RPT GM Hornick switched his game to virtual and now has trouble getting his players to roleplay: My players have started to outgame-play the sessions with little ingame interactions. Maybe this is due to the medium of Roll20 and Discord. Do you have any ideas on this besides talking to them about this? They lately […]
Continue readingCharacter backgrounds are key tools in your GM Toolbox. Mine them for plots, NPCs, and character motivation. However, it’s a struggle to get useful and game-full backgrounds from players. Often, you just get a couple paragraphs explaining how the PC became an orphan. Or, you might get the inverse. Pages of narcissistic background explaining why […]
Continue readingWith so many new players (and GMs) joining our beloved hobby, there’s a lot of confusion out there about how to make sessions enjoyable and accessible for newbies. Sometimes your entire group is new. They don’t even have trope or game references to draw upon from different mediums such as video games. That’s what happens […]
Continue readingI just came back from vacation. We camped out in beautiful British Columbia. We have a camping trailer, so we were able to be self-sufficient and remain in isolation while enjoying nature and recouping our energy. I read a bunch and otherwise just tried to sit around and resist the impulse to be productive. While […]
Continue readingWe’ve mused how motivating yourself to be a better GM makes you happier. Those who pursue intrinsic goals are happier because they control more of their destiny. Now let’s talk about our players, who are probably a mixed bag of intrinsic and extrinsic interests. I go along with live and let live and to teach by example. So […]
Continue readingHere’s something key to understand about yourself and your players. People are motivated by some combination and degree of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Learn what these are for each person in your group to better tailor your game rewards. Rewards that fit, like the right key to the right lock, help your game become a satisfying campaign. An extrinsic reward is […]
Continue readingToday I have a few interesting character development ideas for you as a follow-up to the A Cool Twist For One Of Your Players Musing I published in February, 2017. The idea is to make each character special in some way to not only create great player engagement but to give you more adventure hooks […]
Continue readingLast Starfinder game I felt valuable when I came up with a good idea about talking to the Starfinder Society office greeter. That person would see the comings and goings of everyone and might get us a lead on the employee we were investigating. It’s awesome feeling valued. I was thinking about this when I […]
Continue readingQuestions are the best way to get your players tuned in, roleplaying, and thinking about the game. However, not all questions are equal. GIGO applies here. Ask a bad question, get a garbage answer and no game lift. But ask the right question at the right time and you reap all kinds of game table […]
Continue readingHere’s a great tip for speeding up combats from RPT GM Gary Martin: I’ve found one of the huge culprits at our table is the player zoning out while waiting for their turn. Even if turns are slow, it makes them five times slower when you have re-explain what’s going on. What I started doing […]
Continue readingWas chatting with the paladin before a game the other day and he gave me an idea. A core theme of fantasy is discovering you are amazing. Bullied boy or girl in small community learns they have magical powers or are gifted with sword-fighting or some other skill. This resonates with readers because we all […]
Continue readingOn Monday we covered how to get players to care about home bases. Wednesday I showed you a simple three step village creation recipe that you can world-build from. And today I’ll walk you through a quick example that you can also drop right into your campaign this weekend. Note that I use my app […]
Continue readingLast tip I rambled on about building character home bases and several ways you can invite players to care about them. While the Hobos of the Apocalypse will likely be creating a village community from ground up, I will want other villages to exist in the Good Faction held territory to flesh the region out […]
Continue readingThe Hobos of the Apocalypse (formerly The Murder Hobos now reborn as positive change agents) need and want a home base once they emerge from the bowels of the elemental dungeons they currently cleanse. The problem is, they’ve got few stakes in the place I’ll design. The campaign started as a pre-gen playtest of D&D […]
Continue readingHow do you get players to care about their characters and your plot? This is in the top 10 questions I get asked all the time. It’s tough to do. Today I’ll share one approach to encounter building that’s part of the 5 Room Dungeon product I’m working on that helps you solve this tricky […]
Continue readingAn RPT Reader asked for tips on how to deal with a perfectionist player. Someone who “enjoys really thinking out moves and plays to make sure they picked the right one.” The player also has the “classic new player fear of doing it wrong.” “The new player part is not what I’m worried about. I […]
Continue readingLast night I could only stand there and shake my head in disbelief. I saw them destroy not one, but two unique, custom treasures I had made for specific players. The first was a quartz horse. Chipped and scarred from abuse, the item does not look like much. But press a button on its base […]
Continue readingLast week I talked about listening to my players better. It turns out listening is HARD. I GM’d last Friday and here’s how it turned out. First, a recap of my GM Quests for the session: Hooks: Get at least one hook from each player from something they mention during the game Excitement: Note at […]
Continue readingA while ago I switched my campaigns to milestone XP. You can take this approach with non-D&D games too, if it’s not already baked in. And today I wanted to give you an update on how that’s going. Whether you realize it or not, the reward systems you use have heavy impact on player and […]
Continue readingDid you know I collect world views? Weird, I know. A world view is the lens through which a person sees. It’s how they interpret what they experience. For example, I found an article with accompanying infographic on how the wealthy view the world differently than people in poverty. One world view difference is food. […]
Continue readingI live in Alberta Canada, so I had turkey day back in October (though my wife says I’m a turkey every day). However, any reason to be thankful is a good reason. So, taking advantage of the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, I’d like to say thanks to my players because… Thanks to “Still the New Guy” […]
Continue readingA good friend asked me this the other day: “All players are starting out at level 1. Now, one player dislikes playing his character and wants to start another character. He is asking to carry over his XP to the new character. “I dislike this option (which might be due this player’s actions and way […]
Continue readingRPT reader Scotty B. asked me for tips on how to run two parties in the same campaign. He wants two different groups of PCs to be in the same game world at the same time to set up an epic good & evil plot. With his permission, I’ve provided you with his campaign premise. […]
Continue readingHola %FIRSTNAME% How do you find players and GMs to game with nowadays? Years ago I wrote a book on the topic called How To Find Gamers: Filling The Empty Chair. I’ve decided to make it free now and ask for help in updating the links of places where you can recruit gamers. What’s In […]
Continue readingHola %FIRSTNAME% Nick V. wrote in with this great tip about session pacing and letting players revel in their own glory: Studying for TV writing taught me a lot about narrative structure. I learned that balancing fast-paced, action-packed scenes with more relaxed, role or plot-oriented ones is critical in maintaining a good flow. The rhythm […]
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