Plot twist ideas are hard to think up. So, as I reviewed all the seeds when producing the Campaign Seeds: From Zero to Killer Campaign Concept book, I paid particular attention to the Left Hook plot twist idea section of each seed. There are some excellent twists in the book! And while reading, I noticed […]
Continue readingThe Adventure Funnel From the I Waste Buddha With My Crossbow blog, comes a simple adventure design template. When it’s time to whip up an adventure that I’m probably not going to run because nobody shows up or something else goes wrong, The Adventure Funnel lends a hand. Freebies For Sci-Fi GMs Terra Sol Games […]
Continue readingNumerous, Non-Lethal Attacks My new villain does not have the resources to completely wipe out the character party and still keep her other plots and plans going. So, like the mosquito, she is going to use many non-lethal attacks upon exposed areas to drive the characters as far away as possible. Examples of her intended […]
Continue readingOne of my biggest challenges as a game master today is time management. There’s just too much to do in my professional and personal life to devote as much time as I really want towards my #1 hobby: Roleplaying. Wizards Of The Coast just released the following information*, as part of an overall gaming industry […]
Continue readingAtlas Obscura Joeri Hi Johnn, I ran across this site. It’s an adventure site with special places and such from all over the world. ZeeMaps A private online map of Earth you can add push pins to. Use this for modern campaigns or to keep track of your players if you play online. If you […]
Continue readingEd Larmore, creator of the Scabard RPG Manager, sent me a great and simple Kingdom Events table and generator.Use this to connect random kingdom events to each other and the player characters.A nice way to do a little world building and campaign prep at the same time. Download the Kingdom Events PDF »
Continue readingEncounters are like pieces of a grand jigsaw puzzle that you build with your players over time into a story. Imagine then, if some of the pieces didn’t fit? What if some of the pieces were missing entirely? How would your puzzle turn out if all the pieces were round? Or how strong would the […]
Continue readingDM’s Tips On YouTube Sean Connors Check out my YouTube channel theoutsiders68, a program dedicated to DMing. [Johnn: Good advice here in Sean’s playlist. Lots of topics covered.] Free Books At RPGNow West End Games has several good books available for free at RPGNow. For example, D6 Fantasy, D6 Space and D6 Adventure. The new […]
Continue readingI believe encounters (some roleplayers also call them “scenes”) are the workhorses of roleplaying. Campaigns are simply the sum total of all the individual encounters that you plan for and play out. So, the theory is, if you make every encounter an exciting, memorable event, you will have a stellar campaign. Here are several ways […]
Continue readingBest Game Ever (A Different D&D Song) John Lach shared in the Old School Gamers Facebook Group a funny YouTube video I thought you might enjoy as well. A frustrated gamer shares his thoughts on problem player George in song. Poor George. Soundscapes and Music Managing for RPG Neith I saw you were suggesting software […]
Continue readingI had the opportunity to have a very enjoyable roleplaying discussion with a few Roleplaying Tips Weekly subscribers this past weekend. And the topic of character romance in games came up. I put in my 2 cents worth and absorbed all I could. Here is a brief review of what was said and some tips […]
Continue readingMutant Soundmixer This donationware software offers an easy way to manage sound effects and music for your sessions. Check out the screenshots to get a feel for its features. Friends, Foes & Followers This is a great 13 part series of NPCs you can use in your fantasy game. Written for Harn, each part has […]
Continue readingRaces and aliens were the topic of this month’s RPG Blog Carnival. RPG bloggers worldwide wrote about this interesting and possibly controversial topic. We had new races and species, some GM advice, and some musings on racism in fiction and in life.Here’s a round-up of their posts to make it easy for you to find […]
Continue readingThe voice is your most powerful means of communication. How you hear yourself is not necessarily how others hear you. Successful professionals have voices that command attention and move people to action. The following tips will help you to develop the voice of authority. Breathe from the diaphragm — the foundation of effective speech. It […]
Continue readingIn This Issue How to Create a Critical Path Walkthrough Getting Back in the Game How to Create a Critical Path Walkthrough What is a Critical Path Walkthrough? Wikipedia says a critical path is “the longest necessary path through a network of activities.” In game terms, it’s the longest path through your game a player […]
Continue readingContents Imaginary Languages Excite the Brain and Add Depth to Your Campaign Help Request: Campaign Journals Imaginary Languages Excite the Brain and Add Depth to Your Campaign I remember the first time I played using the “local tongue” of my gaming group. What a great experience. Using foreign and fictional words made me feel like […]
Continue readingMedieval Demographics Made Easy: Numbers For Fantasy Worlds This link comes from RPT subscriber David Lundy. I found this site to be very helpful with building my fledgling world. Created by John S. Ross, Medieval Demographics Made Easy will help you figure out realistic populations for your setting. How to Make Your Own Dice Tower […]
Continue readingDramaSystem SRD Now Available Check out the latest work by Robin. D. Laws – DramaSystem. Get it for free here. http://robin-d-laws.blogspot.ca/2013/09/dramasystem-srd-now-available.html Traveller For Free Traveller is one of the more iconic Sci-Fi RPGs of yesteryear, and sees a strong following today. Why not check out the SRD for free? http://www.travellersrd.com/content/official/mongoose_traveller_srd/mongoose_traveller_srd_index.html Free RPG Day 2012 and […]
Continue readingIn This Issue Making Undead Cool Again Show, Don’t Tell Making Undead Cool Again Earlier this month, Roleplaying Tips kicked off the RPG Blog Carnival with the article Making Undead Cool Again. Featured in both the Roleplaying Tips Newsletter on October 6th, you can find the article here. Remember that if you want to get […]
Continue readingBy Rick Herron The Gavid is a major artifact, a shield of immense power The Gavid is a major artifact – a shield of immense power – used by the forces of evil to put the entire world under their control.Powers: Magic and magical weapons cannot harm its bearer. It also provides a deflection bonus of +10 […]
Continue readingD&D 5E Backgrounds Archive Without a doubt, the biggest new innovation for D&D 5E has to be the inclusion of backgrounds. The fact that each includes a roleplaying benefit is just the icing on the cake! From Kasimir Urbanski comes this gem: The original database of D&D backgrounds. Started August 16th. Our goal is to […]
Continue readingI don’t know how I lived without my roleplaying campaign newsletter, “The Redblade Crier”. A newsletter is such a fast and easy way to keep your players motivated and interested, plan out your campaign, organize your next session and add depth to your game world that I heartily recommend every game master immediately start one […]
Continue readingIn This Issue Lessons From The Movies: The Princess Bride Handling NPC Factions Mastering Accents A Quick Tip – Let Players Lay Out The Map How To Get An Emotional Attachment From PCs – A Response Lessons From The Movies: The Princess Bride Matthew Ipock The Princess Bride has become a great romantic-comedy cult classic. This […]
Continue readingIn the past two articles in this series, we have looked at modules B1 to B3, and B4 to B6, of the B-Series for Basic Dungeons and Dragons. Despite the 40 years of development that Dungeons and Dragons has seen so far, there is still plenty of inspiration for the modern gamer amongst the numerous adventures and supplements […]
Continue readingAdding A New (Third) Dimension To Dungeon Tiles An illustrated quick trick to turn your 2-D tiles into 3-D environments. Building Better NPCs III: Character Webs A character web is a map — a specific kind of map that charts the relationships of NPCs to one another. It’s a great tool for figuring out how […]
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