Deep World Building Using The Estates Method
A beloved RPG, Ars Magica, splits its setting into three estates: the Church, the Nobles, and the Commonfolk. Wizards are outcasts. Hunted, exiled, or slain for blasphemies and politics. Players run Magi in the Mythic Europe setting. Forced to hide and handle a delicate power balance between the three estates, play becomes strategic and deeper. […]
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Drawing Maps Based On Cultures
RPT GM Mike G sent me this tip about treasure, and a comment about building an alien culture: Regarding PCs getting anxious for treasure — if they are far from home, throw a big box of treasure in their lap. It need not be a giant statue — just something they cannot easily pocket. It […]
Continue readingGMing Gods, Demons And Immortals — RPT#488
How do you GM over-powered beings like demons and gods, and still give the players the sense of accomplishment and great memories that such encounters create?
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Factions Done Blades In The Dark Style
I’ve become a big fan of the way that Blades in the Dark handles world-building. Assign basic stats and create agendas tracked with progress clocks.
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What Do I Do When My Players Try To Rob A House?
I’ve got a DM question for you. What do I do when my players try to rob a house?
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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.
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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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Cut Away The Dross For Better Campaign Craft
How is your game going?I ask because many campaign problems seem complex, but you can often drill down to simplicity.
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Here’s A New Source Of Treasure For Your Campaigns
So I’m building a world.Because I’m so busy with work and projects these days, I’m letting the world come to me.
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The Difference An Overlay Makes
I’ve been following your tips for a while and they are damn awesome, so I thought I would chip in with a little something from my campaign.
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What I Learned While Creating My Latest Thieves’ Guild
How do you catch a unique bird?Unique up on it.How do you catch a tame bird?
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A Mad Lib For Random Festivals
Festivals create awesome backdrops for encounters. The crowds, the noise, the events…the chaos!
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World Conversion
Backers of my Demonplague Kickstarter are asking how to convert their setting to mine and vice versa. Here’s my recipe on how to convert an adventure to just about any setting.
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Top-Bottom-Up World Building
Today’s short tip is about taking a different approach to building your own world to host all your adventures in.
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Tips On How To Build Your Homebrew World As You Play it
Your game world has serious stakes. If your homebrew setting fails to inspire and facilitate the kinds of stories and adventures you want to play, it’s dead in the water.
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How Much World Do You Build?
The best part of chocolate chip cookies are the chocolate chips, right?
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How To Build Your Symbol Gallery For Easy Ideation
If a blank page blocks your muse, try staring at a blank world. Zoinks!I’m creating my new world of DuskFall. And to prevent getting stumped and overwhelmed, I’m taking a three-pronged approach.
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3 Line Culture: The Eglanzine
RPT GM Patrick Richert emailed me a 3 Line Culture he created, inspired by the recent sawfish Musing:
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Gold For XP?
I’ve been thinking about a gold-for-XP system for a campaign. At the end of each session, the value of loot (art, magic, coins, gems, and so on)
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Measure Campaign Progress So Players Can See It And Feel It
I’m grappling with something while planning my next season of Murder Hobos.
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Make Your World Unique (Realism Is Overrated)
RPT GM Tara sent me some cool world details. I thought her ideas were very creative and might make tiny examples of how you can make things unique and interesting for your setting.
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Building Encounters On The Fly
Roleplaying Tip GM Dario asks, “How do you create encounters on the fly? Do you just have the DM tables at hand, roll a d20 a few times and voilá? Or do you have a specific procedure?”
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Try This Reality-Changing Potion Next Game
Robert Anton Wilson, sometimes known as RAW, or “Bob” to his friends, wrote several pieces of non-fiction — his wikipedia page is large.
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d4 Reader Tips => Solo 5RDs, Sci-Fi Generator, Get Colourful, Hazard Risks
Here are some cool tips to pass along from your fellow game masters.
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