Running Games Archives - Roleplaying Tips

Beg, Borrow, And Steal

Got this comment in an email the other day: “I feel guilty ripping off other people’s stuff/ideas to use in my campaigns.” I know that feeling. But I suggest you should use any source of inspiration possible to make your campaigns great. Let’s get one possible worry settled first. Is using others’ ideas for your […]

Better Session Kick-Offs — The Warm-Up Trick

Here’s a quick tip about session warm-ups. I don’t know about you, but it takes a good 15 minutes or more for my players to say hi, shed the day’s energy, and get their head into their character. Sometimes it takes longer. I don’t mind because it gives me the chance to get my head […]

When A Friend Leaves Your Game

I received an email from RPT GM NK who received news from a friend: I DM a group of 8 players and the one who got the most people involved is leaving in two months across the country. The whole party is very emotional about this. Any ideas on or for the last two sessions? […]

How To Move Your RPG Campaign Online: Tools

For the best technical experience possible, it comes down to four key decisions….

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

RPT Patron A. asked me this question last week: Tell me more about how you rate yourself fairly without demotivating yourself, I could use that. The context of this request is a Musing I published that talks about doing post-session assessments of your GMing. And A. wants to know how to do this without being […]

What Are We Rewarding?

At a previous job my employer would take daily attendance. Yup. It was like being back in grade school, and I think that’s what the employer thought of its employees too — unruly things that must be controlled. When I see GMs award XP for attendance, it hearkens me back to that old gig. The […]

Who’s Fault Is It? Yours?

RPT GM Duane V. asked me this interesting question about the responsibility of the GM: Hi Johnn. I was reading your latest DM Tips and a question that has bugged me for a while popped into my mind. In politics, we blame the leader if things go badly; in sport, we blame the coach; in […]

Law Vs. Lore — My Thoughts On Rules and Fudging Rolls

I hear many GMs fudge rolls and regard every rule as changeable on their whim. Here’s my philosophy, which has changed over the years, and is now at a place I think makes for better gaming with my friends. Law vs. Lore First, a couple of RPT definitions. Law Law is the rules. It’s the […]

3 Quick Tips For Taking Session Notes

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 […]

My Game Table Setup

Before my game last week, I took a few pictures of how I setup for TPKs. 🙂 I’m not sure if you will find this of interest. But when I saw another GM posting their game room on Reddit, I pored over the photos to see what tools and doodads they used to help their […]

Three Dumb GM Habits I Need To Break

I have three dumb GMing habits I have to break. I’ve even written about these before. But it’s good to have a reminder because they creep back into my games over time. Maybe you have these habits too? My Precious I hold too much information back. Imagine trekking across dangerous lands, delving into dark depths, […]

Fixing GM Mistakes: 3 Ways To RetCon Without Breaking Your Game

I call one of the most destructive events that can break your campaign the Time Bomb. It’s an inconsistent detail that breaks your game’s logic: Forgotten fact from a previous session Contradictory world detail Wrong name, NPC, or location Missed rule Bad rule interpretation Authors and screenwriters have it easy. They can go back and […]

How To Run Several Plots At The Same Time Without Stress

Players love it when their characters get special side plots built just for them. Side plots hook your players and get them involved in your campaign. Side plots allow PC growth and development in ways character sheet upgrades cannot. And side plots make your campaigns feel deep and personal. Problem is, with one side plot […]

The GM’s Ten Commandments: GM vs. Players

RPT GM Krys sent me this article on The GM’s Ten Commandments. While an old article from 1987, it still has some good advice. The first of Volny’s commandments made me stop and reflect: Do not consider the players as adversaries “If the players quickly neutralize or bypass these clever entrapments, the GM often has […]

The Dangling Description Mystery Method Formula — The Secret Sauce To Riveting Descriptions

I was working on a new Faster Combat lesson about the Action Economy last weekend and a lightbulb went off. I know exactly what I want to deliver each time you and I describe something to our players. This applies to descriptions for encounters, NPCs, items, monsters, and locations. This applies to boxed text, bullet […]

Use Micro Breaks To Take Fast Notes

RPT GM Ed Marley asks: I was wondering if you had any tips on how to take notes during a session. Not what tool to use, but the logistics of taking notes mid-session. I find the give-and-take between the players and I during the action is fast and fun and I don’t want to disrupt […]

Novel Ways to Use Non-Combat Initiative

I asked for ways you use initiative outside combat. Several cool ideas hit my inbox I’d like to share with you today: Social Initiative From: Alexander T Greene In Mythras, I’ve based a non-combat initiative score on CHA rather than DEX. CHA in social initiative means those with high charisma are more likely to lead […]

d6 Ways to Spice Up Next Session

Sometimes things get dull, predictable, and stale. Your players get into the same old rut of “break down the door, kill the monster, take the loot.” Or if your group is more into roleplaying, perhaps it’s “meet the NPC, kill the NPC, Speak With Dead.” lol. Next session, let’s mix it up. Let’s inject a […]

Is Running Two Game Masters a Disaster?

RPT Patron Morgan Joeck asks about having one campaign with two game masters: A friend wants to run a dungeon crawl, and I like the concepts behind Demonplague. I was wondering how you would suggest co-DMing the campaign. How much of the through line is there between the four modules? Would GMing the first one […]

d6 Ways To Spice Up Next Session

Next session, let’s mix it up. Let’s make things more fun for ourselves and our players using these d6 tables of dangers, goals, and plot twists for ideas.

Get Into Gamespace Faster With A Good Session Warm-Up

Sometimes you have a rough transition between everyone arriving for a game and the game starting. Everyone catching up on news, one player looking everywhere for missing dice, another player bugging you with min/max ploys. It’s raucous. When you do finally catch everyone’s attention, it still takes awhile for players to ease into character and […]

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