For the first time, the PCs deliver a major blow to a faction in the city, and they do it on purpose. ‘Till now, the group has been reacting to things happening to them and around them. Things were different this time. They had a goal, made a plan and executed it as a team. [...]
Archive | September, 2011
How to Contact and Hire an Assassin
How do you handle assassin services in your campaigns? This situation offers you an opportunity to enrich your campaign and world through interesting encounters and possibilities. In this excerpt from Assassin’s Amulet – my upcoming essential GM Toolbook – I reveal the gaming potential of contacting and hiring assassins in your campaigns. Begin Excerpt: This [...]
Crimson Dawn Adventure Synopsis #18
by Silveressa “What made you think all these naked dummies were zombies?” –Renee, still amazed at Jessy’s lack of control. “Because normal people don’t stand around naked in the rain? –Jessy, displaying his “common sense.” Adventure #18 At the back of the clothing store Renee spends a good 5 minutes furiously trying to kick in [...]
5 Effective Combat Tactics For Assassins
To give you a taste of Assassin’s Amulet, my upcoming new book for game masters, here is a very brief excerpt from the GM Advice chapter. Many GMs struggle with running killer NPCs. One big goal of the book is to arm you with enough actionable advice that you’ll scare the crap out of your [...]
Big Secrets and Big Plots in Roleplaying Games
By Heather Grove So many roleplaying game plots revolve around secrets. GMs try to make sure that there’s always another mystery in the game for the characters to run after and solve – lots of people love a good mystery. Secrets add spice and interest to a game. They make your players go nuts trying [...]
How To Turn A Haunted House Into An NPC
From the GMMastery Yahoo Group A GM asked for help making a haunted house become an interesting NPC. Lots of ideas poured into the thread, which I thought I’d highlight here. I fully support giving locations personality. And as you’ll see below, creative GMs can also make places interactive and dramatic. The Initial Request From [...]
Reader Tips: Game World Management
We pick up where we left off in RPT#526, with more tips from readers about how to develop and manage game world details. A reader named Beleaguered in South Africa asked for help managing the details of his extensive game world. Here’s how GMs responded: From Blair Giles I recently started a new 4e D&D [...]
3 Ways To Make Your Life As GM Easier
By Darren Blair Let’s face it. No matter how hard we try there comes a point where reality bogs us down. Last-minute errands, phone tag, burn-out at work or school, and other issues make it harder for GMs to plan and run the game, and it saps player energy and brainpower. So, what’s a good [...]
How Do You Prevent Metagaming?
In RPT#520, Sean made this tips request: Johnn, I nearly laughed aloud at work over the “One More Tip: Top 10 Ways to Stop Sounding So Damn Metagamey.” I would love to see some tips on handling metagame scenarios in tactful ways. My group tends to pour through every source book at their disposal (and [...]