For long-running campaigns, quite a few GMs will provide a document that ranges from one page to several pages to set the stage for the players. I think these types of documents are vital for a good session zero to take place. However, I’m not here to talk about those longer documents....
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Compared to the one-shot life of the Japanese TRPG scene, most western roleplaying games focus around the concept of ‘campaigns.’ As you’re more than aware of, campaigns are multi-session games of indeterminate length where you and your buddies could feasibly keep adventuring for...
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Occasionally as GM, you’ll be running a game and expect the players to make a quick decision to get on with the adventure. But, all of a sudden, you’ll be facing a dilemma that many GMs before have faced. The players have fixated on a detail you hadn’t considered or thought was inconsequential....
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Player: Okay, we know the cult got their unformatted ‘God Goo’ from some god that was killed. Can I make an arcana roll to figure out which one it might be? Me: No. Player: Wait, what? Me: No, you can’t just roll, but you can research it. You can look through anything on the...
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I have always been interested in different types of RPGs ever since I learned about Top Secret after buying my 1e Player’s Handbook. Over the years, I have played all kinds of RPGs. In the last decade, I have been heavily into Indie games, over more traditional RPGs. Lately, I looked at the games...
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How do you run better games? You deliver more immersive stories. The Recipe Rising Tension Invoking a Variety of the Five Senses A Risk Worth Putting It All on the Line For Delegating to the Dice In the time honored tradition of tabletop role-playing games, the outcomes of...
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I think this article is more geared as “player advice,” but I think GMs should pay attention as well. There are many ways to hook a character into the plot line of the story during session zero. Hooks Ties to locations, NPCs, and the other PCs make sure the PC is...
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I don’t like sandboxes. Sand is coarse and rough and irritating — and it gets everywhere. Oh wait. Wrong kind of sand. I hear those unfamiliar with the term asking, “But Ang, what is a sandbox game?” A sandbox game is one in which the GM has created a world that the players are allowed to explore...
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As followers of my posts know, I wrapped up a long-running D&D campaign recently. I’m already thinking ahead to what challenges and quests I can throw at those same “retired” characters by fast forwarding ten or twenty years into the future if and when we pick those...
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A party at the palace. A meeting of the ruling council of a secret cabal. A tense negotiation between leaders. There are many situations in which game masters can find themselves having to play multiple NPCs during the same scene. These scenes can often prove challenging as the GM has to switch...
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