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Heat is the mechanic we built the whole game around. It touches everything: Social Circle, Contacts, dice rolls, Deus Ex Machina, fights,...

Upfront, I want to be clear: This framework won't be useful to everyone. I have friends, smart, talented people, who find this whole...

All credit to br0khalis on Reddit for this pixel art: https://www.reddit.com/r/PixelArt/comments/15q0amf/russian_roulette/ ...

Giving players control is a good thing.  Not just over their character’s thoughts, actions, and wardrobe choices, but over the game...

Last week, we talked about how we structured our playtests and the rules we followed to make them useful. This week, we want to share...

First, if you don't recognize the image for this blog- watch Mythic Quest . The Grumpy House loves Mythic Quest. In these blogs, we’ve...

There’s something I keep hearing when I talk to players, new ones, old ones, GMs, online, and in real life. It’s a consistent request,...

We’ve finally made it to the last piece of our worldbuilding series, and this one’s a monster. Not just in length, but in how deeply it...

If you’ve been following along with Crime Drama, you know that every choice we make is designed to shape the game’s tone and mechanics...

Before reading this, do me a favor: get yourself a tweed jacket, a meerschaum pipe, and put on Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. At...

Last time, we talked about color and how the visual style of your world can set the tone for your campaign. This week, it’s time to talk...

Last week, we talked about picking the right era for your Crime Drama campaign, but now it’s time to make things feel real, or maybe...

Last time, we covered the broad strokes of world building in Crime Drama, but now we’re diving into your first big choice: the era. The...

In Crime Drama, Schellburg (or Hellburg if you ask the locals) is your city. But the version you'll start with is just the bones- filling...

Every crime story starts with characters and a choice. By this point, we have a decent idea of who our characters are going to be, so...

Characters in Crime Drama  aren’t just defined by what they can do, but also by how they might burn their lives to the ground. That’s...

Over the last few weeks, I've been talking about character creation. We’ll continue that next time with a post on Skills and Hamartia,...

Last week, I gave a quick overview of character creation, but today, let’s talk about the first two steps: Facade and True Self. These...

There’s a maxim in game design: test often.  But before you can test, you need a solid foundation of mechanics in place. For Crime Drama,...

Crime Drama is a tabletop role-playing game designed to capture the tension, emotion, and complexity of your favorite crime stories. It...