Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #407 One Sentence NPCs, Part 2 Categories of NPC Characteristics From Johnn Four Part one last week mentioned that useful and interesting one sentence NPCs have three characteristics, including one that is at odds with the other two. Fortunately, there are several categories of characteristics, and you can choose from three different […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #408 Near Future Campaign Settings From Kate Manchester There are many types of campaign worlds, mostly falling into the genres of fantasy, modern and science fiction. Skating the fine line between the modern age and science fiction genres is what can be described as the near future. The near future is a […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #409 How to Add Atmosphere (Without LARPing or Bank Loans)? From Danny East Remember in “The Never-Ending Story” when the store owner Mr. Koreander asked young Bastion, “Listen. Have you ever been Captain Nemo, trapped inside your submarine while the giant squid is attacking you?” and then “Weren’t you afraid you couldn’t […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #410 Group Management From Danny East Group management is a tedious and daunting GMing task. When can everyone meet? Who’s driving whom? Are we going to play at Mark’s? Jamie’s apartment? My neighbor’s basement? If everyone plays at Gary’s, then Josh can’t go because he’s allergic to cats. We’ll play at Bill’s, […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #411 How To Host The Perfect Game Here is a collection of tips from readers on how to create the perfect environment for gaming. Some offer advice to the age-old problems of eliminating distractions and establishing atmosphere, while others describe unique and inspiring gaming setups. Gaming Garage From Sean H. Hey Johnn, […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #412 6 Quick Game Master Organization Tips From Johnn Four and Hannah Lipsky While players battle orcs and goblins, GMs face a far more fearsome foe: disorganization. Here are a few quick tips on keeping your game and your gaming stuff organized. Laminate Your Maps I mentioned this tip in Issue #358. […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #413 Fight Environments From Danny East An exciting and addictive way to add spice to your game is throwing environmental danger into fight scenes. The following are a few examples to get your party started. Remember to have a lot of dice on hand when you try these. Tissues, too, because the […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #414 Wordplay as Character Inspiration From Hannah L. I recently roped a friend into running a Wushu game for me. Wushu characters have a small handful of Traits, and also a Weakness, which can be anything you can think of, from Angel of Death to Charismatic to Kung-Fu to Queen of England […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #415 Simple Acting Tips From Danny East Unless you’re Stephen Hawking, there is no reason to avoid acting in your role playing. There is a huge difference between acting in a Vampyre LARP vs. acting in a Warhammer game, but the acting is still there. It’s part of the magic. The following […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #416 The Power Of The Dark Side From Mike Bourke There has been a hot debate raging in certain circles about the pros and cons of an evil campaign. Both sides have scored points against the other, but ultimately there has not been a victory, one way or the other. The debate […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #417 10 Easy Tips for Player Involvement From Danny East “You crest the hill, and there you see the Goblin Bandits. There are seven of them, three with bows, and the other four are charging your location. What does each of you do?” “I’ll prepare a fireball spell!” “I’m setting my spear […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #418 4 City Building Tips Give cities flavor with districts From Johnn Four Divide Your City into Chunks Cities are large beasts that can intimidate GMs trying to plan and design them. There are so many people, locations, and things to think about it makes a GM cry in his battlemat. However, […]
Continue readingFrom Daniel J. Mello (danscififan) Morale — the esprit de corps, the willingness of the unit to continue to fight. This is an old wargame trait assigned to various armies. Infantry are well trained and usually have a high Morale, where partisans and rebels are not as well trained and often have a lower Morale. […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #419 How To Use Props In Your Games – 8 Tips From Johnn Four Use Me-Props Avoid the trap of using props that are all about you the game master, and that have little to do with your players and their characters. It’s easy to get wrapped up in handouts, charts, and […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #420 27 Great Prop Ideas To Enhance Your Games From cra2 Disentanglement Puzzles Example: Old Shackels I have several of these of varying difficulty, and I’ll use them to represent some puzzling situation the PCs are trying to get out of. More specifically, I’ve used them in two ways: The first was […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #421 Dark & Gritty Gaming Tips From Hannah L. A while back, I asked for advice on my upcoming D&D 4E game, which I was hoping to run with a dark and gritty tone. The game has been a great success so far, thanks in no small part to all of the […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #422 Dark & Gritty Gaming Tips, Part 2 From Hannah L. Last week, we saw some great tips for running dark and gritty games. This week’s tips are darker yet, with advice on everything from personalizing items to terrorizing the party. Creating And Keeping A Gritty Atmosphere From Jenette Downing I’m assuming […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #423 Props Contest Entries, Part 1 Entries from the props contest have rolled in over the past month. There have been a lot of great, creative ideas you can put to use in your game. Here’s the first batch – look forward to more over the coming weeks. Stones, Bottles, and Jewelry […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #424 Skinning Gaming Systems From Hannah L. A strange thought occurred to me the other day: everything in a gaming manual that isn’t a number can technically be classified as “fluff.” I’ll use the D&D 4th edition Player’s Handbook as an example, but this applies to any system. There are eight player […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #425 Props Contest Entries, Part 2 Continuing with the great entries in the props contest, here are more tips for how to awesome-up your game with tangible items on a tight budget. Tactile Treasure From Brothertuck, Brett O’Reilly, Gabe, Jon Smejkal Coins can be represented by old slot machine tokens, but pennies […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #426 9 DM Tools and Integrating Them Into Your Games From Brent P. Newhall It’s weird. I like to live a simple life of relatively few possessions, but I find myself with an alarmingly large number of DM accessories. Besides all the books, I have miniatures, red beads, rusted keys, laminated maps, […]
Continue reading
I asked Platinum Patron Michael what his worst GM skill is. Here’s his reply: My worst skill is being able to keep track of and incorporate all of the improvisation I do every session into the larger scope of my campaign. Mostly because I don’t write it down and I forget. This wasn’t always a […]
Continue reading
I created a coinage system for Duskfall last week and did three things to make money special. Today I’ll share what these are for you to consider using in your worlds. These tips are inspired by NOD #1 (Amazon affiliate link, Lulu link, blog link) where there’s a short article on coins. Mint The Most […]
Continue reading
As a world builder, I love having lots of cool magic items. Weapons, wondrous items, and artefacts of legend. These provide instant hooks for quests, dungeons, and missions. As a game designer, I can’t wreck campaign balance. Too many magic items in the PCs’ hands means they can arm wrestle tarrasques, chase demon lords, and […]
Continue reading
I was lucky in school back in my day when we had to roll dice uphill. Both ways. At the bottom of a lake. In one class I learned about algorithms. Simple procedures or recipes for doing things. For example, how do you make a peanut butter sandwich? Two slices of bread and some peanut […]
Continue reading