Category: GMing Advice

“Everything’s a reboot....

NPCs in your RPGs come in all shapes, sizes,...

Handwavium is a neat concept in fiction that can...

When your PCs reach the upper echelons of power, there is a fundamental shift in the kind of story you’re telling. So yes, if you want to send your PCs into dungeons, hunting for loot, or solving crimes, the characters are too powerful. The math does break. There aren’t any challenges. But that’s because at level 20, the question is no longer “will they succeed.” The question is “How will they succeed?” And also maybe a little, “Will they be able to live with themselves after?”

When forming a new group to play RPGs with,...

Paragons of an honorable code, antisocial loners forced to socialize, and gremlins looking to set the world on fire. When I started the Challenging the Tropes series, I thought it would be a fun examination of character types. I didn’t realize just how much it would teach me about improving the ways I run games and tell stories.