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How to Master Your Craft

Sain bainuu Johnn, There’s something they neglect to tell you about writing. Understand this “plot twist” and the whole job changes. Here’s the really cool part. We can apply this new way of looking at things to GMing, as well! And my hope is, it’ll change how to approach mastering your craft, which I call […]

3-Step GM PiXiE Kaizen

There’s a myth about game master time management. Or even about time management in general. Folks think it’s about time. But in my experience that’s not true. It’s about energy. Doing campaign prep for 15 minutes a day will get more prep done over the long haul than doing it once in a while in […]

3 Things To Do When You Get Bored With Your Campaign

Are you bored with GMing? RPT GM Michael asks: I’m a beginning DM that has DMed two dozen sessions of a campaign in the setting of Mystara (Known World) using the B.E.C.M.I. version of Dungeons and Dragons. I’ve taken the group through one and a half of the 1980s’ B series Basic D&D modules – […]

How Do You Keep Things Fresh For Your Players?

RPT GM Mark Ariesen asks this tricky question and my answer goes down a dark path. Here’s his question: How do you keep things fresh for your players year-in-year out, when they have seen it all and done it all? One easy way to do this is design your own stuff. Build your own adventures, […]

Campaign Reboot Example: Murder Hobos

Readers asked for an example of a campaign reboot using my three step map. Rebooting My Murder Hobos Campaign (And Yours) in Three Easy Steps Here’s one using my current campaign, which needs new life injected into it as I prep Season 3. Step 1. Write a Story Summary The party tried helping the village […]

My Top Monster Villains

The other day I read a blog about the GM’s Top 10 mastermind monster villains. I love this idea! It’s great inspiration. So today for fun I’m sharing my favourite monster villains with you. The requirements for my list are I can only list monsters I have GM’d or made adventures for. In some cases […]

Coax The Details Out

It all starts with a flaw. The item does not work as expected. This creates surprise, which makes great gameplay. After the surprise, it makes the item distinct and valued because it’s not just another +1 dagger. Design cost-value into your flaws and find that sweet spot where the penalty of using the item is […]

Rebooting My Murder Hobos Campaign (And Yours) in Three Easy Steps

Let’s talk about a campaign reboot. But before that, let me crack open the champagne and yell Happy Year +1! Alana and I had a great time visiting her parents in snowy Salmon Arm, B.C. We spent Christmas there, then flew back to ring in the changing of the calendar with dinner out and a […]

Idea: Living Spell

Here’s a cool Wednesday idea for your game sent to me by Aramax over at Strolen’s Citadel. What happens when a spell goes awry? Perhaps it’s a miscasting? Maybe a foe warps three simultaneous effects cast upon him. Maybe it’s a research mishap. Of the many ways spells could change and twist unexpectedly, a few […]

Spinning Up The Idea Machine

Last Musing generated quite the buzz in my inbox! It was almost all positive feedback about the notion of interrogating your ideas. To recap, take any idea you have and brainstorm 10 ways you can make an encounter or situation out of it. Think of it as an Idea Machine. Do this to test whether […]

How To Beat Prep Anxiety

Here’s a cool experiment from fellow RPT reader Iona to reduce the anxiety she felt before games. As smart, caring, sensitive people, we GMs want the best experience for our players. But this leads to perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and unease before sessions. Here’s how Iona solved it. I have something I would like to share […]

The Phantasmal Pessimist and Other Living Spell Examples

A couple weeks ago I offered a tip on creating Living Spells using a three step recipe. At the end was a challenge to use the recipe and create your own Living Spells. In today’s Musing I share with you four Living Spells, crafted by your fellow readers, that caught my eye. Here’s a link […]

Tarrasque vs. Dracolich

Got this great email from Martin Lavallee in response to my ghost story [The Craziest Jerk I’ve Been Yet] the other day: “I am using a red dragon from time to time [to harass the group] and the PCs are about to become strong enough to engage her directly. “They’re racing against time to find […]

The Craziest Jerk I’ve Been Yet

I’ve done something terribly good and amazingly evil in my campaign. I don’t know whether to cackle in glee or hang my head in shame. Here’s what’s happening. The Murder Hobos early in Season I killed the Townmaster of Phandelver and buried his body in his back yard. The Townmaster provoked the fight, and Roscoe […]

Focus on More of This To Have More Fun at Every Game

Forget fiction. Forget scripts. We’re talking interactive storytelling and gaming here. We have our own rules. I think of interactive story games — let’s just call them RPGs for short — as a collection of inputs and outputs. Your Multitude of Inputs On the input side we have: GM Players Dice Rules Adventure material Campaign […]

Kill GM procrastination with your First Move

Roleplaying Tips GM Leif told me this: “Game prep, or ‘designing’ as my DM Partner and I call it, is my biggest challenge currently. It’s tough to find the motivation to get started.” I asked for a bit more info, and while I wait for his response I’d like to share with you a quick […]

Look up, what’s that falling?

Characters never look up. Let’s take advantage of that in our designs. Inspired by a recent post from Derek Von Zarovich on his Patreon, let’s turn this soggy Monday into a fun brainstorm. First, here’s the cool idea and map from Derek Map-Adventure Vault. This was a tower from a flying fortress that fell down. […]

Play the Infinite Game

A small book that has made a big impression on my gaming is Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse. It’s a philosophy that analyses two types of games. Finite games, like Monopoly and Risk, have a clear start and end. Infinite games, like some campaign-style RPGs, do not have a definite ending. The […]

The Hidden Places Are The Best Ones

Happy Friday %FIRSTNAME% I was struggling with a player request until I hit upon a good idea last weekend. The wizard wants to “break reality.” That’s the entire request. After wrestling for a long time, an idea from the Stranger Things show hit me. The principle is, hidden places have immense mystery. They draw curiosity […]

A Secret Society Of Character-Hunters For Your Campaign

This month’s RPG Blog Carnival is about Occult Mysteries and Magic. To celebrate that theme, here is a quick and adversarial secret society idea for your campaign. The Masters of Destiny These guys hunt adventurers. They believe an ancient evil will soon awake, but the world is doomed because there are no heroes powerful enough […]

May – Love ‘Em or Hate ‘Em – These Guys Juice Up Your Game

I’m reading Kings of the Wyld (aff.) by Nicholas Eames. It’s tongue-in-cheek fantasy. Not normally my fare, but the world has interesting ideas and I’m getting drawn into the plot. In the world of Heartwyld, adventurers form bands, as in music bands. Except the bards always get killed. Agents book adventures and send their signed […]

May – The King’s Man

Hola %FIRSTNAME% I watched a crime show last night. Turns out the thug who was busted on suspicion of capping the victim is an undercover federal agent. A King’s Man. Today I want you to add a spy in your game. Step 1. Which Faction? Which side does the spy work for? Pick a faction. […]

June – Teleport With Style

Hau?oli Friday, %FIRSTNAME% Today’s Musing is both a fun bit of inspiration and some age-old advice. While surfing, I found a great table from John Stater over at Land of Nod. It asks, and answers, the question of how you appear when coming out of a teleport. Here’s a few of John’s often funny ideas: […]

Don’t Do This To Yourself

I received this very nice email from Roleplaying Tips Reader Mike D. last week in response to the daily city details Musing: “Hey Johnn! I swear, I heard my voice while reading that list. I’ve used those exact same descriptions in my cities (though I did pick up a couple of new terms, spruikers, for […]

A Shared Tale & Clever Distractions

Ni hau %FIRSTNAME% A co-worker is GMing his first D&D campaign for friends who have also not played D&D before. He described a couple of his encounters to me last week and I thought they were fantastic. His encounters’ intent is to help his players learn to roleplay and tell stories. He gave me permission […]

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