Archive - Drolleries

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A Different Kind of Combat System for TTRPGs

The Battle Wheel from the Dune board game inspired me to design a combat system that's both fast and strategic.

Oct 19, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

August 2025

I Don't Understand Domain Cards in Daggerheart

The design choice I still don't get. Also announcing a small change to Drolleries.

Aug 18, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

How to Use Fear in Daggerheart and the Worry of Adversarial GMing

My experience running Daggerheart and my thoughts on fear as a metacurrency.

Aug 11, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

Fudging Dice Rolls is a Skill

When to fudge, and why I often don't use a GM screen

Aug 4, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

July 2025

Prepping Factions is Easy, Actually

All factions have two wolves inside them.

Jul 28, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

When You Shouldn't Roll for Social Encounters

How to run a satisfying negotiation without dice, and when dice are actually useful.

Jul 21, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

Why New Players Struggle with Fiction-First OSR Play

How OSR games are different from other games, and how I changed my GMing style to help my players adapt.

Jul 14, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

Playtesting Class Abilities for Social Mechanics

Why my social mechanics felt too "gamified" - identifying the difference between active actions and passive abilities.

Jul 7, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

June 2025

Always Tell Me the Odds

4 reasons why GMs should announce the target number before the players roll

Jun 30, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

Regenerating Health, Hit Point Inflation, and Wounds In My TTRPG

How my heroic fantasy ttrpg takes inspiration from the history of video game design for its health system.

Jun 23, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

What I Learned Running This Heist TTRPG for One-Shots

My experience with The Job, a game about planning and executing extravagant heists.

Jun 16, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

The GM Burden of Adjudicating Partial Successes

How different systems lessen the burden to improvise and help the GM balance the hard-ness of their moves

Jun 9, 2025 • Colin Spiridonov

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