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How My Ego Trashes Games

Today I want to talk a bit about how you might be influencing unwanted player behaviour without realizing it. Imagine if you discovered you were sometimes the cause of bad group tension? If you could stop this behaviour, would you? If so, keep reading. There’s one basic human trait we should think about while we […]

Just One Spike In The Ground Gets You Started

A friend sent me this interesting article on how inmates make dice to play D&D in prison. “We made dice out of card stock, toothpaste, and toilet paper. Rigorously tested, rolled right 85% of the time.” Necessity is the mother of invention. Which brings me to a short bit of advice for rolling a crit […]

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 […]

15 Kinds of Camouflage

From Ian Winterbottom Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #443 There was a song once, “Camouflage,” which had the refrain, “Things are never quite the way they seem.” It struck me then and still does now that there was the germ of some good hooks and stories there. To this end, I started methodically going through the reasons […]

How The Stars Could Inspire Your Games

A friend at work just got a deluxe telescope. Always interested in astronomy, he contacted a local club and a member approached him with a used one for sale.

1d12 Food Fights

So, what exotic diets might people eat in different lands?Dining on cats is normal for the half-orcs and goblins in the slums, but the royals worship a goddess with feline characteristics so they revere the animals.

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Intriguing GMing Tips Gleaned From A Con, Part I

This past weekend I played about 14 hours of games at IntrigueCon here in Edmonton Alberta.

Add Worms To Your Next Sandbox

Stop what you’re doing and out giant worms on your wandering monster tables.

My Best Reads of 2018

I got to the last page of a few fine books last year that inspired my gaming.

Using Random Magic the Gathering Cards As A Quick Source Of Inspiration

The guys on Dungeon Master Block have done a few podcasts of inspiration from Magic the Gathering cards and mention this site as a place for random inspiration.

A Quick Improv Trick

RPT GM Haukur asked how to improv better.It’s said that up to 60% of our brain processes vision. I am definitely a visual person. I understand and remember better what I see and read.

5 Story Hooks From A Dead Monster

A bunch of hooks instantly sprung to mind as I pored over this….A cult wants the skeleton brought to their secret laboratory for revival. Of course, outsiders who learn the lab’s location must also be revived.

3 Line Culture: The Eglanzine

RPT GM Patrick Richert emailed me a 3 Line Culture he created, inspired by the recent sawfish Musing:

Explaining RPGs To A Non-Gamer

A co-worker asked me why I liked RPGs so much. They aren’t a gamer, so I had to think for a moment before translating.

Tap Into This For Deeper Gameplay

RPT GM Robert Creedon sent me an email in response to my Three Part Quest Template. In it he had a great tip that got my wheels turning.

Feed Off Your School of Magic

I did something weird a couple weekends ago.I relaxed.I normally get up early to write or work on something Roleplaying Tips related. Then I do the day job. Then I work on emails for a bit in the evening.

Noticed vs. Missed GMs

Seth Godin had a great post the other day. He asks whether you’ll be noticed versus missed when you’re gone.

Ideas For Involving Fantasy Phenomena

From Strider Starslayer Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #215 (Comment from Johnn: Strider has told me that this article was inspired by Kiriath Machin Ni’s excellent Reader Tip in Issue 205, “Ideas For Involving Space Phenomena”.) In my opinion, the fantasy genre, more than any other, has more room for GM imagination in the things that the […]

Different Ways Of Kinging It: A Quick Look At Alternative Traditions Of Monarchy

From Dariel R. A. Quiogue Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #128 Hi Johnn! The idea for this article came from Neil Faulkner’s excellent article, Ten Ways to Enrich Your Campaign With Lists of Rulers. I hope this can be useful for my fellow GMs out there. RPT#108 – Ten Ways To Enrich Your Campaign With Lists Of […]

Plot Factories Part II – Spinning Up The Idea Machine

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. Here’s how to do this.

Lessons From The Movies – Alien and Aliens

From Matthew Ipock Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #624 Two of the best horror-sci-fi movies ever made have to be Alien and Aliens. You know, the ones about the space creature that latches onto your head, shoves an egg down your throat that eventually claws out through your chest and becomes a big, blackish-green hunter with acid […]

Dresden Files & Fairy Tales – Adventure Tips For Urban Fantasy Games

From Christopher Sniezak Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #647 I love stories about wizard private eyes, iron druid book shop owners, succubus baristas, and null cleaners. I love modern fantasy or what is also known as Urban Fantasy. To get an Urban Fantasy game, just add fantasy into a modern setting, especially a large city. But sometimes […]

Lessons From The Movies: The Princess Bride

From Matthew Ipock Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #625 The Princess Bride has become a great romantic-comedy cult classic. This is because the film has all the necessary ingredients of a great movie: action, comedy, memorable characters and dialogue, and “true love”. Because the movie has these needed ingredients, The Princess Bride can also serve as a […]

10 Ways to Setback Your Group Without Railroading

Bradford Allen recently wrote a very popular article for RPT called How to Create Blockbuster Box Office Hits with Your Players – Every Adventure. He advised to present your group a serious setback at the 75% mark of an adventure. This provides perfect pacing to create maximum tension. Will this be the defeat of the […]

How to Create Blockbuster Box Office Hits with Your Players – Every Adventure

From Brad Allen Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #523 Applying the Hollywood Formula to RPG Storylines I’ve been GMing for many years but only recently tried to enhance my pacing and story-writing skills. For a long time my games suffered from frequent lulls and anti-climaxes, but no longer. A year or so ago, I did some research […]

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