways that stimulate imaginative story-telling, creativity, and engaging play.

October 20, 2015

D&D Next: A Model for Feats and Other Build Options

Character generation can be fast, robust, balanced, and foster imagination… all while creating a great personality for your character.

October 20, 2015

Classic Adventures: Converting Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh to 5E (or D&D Next)

Learn the steps to easily convert a classic adventure to 5E. The excellent Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh is used as an example.

October 17, 2015 · 1 Comment

Interlude: Extending the Five Minute Workday

The “five minute workday” can destroy a gaming session’s intended flow and balance. Here is how D&D can avoid that problem.

October 17, 2015

D&D Next and Classic Adventures: Organizing the (Caves of) Chaos

Classic adventures can be easily converted to 5E, but the writing approach often falls shorts of today’s standards. Six techniques help us modernize the classics, preserving the feel and increasing the fun.

October 17, 2015 · 2 Comments

Fury of the Lord of the Sea

A pulp adventure featuring a cult of dragonmen bringing a gargantuan kraken to destroy you? I was really happy to write this adventure for Kobold Press. Check it out!

October 16, 2015

The Lurker Fallacy

Lurkers in 4E are the basis for several aspects of D&D Next stealth… and that’s a huge problem for both DMs and players. Fortunately, history also shows us the solution!

October 15, 2015

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