I obsessively read RPG blogs.
Here's some that slap.
How many hit points should we have?
This shit changed my brain chemistry. It gave me shinigami eyes. It made me the designer-thing I am today.
It details that across many different games, early on, you die in 3~ solid hits. In more lethal games, you just die harder, often ending up at 1 or 2 HP before getting blasted by a highroll d8.
It also posits that a tankier character just takes 1 more "hit" of damage, and that's usually enough to make 'em feel beefy.
It then backs it up with math across like 12 different games.
It's so good.
Using Delta Templates
This one details a mechanic called Delta Templates, abilities earned through specific actions in fiction.
It goes over the process, how to make every little component from its trigger, to categories of advancements and how to make 'em. It's real neat.
HD 1, AC Leather, Sword 1d6
In which goblinpunch details the wonderful world of enemy behaviors being the main driving force behind enemies who feel different to both run and encounter.
By using the same template of stats, as well as some neat tech where the maxroll of a HD spits out a Different, Cooler Kind of Guy, he masterfully shows how behavior above all can define an enemy.
Nested Monster Hit Dice
Another brain chemistry altering post.
Mindstorm details a monster creation system where monsters are made up of individual parts, each performing different functions, such as being tied to specific attacks or abilities.
I've made a couple games based on my own flavor of this system and IT WORKS SO GOOD ITS MY FAVORITE READ THIS!
Space is a Dangerous Place
I fuckin' love Slight Adjustment's games.
They're diceless FKR where you finagle the solution with your GM while you have a solid set of silly tools to deal what whatever problem besets you.
In this one you can play as what I dubbed an "adventure game cursor" in the NSR discord, which was added as a title.
Enough Dweeb Adventures
Wizards of the coast scathing critique my beloved.
Rips into why wizards of the coast adventures suck, but way more importantly, it contrasts them with sickass adventures from other indie designers, detailing what they do well and why.
My favorite is the constant discussion of how godawful WoTC names their NPCs.
