Adventure & Campaign Building Archives

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The Secret Role Of NPCs

It occurred to me I’ve never explained my fascination with NPC story roles. In this article just for you, awesome Roleplaying Tips Patrons, I’ll share their secret function in my campaigns. But before I can dig into that, I need to back up a couple steps and talk about how I think and run my […]

Revealing More Information Is Like Making A Peanut Butter Sandwich

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 […]

Crafting Intrigue Adventures — A Couple Of Quick Tips

When I asked RPT GM Alex M. via email about what his biggest GMing struggle is he had an interesting reply: Right now we’re playing an evil campaign in a post apocalyptic setting. My biggest struggle is making smart enough, non-linear / classic intrigue cases . Like political rivalries, behind closed doors agreements and the […]

The Road to Plot Hook Recovery: Stale Plot Hook Tips and Tricks

Compelling plot hooks can launch an entire campaign, while stale ones can crash and burn leaving you to try to salvage your night of gaming. are several ways to rejuvenate a stale plot hook.

Campaign’s Pillars: How To Pacing Your Game’s Exciting Moments

Manage pace during sessions instead of scripting it. This lets you react to your game as it unfolds and is one less strict plan you must track. But, leaving pace to encounter-level decisions burdens you with yet another thing. Until you’ve made pacing a habit and can spot opportunities to switch energy up mid-session, it […]

Kill Boxed Text – Dynamic Descriptions Made Easy

This framework does two things for you.First, it guides what you should include in your descriptions.

What The Heck Is A Milieu?

What the heck is a milieu? I’ve been tossing out that term more often in recent Musings. And it’s how I think the game for two campaigns in development.

How To Get Players Pumped After A Break From Gaming

RPT GM Samuel Dil Curd asks:What’s a fun and exciting way to step back into an ongoing story after a hiatus?

Example GM Move With Threats Using Lord of the Rings

Last week I discussed the idea of combining cool boardgame mechanics with adventure design to create 1-3 specialGM Moves for your 5 Room Dungeons.

7 Great Mapping Apps You Might Not Have Heard Of Before

Mapping software is a personal thing. I know what I like. Within moments of opening software I know if I’m going to be in for a rough time.

A Nice Tip On Adventure Puzzles

When I first started GMing I used the kind of puzzles that seemed arbitrary and quirky. After a few years these began ruining the fun because they became too out-of-place and broke our sense of disbelief. Now don’t get me wrong. A chess board puzzle that zaps you for stepping on the wrong square is […]

Story Overlays – A Quick Storytelling Tip For Your Encounters

Here’s a trick the pros use to make stories chaotic, tense, and exciting.

Get These Two Things Right For Stories To Make Sense

We want to check Congruity first because it’s faster and easier to spot errors at this level. If we get the immediate details right here, it’ll automatically fix those errors at the campaign level.

Rewarding Players With Signs Of Progress

Awhile ago I mused on how to measure sandbox campaign progress and use that to incentivize players. When we game just for the XP it becomes a grind, a job.

When You Steal This Cheesy Idea You Won’t Believe What Happens Next

Use clickbait as irresistible adventure and encounter hooks.

The Grand Puzzle Of The Runecarvers

If you are looking for more puzzles in your game, then RPT GM and Patron Paul Shipley has a great idea for a complex one that uses runes and codes:

Player Challenge #06 All Tied Up

Restrict players by chaining their arms together. Make sure your players are comfortable with this before you do it!

An Example Sandbox Campaign With Tips To Avoid GM Burnout

RPT Game Master Mark A shared with me some great ideas after reading my Musing on sandbox campaigns.

GM Resource: 20 Master Plots

Today RPT Game Master Pierre Parent shares with us a great source of plotting inspiration.

Challenge High Level PCs With A Quick Reskin

How do we challenge powerful player characters?Roleplaying Tips GM Scott has a tip for us on reskinning monsters and their context to give tough PCs a good run for their gold pieces.

5 More Adventure Feature Types For Your Adventure Designs

Recently we talked about how to create a Feature for your 5 Room Dungeon as a first step.

The Elvis Hook For PCs

One GM has a bard PC whose background involves being famous. So the GM has prepared a music festival in a town the PCs will travel to.

Player Challenge #05 Cypher Texts

Remember those cipher games where all the letters are scrambled and you have to decode the message?

Touched By The Gods

Here’s some good stuff RPT GM Dan Barrow wrote me about powerful PCs.

How Long Should A Module Take?

Resurrected GM Anthony asks how many sessions a published adventure should take.

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