Dungeons & Documentation

Language turns abstract ideas into tangible ones. Having a shared language allows us to understand one another and work together. In this episode, Engineering Lead Jason Bernert of the Washington Post walks us through Design Systems: what are they, and how does this system shape the shared language and experiences his development team, reporting, and the readers who engage with the newspaper's digital content.This is a special episode because Keith believed everything Jason said was gold. We'll be doing part two next week, when we'll dig into how design systems have historically shaped Dungeons & Dragons, and how those systems are rapidly changing the RPG.

2D Animator Diana Chao shares how she organizes her creative process to produce finished work. Can Dungeon Masters do the same?

In this episode, we interview Laura and Kelly of Homebrew Coffee & Co, who run a Dungeons & Dragons themed, fresh roast coffee business. We learn about coffee roasting, coffee brewing, and how Dungeon Masters might perfectly roast their players for a balanced session.

In this episode, visual designer Jason Naumann walks us through two important elements of both working with clients professionally and planning a successful D&D session: Understanding the needs, wants, and interests of each player character Allowing yourself time to ideate and explore, particularly visually, as you prepare a session

In this episode, Keith walks us through the fish bone diagram, a nursing shorthand for lab values. When information changes frequently, having a consistent system you can quickly refer to can literally save someone's life. As a dungeon master, the stakes are lower but tracking changing numbers like HP and Spell Save DC can drain your brain and the game's pacing. That's where a system like fishbones can help!

In this episode, we explore how the five organizational methods of LATCH (Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, Hierarchy) provide order, generate discussion, and inspire creativity.We also note how combining or overlaying multiple types of information organization can create hilarious results (hierarchical vampire caskets, reverse alphabetized stadium seating).Why this matters:Whether you think about it or not, the way you choose to organize information directly affects how others experience it, be it your next combat encounter or your record collection. As dungeon masters, we often default to a mix of location and category (such as “in dungeon room L1 the party encounters 5 Giant Spiders”). What would happen to our campaigns if we switched up the way we organize?When you are intentional with the way you structure your games, it allows you to be more intentional with the experience you're creating for your players.

Whether you're running a pre-made adventure or diving deep into a home-brewed campaign, the problem for Dungeon Masters remains the same: how can we manage and deliver information to create an organic and enjoyable experience? Join us as we try to solve the problem of information overload with Information Architecture: the science of organizing and structuring content. In each episode, we'll explore a new organizational modal and then apply it to Dungeons & Dragons. In doing so, we hope to spur our creative thinking, make planning and playing more fun, and produce the best D&D sessions ever. We hope that you can gain some valuable tools and insight for your next game!