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Pcs Versus Everything

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0706 Pcs Versus Everything The picture above is hex biscuits my wife Alana made last night to go with chilli. A pretty awesome surprise. Thanks wife! The daily writing continues to go well. Even better, I’m getting positive feedback on the shorter emails I’ve been testing out. It’s a joy writing them, […]

The Potion Factory for Fun Faction Finagling

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0724 The Potion Factory for Fun Faction Finagling On theme with this month’s RPG Blog Carnival, here’s an idea for arming your next faction without destroying campaign balance. We began my Murder Hobos campaign as a playtest of the D&D 5E rules using the adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver included in the […]

Add Corruption To Your World

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1107 I was reading a Dungeon World worldbook for Star Wars the other day and there was a section on corruption that caught my eye. I often plan corruption within plots and factions, but I have not thought of it in world building terms before. So I did a bit of research. […]

Monster Backstories

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0805 In response to my skyfall challenge a few weeks ago, I received a great email from RPT reader Roger B about a wyvern foe from his campaign: Johnn, I started a campaign a number of years ago where a wyvern in the area was a challenge for the local communities. It […]

The Backstory Reversal Maneuvre

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0786 I previously cautioned you against writing too much campaign backstory because I have wound up on game day more than once with a lot of words in my GM binder and no game plan. However, here’s a way to have both. I do love a good backstory. It’s like testing new […]

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

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0794 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 […]

4 Tips For Better Secrets

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0806 An anonymous reader wrote in response to my recent Musings on How to Tell a Secret. They had a few great pointers on secret-telling. I know I’ve been the victim of #3 several times, so these are good tips to keep in mind. 4 Tips For Better Secrets Hi Johnn, One […]

Cheesecake Stakes

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0828 My favourite Blizzard from Dairy Queen is strawberry cheesecake. Sweet berry flavour with soft-serve ice cream lovingly delivered to my screaming taste buds on a red spoon. It’s my fave because of the soft, chewy chunks suspended in the dessert. In a salad, they’d just be croutons. But in a Blizzard, […]

How To Create Your Own Plot Factory, Part IV

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0837 In this final part of the Plot Factory series, we confront a major problem some GMs have. So far we have solved two of our Plot Factory requirements: A fast way to create short adventures A way to keep all your plots and details well-sorted Robust hooks for those plots so […]

How To Create Your Own Plot Factory, Part III

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0836 With 5 Room Dungeons as our core short-adventure building technique, we can introduce and intertwine multiple plots running at once in our campaigns. We do this so we put the odds in our favour that every session a climax or major milestone will trigger. This keeps our players engaged. And it […]

How To Create Your Own Plot Factory – Part II

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0835 We add more NPCS to your campaign to create more gameplay options and interesting situations (you don’t jealously cling to and railroad NPCs when you have a wonderful abundance of them). We should add more plots or storylines for the same reason. Imagine if every session a plot thread was about […]

How To Create Your Own Plot Factory – Part I

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0834 Unending plots become a grind. Encounter after encounter with no resolution or reward in sight causes players to lose enthusiasm. And when they lose their drive, game sessions fall off the wheels. When Players Sabotage Your Game For example, why roleplay hard to squeeze clues out of reluctant enemies when it’s […]

Myth Crafting in RPGs

There is a better way to give your games vibrant life and compelling conflicts for your gods and game world. Don’t describe them. Instead, give them a myth story.

World Story Meets RPG Story For Designing Better Adventures

A tip for you today about making your world feel dynamic and amping up your stories at the same time.

Easier Campaigns With A Storyline Mad Lib

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1092 I tweaked my approach to Loopy Planning. I had three problems: I’m GMing three campaigns. I need to keep each plot clear in my mind and not get things mixed up. Because I like factions and side plots, even for dungeon crawls, I have about 12 plots running in each campaign. […]

The Secret Ingredient For Great Campaigns

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1078 Give everything a secret. Sound advice from Ray Winninger’s “Dungeoncraft” column in Dragon Magazine in the late 1990s. When I read that advice it instantly clicked. Alas, it’s easier said than done. You know I like my plethora of NPCs, plots, and side plots. Ray also advised giving locations, items, and […]

Revealing More Information Is Like Making A Peanut Butter Sandwich

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1058 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 […]

Three Dumb GM Habits I Need To Break

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1056 I have three dumb GMing habits I have to break. I’ve even written about these before. But it’s good to have a reminder because they creep back into my games over time. Maybe you have these habits too? My Precious I hold too much information back. Imagine trekking across dangerous lands, […]

Crafting Intrigue Adventures — A Couple Of Quick Tips

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1055 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 […]

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