Thanks to of Dice & Dragons for hosting last month’s carnival on Celebrations. This month the theme is Adventure Favourites. I don’t know about you, but some adventures stick clearly in my mind years after GMing or playing them. Crazy moments, crushing defeats, and epic finales. I’ve even got a bucket list going of adventures […]
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To keep your adventures wondrous have players encounter strange communities who think completely different. This makes roleplay novel and interesting. It also creates a cool puzzle. As characters parley, your players will try to understand the behaviours of the NPCs, what they want, and why. That’s the key to the puzzle. GM the NPC behaviours […]
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In a recent newsletter, I mused about using gold pieces from treasure as experience points. My inbox exploded. Dozens of you wrote in. Some of you were upset. I mean, ALL CAPS UPSET. And some of you were over the moon and loved the idea. First off, thank you so much for reading this newsletter! […]
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We’ve mused how motivating yourself to be a better GM makes you happier. Those who pursue intrinsic goals are happier because they control more of their destiny. Now let’s talk about our players, who are probably a mixed bag of intrinsic and extrinsic interests.
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The games we play and the people who play them are complex. We cannot simply write a script and have the audience passively follow along, clapping when the applause sign lights up. We play an interactive game in a social environment. Everyone wants a role to play and the ability to affect outcomes. Player agency might come easy to you or not. For me, it’s on the difficult side….
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Here’s something key to understand about yourself and your players. People are motivated by some combination and degree of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Learn what these are for each person in your group to better tailor your game rewards. Rewards that fit, like the right key to the right lock, help your game become a satisfying campaign.
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An approach to creating stories with compelling hooks and logical arcs. Avoid campaigns fizzling because you can’t keep the players or yourself sufficiently engaged in the story.
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The core of Plotto, as far as I’m concerned, is the list of 1,462 plot conflicts. However, I don’t use Plotto as it was originally intended for constructing a plot. Instead, I use a stripped-down approach that I find easier to adapt for RPG adventure creation.
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A cool idea from a friend: the GM has prepared a music festival in a town the PCs will travel to. And the festival is a gathering of cover bands who perform the famous PC bard’s best songs….
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Give your magic item a quick history. Then use the history to tie a whole bunch of things together that will make you look like a genius. To flesh out your item’s lore fast, follow these four simple steps.
Continue readingA Brief Word From Johnn Game Of Thrones Is A Great Game I had the good fortune to finally play the Game of Thrones (GoT) board game. I had asked for reviews awhile back and they were mixed, so I held-off purchasing the game blind. Luckily, I got in on a game Saturday and it’s […]
Continue readingParanoia: Shattering The Trust Part III: Minor In-Game Events By: Ross Shingledecker (~Acolyte) Click here to read the Paranoia: Shattering The Trust Part I Click here to read the Paranoia: Shattering The Trust Part II This group of tips refers to small things that will unnerve your players without radically altering your plot or campaign […]
Continue readingA Brief Word From Johnn Last Week Of Contest March 15th is the last day for the Interesting Scenes contest. Unlimited entries are allowed with each scene representing one entry. To enter, send in a 1-2 sentence cool combat or roleplaying scene like these ones: “The PCs are fighting the bad guys inside a giant […]
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When game master procrastination hits, I do what I call my First Move. Nail your first move, and prep instantly gets a lot easier.
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I got my first taste of sandbox adventure play in B2: Keep on the Borderlands. The PCs based themselves in The Keep and forayed into the Wild. A crazy hermit shared the location of several caves nearby, confirmed dangerous, rumoured with riches.As the party crested a hill, a horseshoe valley stretched before them, rings of caves […]
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We’ve added a couple new features to the Campaign Logger web app. First, though, Jochen and I are considering making an important change to Campaign Logger. Should We Open CL Up For Add-On Development? We’re thinking of opening the app up even more so developers can build and share their own add-ons and features in javascript.For example, […]
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This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is about Short Dungeons & Adventures.
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Jochen and I have had a fairly productive summer working on Campaign Logger. We hope you’ve had a chance to use the app in the past couple of months because that means you’re either gaming or prepping to game!Here’s a bit of a laundry list of what’s changed for the web app. Here’s a bit of […]
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This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is about Occult Mysteries and Magic. To celebrate that theme, here is a quick and adversarial secret society idea for your campaign. The Masters of Destiny These guys hunt adventurers. They believe an ancient evil will soon awake, but the world is doomed because there are no heroes powerful enough […]
Continue readingA Brief Word From Johnn I’m Back! But My Email Was Down It took just under 44 hours after I left for vacation for spam to fill my email account to the brim. Grrr. So, if you sent me an email after 7pm Sunday the 16th, then it would have bounced. Sorry–please re-send it. This […]
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I have rivers without water, Forests without trees, Mountains without rocks Towns without houses. I love riddles. You’ve probably got a book of riddles on your shelf, too. But when your campaign or adventure theme does not support classic dungeon riddle play, how do you put riddles in your campaign? Here are a few ideas. […]
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Recently I challenged you to place a spy in the party. In response, RPT reader Joshua Barry wrote in with some excellent tips on Tactical vs. Strategic spying with some great fantasy examples I’d like to share with you today. Let’s dive in! [graphic-divider] I’d like to expand on your definition of a spy and look […]
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I watched a crime show last night. Turns out the thug who was busted on suspicion of capping the victim is an undercover federal agent. A King’s Man. Today I want you to add a spy in your game.
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How to Import Characters from Hero Lab You can now export character portfolios from Hero Lab and import them as tagged NPCs in Campaign Logger. Note that this is a beta feature. We’ve only tested this with D&D 5E portfolios. If you encounter any bugs, please let us know and send over your Hero Lab portfolio […]
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Today’s Musing is part of this month’s RPG Blog Carnvial about megadungeons is brought to you by RPT reader Ydars who wrote in response to my recent piece about how Dang Megadungeons Break My Heart. He’s got some great ideas I want to share with you: Dear Johnn, Megadungeons are difficult beasts to run because […]
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