Just when you thought that the idea of a session zero wasn’t nerdy enough, along I come to show you how I recently upped the nerd-ante, hopefully to my benefit, the benefit of my players, and the game as a whole. If you are not familiar with the concept of session zero, it is basically a session...
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I wanted to share my experience running micro-sessions — all under and hour — for my two teen sons. I’m using the d20 Modern system, or at least a bare bones version of it. Everyone at the table has mastered this rules set, which is something to keep in mind if you wish to mimic the experience....
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What is the ideal number of players to have at your table for any given game? Is it three? Four? Five? EIGHT?!? Ask a dozen GMs and you’ll probably get a dozen slightly different answers. Recently, I was checking my events for an upcoming con and noticed the player limit was five. I panicked...
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Recently I was playtesting a new game with the designers and some friends. The game is a cyberpunk dystopia (my jam) and we were playing teenagers. I had just been dissed (people still say that, right?), and I told the GM, “I am going on future Twitter to rant about this.” Everyone at the table...
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Podcaster, game designer, and professional GM Daniel Kwan breaks down how to become a GM-for-hire in his latest editorial.
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Tactical RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, Savage Worlds, and the AGE family of games (Blue Rose, Dragon Age, and the upcoming The Expanse RPG) offer an experience completely unlike more story-based games. While they can certainly contain any amount of intrigue, tense character moments, and plots as...
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There are a lot of areas that are a part of the Airy Peaks, twenty-three last time I counted but I might have lost some and added some along the way that I’m forgetting about. These aren’t twenty-three rooms — they are twenty-four adventure locations. It’s intended to be a massive place and I...
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A number of years ago, I decided to try something bold with a campaign of the Kult horror RPG that I was about to run. I wanted to play around with past lives and the theme of duality, so I decided to run a campaign with two story lines that would eventually merge into one. I had the players...
Read More Last time I introduced the Airy Peaks, talked about the premise of this megadungeon, and the way I found to have a successful campaign around a megadungeon that lasted. Check that out here:Welcome to the Airy Peaks. Today I want to dive into the Dragon’s Plot and how that can help inform the story...
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Are visual aids a must-have element in your TTRPG sessions? Professional GM Daniel H. Kwan breaks down his favourite tool for creating dynamic and engaging stories!
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