The Principia Apocrypha explains how to run and play in an OSR game. There’s a huge overlap between OSR and blorb, and blorby play would not exist if it weren’t for the OSR.
Let me go through the Principia Apocrypha and say what in it is blorby
and what’s un- or anti-blorby! I know that not everyone wants to run a
blorby game. Some enjoy the, uh, let’s call it the “sublime shamanry”
of half-blorby, half-unblorby, while others completely reject all
blorbiness. I personally like it very blorby though, both as player
and as a DM.
* means something might be unblorby or otherwise actively counter to blorb,
† means something isn’t really relevant to the question of how blorby something is (usually is still something awesome and a good idea, though),
‡ means something that I feel needs blorbiness in order to work, but not necessarily vice versa, but almost always the thing is awesome though. I.e. blorbiness is a prereq for the awesome thing, but a boring blorb could theoretically be done without that awesome thing.
¶ means: Absolutely yes do this while writing modules (or prepping homebrew content), and absolutely do not do this once you’ve started running. Once play has started, it’s too late to do these things!
An arrow ‘←’, with or without another symbol, means more comments will follow after the list.
And no symbol means that it’s blorby AF!
Rulings Over Rules←
Divest Yourself Of Their Fate
Don’t prepare a plot, instead extrapolate effects
Don’t overdo the preparation*←
Build Responsive Situations¶
Emrace Chaos…
…But Uphold Logic
Let Them Off The Rails
XP For Discovery & Adversity†
Player Ingenuity Over Character Ability†
Cleverness Rewarded, Not Thwarted¶ ←
Ask Them How They Do It‡
Let Them Manipulate The World‡
Good Items Are Unique Tools‡
Don’t Mind The Fourth Wall†
Offer Tough Choices¶
Subvert Their Expectations†
Build Challenges With Multiple Answers…¶
…And Challenges With No Answer
Deadly But Avoidable Combat‡
Keep Up The Pressure¶
Let The Dice Kill Them…
…But Telegraph Lethality¶
Reveal The Situation†
Give Them Layers To Peel¶
Don’t Bury The [Lede]†
Keep The World Alive ←
NPCs Aren’t Scripts←
Now for the more detailed comments on some of these:
Rulings Over Rules
Yes on the “make a note of the ruling and apply it consistently”. Create your own mechanics that fit your game and your situations.
Don’t overdo the preparation
Don’t deliberately leave blanks. Just prep as much as you can; don’t feel bad if you can’t prep as much as you wanted, the three tiers principle will help you fill it out and get better at prep over time.
Cleverness Rewarded, Not Thwarted
Do not change things in prep, rule etc to reward what you think is clever. Just let whatever would happen, happen. You need to be neutral. Don’t set yourself into a situation where you make yourself the judge of what’s clever and good. Instead, let the results of their actions speak for themselves.
Keep The World Alive
Please use DM-facing mechanics (such as a faction game, a restock system, an evolving rumor or encounter table) to keep it alive, rather than just your best judgment. It’s probably necessary to write/add to those mechanics as play goes on. Try to make it in a way that filters your whim and desires through systems and randomness instead of it just being you putting whatever you want in the game.
NPCs Aren’t Scripts
The more you know about an NPC the blorbier you can portray them. Don’t be afraid to roll up fears, desires, motivations etc for them. Instead of a single reaction table I like to use the “socialite challenges” from Silent Legions.
