Unlucky GM Syndrome: What To Do When You’re Rolling Horribly
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #24 Here’s The Original Question From Lythurienne SunHawk: “Okay, this is probably a little bit of an odd question to come up, but how would you deal with an unlucky GM? Basically, here it is. As a player, my luck seems to be perfectly normal. If I have a 75% chance of […]
Continue readingMulti-Media In Roleplaying: 3 Experiments That Went Very Well
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #23 Tape Recorder Tape recording sessions is not recommended: the recorder often dampens play with its presence, changing tapes is annoying and the playback is b-o-r-i-n-g.However, I’ve found it extremely helpful to sit around before or after a game session and record the group’s thoughts. I’ve only done this a few times […]
Continue readingSeven Tricks to Save Time
From Guardian Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #22 Dice Rolling dice is your enemy. The more time you spend dealing with dice, the less time you can spend planning the critters’ moves, top bad guy’s plans, and dealing with the PCs’ actions. It’s not that you want to roll fewer dice (nothing scares hack’n’slashers like picking up […]
Continue reading10 Ways To Surprise Your Players & Enjoy The Fun
From Johnn Four Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #021 For The Players Give them each a chocolate bar or homemade cookies halfway through the session. Buy each player a toy that costs under two bucks. Recently I gave my players silly putty, crayons, balloons, pick-up sticks, a mini-lego set and modelling clay. I’m not sure who had […]
Continue readingTen Tips For Stress-Free Gamemastering
From Kevin Davies Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #020 Like many gamers, when I first entered the hobby, I thought that it was desirable and even necessary to have rules to account for the outcome of every possible Character action or environmental condition. Thick rulebooks were the norm, although roleplay games were typically thin on descriptive and […]
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Never Forget Your Dice Again
Here’s what to put in your portable game master kit so you never forget to bring anything to a session again. Start with…
Continue reading10 Ways To Make Your Ogres More Intimidating
From JohnnFour Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #018 Make them cunning Help the players make overconfident mistakes by playing up ogres as dumb and slow Attacking ogres focus on spell casters first–with ogre-size rocks hurled at them if needed Employ pits and traps to defend lairs pile rocks on high ground and trigger them to fall create […]
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Great Campaign Journals — 6 Tips
Although journals are their own reward in the long run, an immediate incentive from the game master can help a player get over the short term hump for keeping a campaign journal until it becomes a habit.
Continue readingCampaign Structure — Part II
From Peter Maranci Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #016 This is the second in a two-part series on campaign structure. Read Campaign Structure Part I. The Meta-Cycle Also known as an “arc”, the meta-cycle is a long-duration story form that has a beginning, middle, and end. This type can be divided into two sub-forms: “Padded” and “Expanded”. […]
Continue readingCampaign Structure — Part I
From Peter Maranci Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #015 Fundamental to any roleplaying campaign is the conceptual structure which controls it. That structure is the basic frame upon which the gamemaster creates the framework of the campaign, like a tapestry on a loom; as the initial pattern is set, so the goes the game. And yet the […]
Continue reading5 Tips To Creating A Truly Evil Villain
From JohnnFour Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #014 Numerous, 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 […]
Continue reading5 Time Management Tips For Busy Roleplayers
From JohnnFour Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #013 One 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 […]
Continue readingTop 6 Ways To Use Encounters To Build A Compelling Campaign
From JohnnFour Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #012 Encounters 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 […]
Continue readingRomance In Games – It’s The Chase That’s Fun
From JohnnFour Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #010 I 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 […]
Continue readingTop 7 Tips For Developing The Voice That Wins
From Dr. June Johnson Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #009 The 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 […]
Continue readingImaginary Languages Excite the Brain and Add Depth to Your Campaign
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #008 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 a real native from the game world I was playing in. It added a depth and style to the campaign which I’ll never […]
Continue readingSave Time & Get More Planning Done Through Campaign Newsletters
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #007 I 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 […]
Continue readingUse “In-Character” Feedback To Encourage Roleplaying
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #005 Thanks to the intense Politically Correct environment in this city I’ve taken more conflict resolution, active listening, customer service and employee communications courses than you can shake a stick at. There’s one skill I’ve picked up from all this, though, that has truly made a huge difference in the quality of […]
Continue readingHow To Turn Brain Teasers Into Amazing Roleplaying Opportunities
Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #005 Puzzles are an essential part of roleplaying. Even in groups where puzzle solving is not preferred, the occasional rousing stumper creates some excellent variety. And variety is essential for keeping player interest in your game high. While classic, dungeon-style puzzles are entertaining, my favorites are the ones that: Encourage roleplaying Allow […]
Continue readingThe Game Master As Public Speaker
From Johnn Four Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #004 In opinion polls, people fear speaking in public more than they do dying. Even though game mastering is not quite the same as public speaking, I admit I still felt a twinge of nervousness this past September when I set-up my GM screen after a year-long hiatus and […]
Continue readingHow To Develop A Compelling Voice
From Johnn Four Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #003 How To Develop A Compelling Voice I learned a new habit recently that has had a surprising and positive impact in my life: speaking from the diaphragm. Breathing and speaking from the diaphragm will give you a more compelling and powerful voice–a definite plus when roleplaying–and it also […]
Continue readingThe Time Bomb Solution
From Johnn Four Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #002 One of the most destructive events that happens every few game sessions in my campaign is the Time Bomb. A missed or incorrectly interpreted rule, a forgotten fact or just a bad play and everybody realizes a little later that a mistake has occurred. And the mistake has […]
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Mapping Dilemma – How To Stop Your Players From Yawning
From Johnn Four Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #001 I hate to admit it, but because of bad RPG mapping habits I game mastered a “yawner” last night. My number one goal for each and every session is to entertain, and players yawning is a sure sign I’ve missed my mark. While every game master has their […]
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