Run Amok Blog

In a move that seems obvious, in retrospect, Paizo now lists all of their available adventures by PC level range: adventures for 3^rd-level PCs all together, adventures for 4^th-level PCs all together, and so on. This includes not only Paizo adventures, but third-party publisher adventures like those Run Amok Games produces. It’s always good to see my adventures listed in new ways!

This is the second of three blog posts about my first in-print article for Paizo, “Lost Relics of the Crusades.” I thought I’d discuss a bit about the process of developing the mechanics of my items. In part, this is the “meatiest” part, because the specific, mechanical effects are what the PCs apply every single time they use an item.

I had plenty of word count for all of these items. Most magic items must fit in a very small word count (such as the 300-word limit of Paizo’s R...

I’ve done a lot of work for Paizo recently, but they seem a little erratic about when they list authors for upcoming releases. I’m listed as an author for Champions of Balance, due out in February 2014.  But I’ve also done work for three products due out before then (specifically, Magical Marketplace due out in December 2013, and both Osirion, Legacy of Pharaohs and a new monster in Adventure Path #77 Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth, due out in January 2014) that are still listed as wri...

When I was updating the purchase links this week, I ran across a great review that I hadn’t seen before. Nathan C., one of the featured reviewers of RPGNow, gave The Emergency Character Collection five stars, mostly due to all the extra details I put into this. Or, in his words, “The great thing is that the writer doesn't just stop with throwing some character blocks in a book. He takes the time to explain other variants, build theories and slight alternatives. This little bit of extra ...

I’ve spent a little bit of time recently updating all the links on the Our Products page, so you can jump right to your online retailer of choice to get any of our five products (mostly, these were to add the Paizo links to recent products and D20PFSRD store links to all products). Everything seems to be clicking through fine. If you see something misdirected, please shoot me an email at runamokgames@gmail.com

Endzeitgeist, tireless reviewer and masterful guide to the sea of third-party Pathfinder products, has once again endorsed a Run Amok Games adventure with his top rating of five stars plus his seal of approval! He says: “Author Ron Lundeen tries his hand at one epic high-level adventure breathing the spirit of broad repercussions appropriate for the level and manages to provide a module that challenges beyond its statblock-builds and also offers some food for the mind. Mind you, that does...

Now that my first in-print article for Paizo is out (“Lost Relics of the Crusades”), I thought I’d discuss a bit about the process of designing magic items for that article. I’ll break this up into three parts: designing relics as magic items, developing the mechanics of the items, and developing the story lore of the items.

First, designing relics, and a bit of background.

I was presented with very little by way of an outline—just the art orders describing the five items I would ...

The Pillbug's Revenge scenario is intended for characters who have completed The Poisoned Pill (and may have completed all of the Perils of the Lost Coast and even some or all of Burnt Offerings). Plentiful poison damage makes this scenario challenging.

Freshly escaped from prison, the notorious poison-merchant Aliver "Pillbug" Podiker has vowed revenge upon Sandpoint! Pillbug Podiker...

Just meet your deadline and write awesome stuff. :-)

Seriously. 

I’ve been spending altogether too much time thinking about appendices. Most of my adventures have a few appendices, and some of these have been:

·        *  How to scale the adventure for higher- or lower-level PCs

·         * New rules items (such as new monsters or new magic items)

·         * A timeline of events

·         * All of the player handouts consolidated into one place

·         * A few pregenerated PCs

All or some of these are likely to appear in future adventures a...

I don’t give my wife Stephanie nearly enough credit. In addition to the support she gives me for all my writing—and now all the work in running Run Amok Games—she also edits everything I write. Everything. Not just Run Amok products, but all the work I do for other publishers, from outlines to final adventures. Just about the only thing she doesn’t review in advance are these blog posts. I thought it high time I acknowledge her, and admit that I wouldn’t be nearly so comprehensible ...