Today I’m going to delve a bit into world building. I can see some readers checking out already because they run a pre-published setting like Forgotten Realms or Eberron. Don’t give up on me just yet. This article applies to all GMs, even those running someone else’s material....
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I believe anyone would agree that the right kind of music can improve any given situation. However I find that it’s done too similarly to video games; scenes and situations are given one song to codify them. That sort is often insufficient and distracting in tabletops as is, but scenes are...
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I’ve seen some recent discussion online regarding rules that constrain and inform how game moderators modify ongoing narratives in games, and this made me think about why I like GM currencies. In many cases, these narrative changing rules default back to some kind of GM currency, either by...
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In the early days of published adventures, quite a few dungeon features were used in a clever* manner to add confusion to the mix. This confusion was largely placed on the shoulders of the players, especially those that tried to create a player map to track where the party had been and where they...
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Over the last few years, my gaming group has gotten really good at something… finishing campaigns. We have over the last two years and four campaigns been able to bring our campaigns to a satisfying conclusion before moving to the next game. This is in contrast with nearly all my past...
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With the start of the new year, some folks are starting to think about processing and paying their taxes for the previous year. I’m certainly one of them since I have more complex taxes than the Average Joe. Deductions. Expenses. 1099 income. W2 income. So on and so forth…. Another...
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“Are you sure?” “It’s going to be a high DC.” *Rolls dice behind the screen* If you’ve played tabletops to any degree you’re aware of these /things/ that gamemasters do. Some refer to them as ‘GM moves’ or just ‘things GMs do’ but,...
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As a long-time game master, I have pondered the reasons why some campaigns work over the long-term (and why some campaigns never get off the ground). There are the usual subjects – good game content, adequate prep, interesting players, and so on – but none of these really address how a...
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This article was jointly written by Senda Linaugh and Wen Reischl. It’s a story we all know. The Popular Girl with a wellspring of opportunity before her (Stacie) meets the Troublemaker with the heart of gold (Harrison). He’s already head over heels in love with her when the...
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In nearly every way you can gauge how a campaign is going, my Things From The Flood game was knocking it out of the park. The story was gripping and grim, the players were dialed into their characters (the grown-up kids from my Tales From The Loop game). Our sessions were intense. We were dealing...
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