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Four Thieves Gaming

Exploring worlds that are Larger, Older, Stronger, Stranger, and Scarier.

Challenging Adventures, Moments of Peace, Moments of Beauty, and Meaningful Keepsakes.

for the Gamemasters that Put it all Together.

A Greeting from the Four Thieves

Tabletop Role Playing Games are a unique medium for storytelling, and the Four Thieves philosophy contains some foundational assumptions that are an integral part of everything we do.

First, most of our content is not for players. We focus on the folks who do the heavy lifting on (and usually before) game night: the Game Master. We appreciate the challenge you have in weaving an engaging story and keeping up with your players’ antics. We believe that you probably have a better read on what’s going on at your table than we do, and our content is designed with that in mind. Every item, adventure hook, and published module is about as ready-to-play as we can make it… but we know that if you have time, you’ll tinker. So we include our thoughts and gaming philosophy to inspire you and show some ways you could adjust things to fit your purposes.

Second, TTRPGs are not books, movies, or video games. They are a unique medium for collaborative storytelling, and we build our content to lean into those differences. We embrace the concept of collective storytelling, and shape our adventures and modules with a framework of narrative themes like exposition, rising action, climax, and denouement. We also incorporate lessons learned from video games and game theory. For example, we use what we call Rockman Progression to introducing a hazard, theme, or gimmick in a controlled environment and then gradually reintroduce it with increasing complexity or challenge. And of course, we embrace the various types of players that sit down at a table and roll dice to play a game of fantasy adventure. We make room for the players that want to weave plots of intrigue, players that want to solve puzzles, players that want to goof around, and players who just want to kick in the door and stab monsters–and we assume that most groups will have some of each type.

Third, good adventures are inspired and inspiring. We shape our content to bring out the human experiences that let us connect with other people and ideas. We attempt to capture the unique moments of wonder that draw real explorers and adventurers to brave discomfort, pain, and danger. We deliberately make space for players to interact with each other through their characters. Then we put deliberate care into the rewards that the characters earn, with unique trophies and keepsakes.

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