News Archives - Roleplaying Tips

Break Reality To Build Better Dungeon Maps

Constrain one thing to transform your dungeons. Hola Game Master! Continuing our celebration of RPT Map Week (make sure you swing by the #rpt-map-weeks channel on Discord to check out the daily hooks), I want to talk about the hidden rules dictating your map designs. How Architectural Constraints Affect Maps We often draw floor plans […]

Create Dynamic Dungeon Maps & Levels That Make Sense

Have you ever been running a dungeon crawl, feeling good, when suddenly a player asks a question that stops your dice cold? “Wait, why is there an ice room right next to a lava chamber?” “What do these monsters actually eat?” “Why are the ceilings only ten feet high if giants live here?” I call […]

Johnn’s Bookshelf

Here are a few books I find useful for GMing that aren’t about GMing. Some books are common but highly recommended for every GM, and some are obscure, more for folks who like rabbit holes. Sign up to my newsletter to get new book recommendations sent to your inbox. A Book of Fantastic Dungeon Inspiration […]

Roleplaying Tips Turns 25!

I don’t recall the exact date I made the decision to start the Roleplaying Tips newsletter. I bought the domain on August 13, 1999. And, in the first week of November 1999, newsletter #0001 went out to three email subscribers: I’m not great at planning and enjoying milestones like this. I don’t do much on […]

My Unfavorite Time of Year & Price Increase Heads-Up

Guess what day this game master was born on? Halloween. That explains a lot about me now, right? People ask if it’s my favorite day of the year because of that double whammy. I snarl back: “I’m the Scrooge of Halloween!” Every birthday, I’m besieged by dozens of people pounding at my door. And these […]

Escape This Evil Dungeon to Accelerate Your GM Mastery

Today, I have a GM productivity tip disguised as a mimic for my Platinum Wizard of Adventure program. Let’s gird up, grab our 10 feet poles, and delve into the dungeon. I’ve done a ton of Gather Knowledge checks on personal productivity over the years so I can run Roleplaying Tips plus wrangle the day […]

Happy 2024!

I heard a nice story over the break. I’m paraphrasing the paraphraser here…. A mason was building a wall. Unfortunately, a pair of the hundred stones broke and he had to use extra mortar and position them a bit differently to get them to fit. After finishing the wall, he was filled only with disappointment. […]

Campaign Logger 101 Webinar & Tips Email

A couple of quick action items for you today. 1. Aug 4 – Campaign Logger 101 Webinar – Setting Up Your First Campaign Jochen, the developer of CL, is hosting our very first Campaign Logger webinar. It’s in a Euro-friendly time zone this time. We hope to run more in the future at different times […]

Heads-Up: Campaign Logger Legacy Migration

I wanted to give you a heads-up that we are migrating your data to the new version in the latter part of September for you. The original Campaign Logger, which we call Legacy, is here: https://legacy.app.campaign-logger.com/ The new Campaign Logger, which we call vNext, is here: https://app.campaign-logger.com/ (You can see a growing list of new […]

No, I’ve Got The Magic Sword!

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0823 Roleplaying Tips reader Noel Caine shares this tip about using cards to organize his campaigns. Hi Johnn, You asked for any useful tips for DMs in running D&D games, so here’s one I devised about 30 years ago (I’ve been playing for about 34 years now). When it came to allocating […]

Win A Xancrown Mini

To celebrate the Demonplague campaign launching on Amazon, I’m holding a fun giveaway. You could get a 3D printed mini of the campaign’s demonic villain, Xancrown. Here’s a picture of the mini: Imagine your players’ faces when you introduce this guy to the table: How to Enter the Giveaway The giveaway is open to any […]

Roleplaying Tips for Game Masters banner

Roleplaying Tips Weekly Supplemental #22 “Making Magic Items Interesting”

This file was created from reader submissions responding to a request in Issue #204. Thanks to everyone who submitted their wonderful tips, ideas, and advice. Thanks to Leslie Holm and Isaac Calon for organizing and editing! Most references to +1 longswords have been removed to protect our sanity. Cheers, Johnn Four [email protected] Roleplaying Tips CONTENTS: […]

GM Binder Tips for the Organized Gamemaster

From: Johnn Four 1. First Figure Out The Purpose For Your GM Binder Before you start photocopying, typing, cutting, folding and hole-punching, first think about your GMing style and how you want your GM binder to aid you during games. For example, I’m left-handed and I twist books around to write in them rather than […]

RPT Weekly Supplemental #16 — “Tips For Planning & Running The First Session Of A Campaign”

This file was created because of the wonderful response to issue #185’s Tip Request about a GM’s plea for help with planning and running the first session of a new campaign. Thanks to everyone who emailed me their tips, stories, and advice. New tips for this doc are always welcome. Cheers, Johnn Four [email protected] Roleplaying […]

Orc Generator Creates 20 Orcs In 20 Seconds

Today I show you how I used the new goblin generator in Campaign Logger as an orc generator to create d20 orcs in under half a minute. But first, a quick backstory. Vargulf drank out of a magical pool. It made him forever afraid of orcs. There’s a half-orc in the party. Kriv. That doesn’t […]

5 Ways You Can Make Travel Interesting Or Important

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0071 Provide A Background For The Encounter Get Into The Nitty Gritty Details Of Travel Consider Adding New Environmental Challenges Pre-Plan Some Basic Encounters For Use At Any Time Reveal Important Information Get Into The Travel Spirit Readers’ Tips Summarized Build Your Maps In Lego Use Prophecy For Tension Creation Find New […]

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.