RPG Design Theories
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Well, Hello There
First posts are always weird and awkward, kind of like first dates.
May 4, 2021
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Monte Cook
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Roll the Dice and See
Today we’re going to talk about dice.
Nov 13, 2025
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Monte Cook
52
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Levers and Fixes
I’m fascinated by someone in a recording studio working the mixing board.
Oct 21, 2025
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Monte Cook
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Teaching the GM to Fish
We’ve all heard the adage, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll be fed for a lifetime.” It’s way overused and often…
Sep 9, 2025
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Monte Cook
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Player Choice
More than anything, a key design goal of the new edition of Cypher has been to not just give players choices, but to ensure that those choices are…
Sep 1, 2025
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Monte Cook
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Genre Templates
Here’s a secret: I don’t really like dividing stories (or anything, like music) into categories.
Aug 25, 2025
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Monte Cook
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Taking Out What's Not Fun
Games, obviously, are meant to be fun.
Aug 18, 2025
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Monte Cook
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It's Right There in the Name
The game is called Cypher, so if we’re monkeying with the rules, we’d better make sure that cyphers work in the game, and work really well.
Aug 4, 2025
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Monte Cook
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RPG Design Theories
Thoughts behind tabletop roleplaying games and why we love them.
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