Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1207 By Jonathan Hardin, sojournersawake.com [Comment from Johnn: this is part two of a series Jonathan started here with How to Hook Players Easily Into Your Adventures.] The Power of a Motive Begin your game by highlighting why the player characters choose to adventure. Is it for glory and fame? Wealth and […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1187 Brief Word From Johnn Today I’ve got some great ideas for when we hand out too much treasure and game balance goes sideways a bit. And in the Reader Tips section at the end, I’ve got a 5 Room Dungeon and Campaign Puzzle tip for you. One thing in the 5 […]
Continue readingFrom Jonathan Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1184 Siema Johnn! In todays’ Roleplaying Tips Newsletter, I’ve got the following GM tips for you: 3 Simple Ways to Enhance Your Magic Items How can we spruce up magic items so they aren’t boring +1 shields? Jonathan Hardin (sojournersawake.com) shows us how via three quick changes we can make […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1154 I remember getting caught with my pants down running Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. One player had magic claws that could chew through six feet of rock each round. When the party finally made their way to the villain’s lair, they bypassed an entire page devoted to the magic barriers, traps, and […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0879 We’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 […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0877 Here’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 […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0978 RPT GM Tom G asks: I would like to know how my fellow GMs battle dungeon fatigue. I have no difficulties making the entry, the story of the dungeon and the first couple of rooms interesting. But after a while it all bogs down to left, right, or straight ahead. Any […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0922 Saw a great tip on Twitter from Mike Shea the other day: Adding a daily spell to a magic itemis a great way to make it boththematic and mechanically useful. This is an awesome method to customize and enhance treasure. You could also surprise players with cool boons like this. The […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0747 I needed some minor mundane and magical treasures for my next DemonPlague game. So I made some and am sharing a few with you today. The party has a wizard, warrior, cleric, druid, and rogue in it. The first thing I did was make a table and a column for each […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0760 Cool Idea: Skill Treasures Here’s a simple way to make awesome magic items customised for your players. The idea occurred to me the other day, and I don’t know why I haven’t thought of it before. I’ll outline the recipe in three steps because I loves me my GMing recipes. 🙂 […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0712 An 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 […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0708 I had a D&D dream last night. I love it when I dream about games, but it happens so rarely. This dream was about a magic tome. It’s a cool enough idea I will be using with modification on the Murder Hobos. As always, the dream was weird and scattered. I’ll […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #0713 Last 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 […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1105 A 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 […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1097 RPT GM K. asked me a question about rewards in sandbox games: Hi Johnn, I’ve been running an (in my opinion) fairly successful West Marches/Open Table game for several months now. I’ve accumulated a dedicated set of players and run at least one game per week, and so far it’s good […]
Continue readingA tip for you today about making your world feel dynamic and amping up your stories at the same time.
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1093 You know how you want to give players clues in clever ways in-game without just blurting them out? The opportunity is there. The need is there. But nothing comes to mind. Then the moment passes and you move on, a bit disappointed, sometimes frustrated. “If only I could have thought of […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1070 At a previous job my employer would take daily attendance. Yup. It was like being back in grade school, and I think that’s what the employer thought of its employees too — unruly things that must be controlled. When I see GMs award XP for attendance, it hearkens me back to […]
Continue readingRoleplaying Tips Newsletter #1060 I created a coinage system for Duskfall last week and did three things to make money special. Today I’ll share what these are for you to consider using in your worlds. These tips are inspired by NOD #1 (Amazon affiliate link, Lulu link, blog link) where there’s a short article on […]
Continue readingBeen getting many emails where frustrated game masters want roleplay and storybuilding but players just wanna hurt stuff.
Continue readingSo I’m building a world.Because I’m so busy with work and projects these days, I’m letting the world come to me.
Continue readingAwhile 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.
Continue readingI played RPG Bingo at IntrigueCon.We were given bingo cards listing common convention and gaming clichés.
Continue readingRPT GM Michael Shean-Jones wrote in with a cool idea about handling rewards.
Continue readingOn Friday I mused about using gold pieces from treasure as experience points. My inbox exploded. Dozens of you wrote in.
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