Johnn Four, Author at Roleplaying Tips

Johnn Four

Author Archives: Johnn Four

How To Create Wicked Rumour Tables

RPT GM Roy Winfrey asks: Love the rumour post you just posted. I was intrigued by the Knowledge Table. Any chance we might see an article about how to construct that? Thanks for the question, Roy. I first spoke about the idea of a Knowledge Table in my Adventure Building Workshop, which is currently on […]

Adventure Design: Build From The Monster’s POV

When building cunning locations for your adventures and encounters, build out from their denizens’ point of view. Here’s a way you can do this in 5 steps: Step 1. Original Use Step 2. Who Built It? Step 3. Rooms Step 4. Map & Key Step 5. Recycle Step 1. Original Use Many locations have an […]

Celebrate Your Encounter Locations This Way

Make your locations memorable. And incorporate the story. Do those two things to make encounters even better. Here’s how: Features => Twist => Secret Let’s see what to do for each part: Figure Out The Special Features First, give your location a Purpose. Sometimes the game role for the location differs from the Purpose. This […]

The Three Word NPC Formula

Remember 3 Line NPCs? These are awesome. Quick to make, easier to GM, and great for improvisation. Campaign Logger even has a 3 Line NPC generator so you can spin up roleplay-ready NPCs in less than a second. But as I plan Hobo Princes and other campaigns, I want something even lighter. I don’t need […]

Power Your Plots With Simple Rumour Tables

The Keep is a monthly D&D campaign, just three sessions old, where the PCs have been shipwrecked on the mysterious jungle island of Barbossa. In session one, I used a rumour table to drop several plot hooks into play to give the sandbox immediate direction. Each player rolled a d20 and received their own rumour. […]

The Keep: Introducing My New Campaign

In Barbossa, the PCs are the monsters. Today I share some thinking behind my new campaign, which gets its second session tonight. I’m very excited! The group is part of a monthly drop-in D&D event run at a local cafe in my city. The first session went well, despite me forgetting to bring the adventure. […]

Three Strategies That Take Advantage Of The Damage Economy

Several great articles I’ve found lately talk about D&D’s Action Economy. An Action Economy is a measure of how many moves the PCs can make versus their foes. In D&D 5E it’s clear that the game favours the party. PCs often get two or three additional actions versus foes. If for every action of mine […]

Storymastery: More Examples of Bad Reveal Timings

Last Musing, we talked about how to stage your prophecies for maximum effect. Reveal your prophecy too soon, and players won’t be invested. They won’t care because they have not bonded with your campaign yet. And then even the best prophecy destined to hit your table will feel like a gimmick. There are other campaign […]

Do This One Simple Thing to Create Compelling NPCs

Gar was a beloved NPC. He was rescued by the party. He was mentored by the fallen paladin PC. He was brought back to life at cost to the players when killed by Orcus’s foul minions. Best of all, he was a stalwart companion ready to dive into the breech to save a comrade. But […]

How Do You Keep Things Fresh For Your Players?

RPT GM Mark Ariesen asks this tricky question and my answer goes down a dark path. Here’s his question: How do you keep things fresh for your players year-in-year out, when they have seen it all and done it all? One easy way to do this is design your own stuff. Build your own adventures, […]

How Do You Pace Game Sessions Well?

Long-time RPT Patron Eric Gosselin (thanks Eric!) asks about how to pace game sessions: Hi Johnn, I recently awoke to the concept of game session pacing, you know, how to put slow and fast scenes during a game session? I’m looking for advice on the topic. How do I plan my session? Do I make […]

Avoid This Nasty Description Trap GMs Often Trigger

I saw this writing tip from @ShawnMerwin and it applies to GMing, as well: Avoid “begin to” or “start to” unless those actions are interruptible. “You begin to hear a scream” is simpler as “You hear screaming.” Clearer and more concise is better. So it is for GM descriptions. And that can be a nasty […]

My Favourite NPC Move — Gain Leverage

My favourite NPC Move is Gain Leverage. I don’t know about your players, but mine will trust and be loyal to allies, be cautious around neutrals, and murder hobo enemy NPCs. It’s the enemy NPCs I worry about most. The neutrals too, if the barbarian is feeling frisky. What’s a poor NPC to do when […]

How To Do A Deeper Analysis Of Your GMing In 5 Easy Steps

In a past Musing I talked about pre-mortems. Anticipate problems before they occur and fix them in advance. Everyone wins. Players win by getting smoother gameplay and great sessions with fewer friction points. You get a double win. You not only have more fun at every game, but you create a systematic way to learn […]

Your Campaign Agenda => Best Campaign Ever Part II

There’s a moment mid-campaign when my inner voice screams out: “I’ve lost the plot! What the #@$% is going on? What the #@$% do I do now?” (Sorry, in-skull Johnn has a potty mouth.) When I’m off the rails as a GM it’s panic time. …Everything feels like it’s crap. …The campaign’s falling to pieces. […]

What Would Be Your Best Campaign Ever? Part I

How do I make my Hobo Princes campaign my best one? There are a few campaigns it would need to top, including Riddleport, Temple of Elemental Evil, and the one I ran in Vancouver ’90-’92. Aiming to make each campaign better than the previous keeps your sabre sharp. On our quest to become master storytellers […]

What’s Your World’s “Only Factor”?

What facet of your world affects gameplay in a way no other setting does? Two key pieces here. First piece: your world needs at least one unique factor or you might as well save yourself the time and use a published setting. Why bother putting all that creation work in? What’s only in your world […]

How To Conjure Incredible Sandbox Campaign Climaxes

Adventure Workshop GM Jeff B asked me this thorny question about how to finish a great campaign: If the adventure is not linear and the PCs aren’t railroaded, how can I get all the roads to lead to the big finale and tie up the loose ends? I like to have sandbox kind of stuff […]

Run With The Impressions Technique

Here’s the thing with read-aloud scripts and boxed text you find in published modules…. It’s boring. And it kills the mood. Imagine an actor stopping mid-scene to grab the script and read it aloud to you. A terrible experience for both actor and audience. Likewise, stopping your natural way of describing the action, answering player […]

An NPC Improv Trick

RPT GM Haukur asked me for tips on how to improv better. Here’s one using NPCs in two specific ways to come up with great ideas while under pressure. Players do not understand how exhausting it is to GM a session. A friend at work was chatting with one of his players. The player tried […]

Create Plots Easily With This Simple Method

Patrons have access to a cool plot-building PDF called the But Reversal Method. Today, I have a companion plotting technique for all RPT GMs called the Because Twice method, or B2. Sometimes my plans get convoluted and I literally lose the plot. Too many forks to detail and track, and not enough knives to cut […]

Smarter Villains To Challenge Tough Characters

We wax a bit philosophical today. Last email I shared a session account of my Murder Hobos campaign. A few RPT GMs asked about the quasit incident. An invisible creature snuck out of a room to report to the stage boss that the PCs had arrived. One GM asked if this was fair. Another GM […]

How To Battle Dungeon Design Fatigue

RPT GM Tom G asks: I would like to know how my fellow GMs battle dungeon fatigue. I have no difficulties making the entry, the story of the dungeon and the first couple of rooms interesting. But after a while it all bogs down to left, right, or straight ahead. Any dungeon of more than […]

Monday Inspiration: Character Perks – Several Interesting PC Development Ideas

Today I have a few interesting character development ideas for you as a follow-up to the A Cool Twist For One Of Your Players Musing I published in February, 2017. The idea is to make each character special in some way to not only create great player engagement but to give you more adventure hooks […]

The Four Levers That Inevitably Pull Players Through Your Adventures

I’m writing right now in my Guide to 5 Room Dungeons about Push versus Pull. Push GMing means forcing players in a certain direction. But players are their own beings. They think and act independent of your wishes. You cannot control another person. Therefore, you cannot control your players. If you try, everyone just gets […]

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