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Instant Puzzles: Give NPCs Secret Codes

We got to talking about living graffiti on the Discord and @ØCÇÜL? STOÒL shared this great idea: If you can’t see the image above, the message in part reads: I always pictured Druidic hobo signs to be a thing, like most folks that saw branches growing in a strange pattern might notice but someone proficient in Druidic […]

The Skull In The Tree

I was chatting with @Kodia Tomekeeper in the #tiny-prep-daily channel. She’s embedding a skull in a tree in her campaign. That reminded me of faces carved into certain trees in some campgrounds around here. They look amazing. Faces are powerful. They symbolize and communicate. My favourite example would be the Magic Mouth spell. A friend […]

It’s on Fire!

Last week a field across the street burned. A copse of trees also caught fire. A farmer — Kevin, a friend from volleyball — hopped onto his tiller and started turning the soil up to slow the blaze down. And fire trucks were cycling at the nearest hydrant and making ranged attack rolls against the […]

A Great Way To Design Hazards

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #882 You could slice-and-dice hazards a number of ways, pun intended. However, you might benefit by taking a step back and thinking about their game purpose and choosing them that way. Hazards have three cool combat and action scene effects: danger, senses, and movement. Add Danger Make encounters more lethal with hazards […]

Do Puzzles as Barriers Suck?

Hujambo Johnn! I received these great comments from RPT GM Jay about puzzles: I recently read something (I don’t think it was you, but I don’t remember 100%) giving a scathing take on using puzzles as barriers rather than the much simpler (and possibly more effective) lock-and-key. I had just made an abandoned wizard tower […]

Mungo’s Crystal Vault

Wizard of Adventure mungo9494 shared this idea on the RPT Discord about a secure vault to thwart his players: I made a bank security system for my players to heist and thought it might serve some use for y’all as well. Outside the city walls is a mine whose location is a well-kept secret. Peculiar […]

From Parchment to Potions: d12 DIY Prop Ideas

Physical, tangible, visceral props surprise and delight our players, and never fail to engage them. Here’s a fantastic example from Wizard of Adventure Carol: One of the coolest props ever was in a game my daughter is running. She gave my wizard a spell book that was locked with a code. Then she gave me […]

Poisonous Ideas for Plots, Encounters & World-Building

I was chatting with moderator @ExileInParadise on the Roleplaying Tips Discord about how poison can inspire toxic challenges and venomous adventures. Poison is any substance that causes harm to an organism. It basically attacks a single biological process and takes it out. There’s often a spot in the rule book for how to handle poison […]

Turn Pit Traps from Pit Stops to Pit Tales

I have a sinking feeling that today’s tips might involve some puns. Don’t fall for them though! I’m going to drop a bunch of ideas to help change a classic trap from filler into great gameplay. No More Pit Bull I like pit traps. They work in any genre. They’re simple. Almost any foe can […]

A Game Of Clues

Clues My family LOVES hidden object games. We’ve got PC games and iPad games. I’ve got several cool hidden object books on my shelf. And for Christmas, my wife is getting a hidden object jigsaw puzzle. While I don’t use hidden object games as session props (though if I did, I’d make the PCs quest […]

Why Players Get Bored With Our GMing (But Might Be Afraid To Tell Us)

Why Players Get Bored With Our GMing (But Might Be Afraid To Tell Us) As a player who gets bored easily (thus I am a forever-GM :), here are three reasons based on my experiences why a GM can lose player attention and participation in a game. Hopefully these tips help keep your table engaged. […]

My Secret Ingredient For Making Great Puzzles

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1204 A Brief Word From Johnn Think too small and think too big. We’ve got a critter making a nest under our deck. We can’t see it because it’s found a good crack to inhabit. But we can hear it. It’s chewing something. Leaves maybe. Paper perhaps. The bones of some poor […]

A Village Name That’s a Funny Puzzle

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0705 Here’s a funny, simple puzzle for your game. My mom is reading a book called The Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman. In it there’s a place called Saint Ophere. Turns out the place was named because someone long ago misread a sign. The sign read: Stop here Stop here […]

Make Monster Parts Puzzles For Your Adventures

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1103 Over at my Campaign Community forum, Doug the Winter shares a great campaign war story. And in that story lies a fantastic tip: use monster parts as puzzle pieces. Here’s a snippet of his story: The Situation The group has been stuck in the feywild due to an ongoing feud with […]

Beat Dungeon Slumps With Dungeon Sumps

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1099 The first issue of 5 Room Dungeons Zine features underwater gameplay in a location you would not expect to have to swim or fight. Part of the reason I made this unusual environment the 5RD’s Feature Location is to challenge your players to master the underwater rules. When your group learns […]

30 Ways To Deliver Clever Clues

Roleplaying 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 […]

This Fantastic Keyword Puzzle

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #1077 You stand before a door. Magic seals it tight. Runes begin to glow. They read: Door is closed Beneath this phrase, more runes appear: water – angry – open – window – soft I found this cool puzzle on Reddit. Here’s how it works. Characters can swap closed with a word […]

What’s A Hazard? What’s A Trap?

What’s the difference between a trap and a hazard.This question was on my mind while working on a new Dungeon Generator for Campaign

A Nice Tip On Adventure Puzzles

Roleplaying Tips Newsletter #0963 When I first started GMing I used the kind of puzzles that seemed arbitrary and quirky. After a few years these began ruining the fun because they became too out-of-place and broke our sense of disbelief. Now don’t get me wrong. A chess board puzzle that zaps you for stepping on […]