Treasure Rewards & Items Archives

How To Adjust After Handing Out Too Much Loot

Today I’ve got some great ideas for when we hand out too much treasure and game balance goes sideways a bit. And in the Reader Tips section at the end, I’ve got a 5 Room Dungeon and Campaign Puzzle tip for you. One thing in the 5 Room Dungeon tip resonated with me because I’ve […]

Simple Ways to Enhance Your Magic Items

From Jonathan Siema Johnn! In todays’ Roleplaying Tips Newsletter, I’ve got the following GM tips for you: 3 Simple Ways to Enhance Your Magic Items How can we spruce up magic items so they aren’t boring +1 shields? Jonathan Hardin shows us how via three quick changes we can make to an item’s properties. How […]

Don’t Be A Minnie Haul

I remember getting caught with my pants down running Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. One player had magic claws that could chew through six feet of rock each round. When the party finally made their way to the villain’s lair, they bypassed an entire page devoted to the magic barriers, traps, and tricks by digging through […]

How To Battle Dungeon Design Fatigue

RPT GM Tom G asks: I would like to know how my fellow GMs battle dungeon fatigue. I have no difficulties making the entry, the story of the dungeon and the first couple of rooms interesting. But after a while it all bogs down to left, right, or straight ahead. Any dungeon of more than […]

D13 Magic Item Concepts from My Demonplague Campaign

I needed some minor mundane and magical treasures for my next DemonPlague game. So I made some and am sharing a few with you today. The party has a wizard, warrior, cleric, druid, and rogue in it. The first thing I did was make a table and a column for each class. That way I […]

Shout The Name of Your Enemy and He Will Be Punished

I had a D&D dream last night. I love it when I dream about games, but it happens so rarely. This dream was about a magic tome. It’s a cool enough idea I will be using with modification on the Murder Hobos. As always, the dream was weird and scattered. I’ll spare you the details. […]

Master Your Cursed Items

Cursed items aren’t working for me. They feel punitive. “When you put the helm on, your eyes go blank, your mouth hangs open, and you start to drool. Your INT is 3 sucka! And try as you might, the helm can’t be taken off. Hahaha.” That’s a whole lot of suck for the player experience. […]

Make Magic Items More Marvelous With Magic Item Sets

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 […]

How A Reader Creates Player Reward Cards

RPT GM Richard Grilley created some cool player card props to liven up his games. Here’s howhe did it.

Monday Inspiration: The Sawfish Blade & A Holy Quest

A bit of inspiration for you, if you have five minutes.

Special Equipment Tips

From Johnn Four Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #268 Equipment is often taken for granted, especially by experienced players and groups that have been gaming together for a long while. All too often, equipment found in the player’s book is assumed to be equally accessible to all player characters. After awhile, the equipment becomes blase and an […]