Clik here to view.
Setup for Success: Starting your Campaign on the Right Foot
There are few moments worse for a game master than, when running a lengthy campaign exploring the innate darkness of the human soul, one of the players announces that he has purchased chicken suits for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: The Case for Round-Robin GMing
Typical games have one game master, huddled behind a screen, forcing the players to dance to his tune. At first, this is great, because he has absolute power. After a while, though, the lone GM begins...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: How to Conduct a Round-robin Campaign
So, you’ve decided to run a round-robin campaign. You’re tired of being the only GM, or of another GM hogging the head of the table, and you’re ready to tell a cooperative story with your friends....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: How to Make Your Game Table Absolutely Miserable
There are plenty of articles about how to improve relationships at your game table, and to make things fun. What about when you want to take things in the other direction? Not everyone wants a fun...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Crafting dynamic battles and set piece encounters
Plenty has been written about why a GM should take greater care in arranging the battlefield. When it comes to how, though, ideas can be a bit thin on the ground. I, myself, often struggle to come up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: The case for binding characters together
Every real campaign starts out with four or five complete strangers meeting in a bar. Suddenly, they decide to band together for the rest of their lives. They now trust each other completely. Or, they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Varying Session Types
Many GMs view game sessions as having a standard format. Whatever works for the GM, they follow a typical equation: Some plot exposition, a certain number of combat encounters, one social encounter for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Picturing the game field
Close your eyes and picture a meadow. Got it? Okay, now, see that troll ten feet away from you? Oh, didn’t I mention him, or how close he was? Well, anyway, he’s about to be eaten by the dragon to your...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Should I Keep This Group or Player?
Much is made on forums about “Is this group right for me?” and “What should I do about this player?” These questions are not at all unique to the field of roleplay gaming. These are questions which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: How to be a Wonderful Player
This hobby sees individuals from all walks of life, with all sorts of social skills. Some people are decent players, seat fillers. Some players are fun individuals but fairly mediocre at the table....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: What do you do with your downtime?
The point of roleplaying is to vicariously experience incredible events and fantastic moments. Few people want to spend hours playing Cubicles and Deadlines, the game where you play as tax assessors...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Failure Through Experience
When you’ve been roleplaying for decades, it’s understandable that you may not be able to remember what it’s like to start out. It’s also understandable that you’ve got a plethora of habits you’ve...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: It’s okay not to play – Dealing with roleplay burnout
Hobbies are meant to be fun. Roleplaying is a hobby. Ergo, roleplaying is meant to be fun. This is important to remember, because so often, roleplaying ceases to be fun. Our schedules become so...
View ArticleClik here to view.
More Than Set Dressing: A System for Every Story
I have almost played Shadowrun four or five times. Like most of my initial exposure to RPGs, I was introduced to Shadowrun through its video game adaptation “Shadowrun Returns.” As I played the game...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Forget the Rules
Roleplay games are built around ideas and concepts. These ideas and concepts are solidified by rules and mechanics. Over time, people forget that they’re telling stories, and get bogged down in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Good Roleplay Habits
Habits happen. Sometimes they’re unintentional, and impact our tablemates like nails on a chalkboard. Other times, they’re carefully crafted to make sure we create enduring groups which function...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: How to Set an Appropriate Horror Atmosphere
It’s the end of October, and that means that people are thinking about how to be spooky. Many of us who play RPGs are trying to think up scary stories or settings to use as part of a Halloween...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: In Praise of the Monstrous
Monsters aren’t born; they’re made. No, that’s not right. Monsters ARE born. Orcs, goblins, kobolds, and the like are monsters because that’s specifically what we call their races. We even have books...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: The Hero’s Journey, why we use it, and alternatives
When we think about a roleplay campaign story, many of us picture an epic quest which spans a great distance and amount of time. Often we imagine interacting with many people and enemies, perhaps...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Using the Calendar
No matter what day it is, it’s always a normal day. Roleplaying tends to take place mostly in environments where there’s nothing unusual going on… except for the horrible trauma. What I mean is that we...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: DM and Campaign – Still a better love story
Writers tend to be a very specific breed. We have certain things we really like, things we are comfortable and familiar with, and we like to stick to them. When we write, we aren’t just spewing words...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Bracing Yourself for the Story You Want to Tell
So very often, we GMs get a special idea in our head. “This time,” we think to ourselves, “I want to really wow my players with a new type of game, something I’ve never run before.” Maybe we watched a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Make Your Games, and Villains, Personal
The best thing a GM can do for a campaign is to make it personal for the players. When players feel attached to a story, and especially when they feel personally responsible for much of its creation,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Beards Are Important
A fundamental part of being a human being is the time spent doing mundane things. When was the last time your campaign included day to day activities? Today we will be talking about how and why to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Tea Time
Societies have unique traditions and behaviors. Bringing these practices into your game can help your cultures feel different and alive. A human tribe who partakes in brutal ritualized hunts is going...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: Dealing With Death
People die. In a life of survival, in a violent world, everyone’s number comes up sooner or later. The question isn’t when we will die, but how; in what manner, in what place, for what cause. Loss can...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: The Tribe
Today we will be talking about how the concept of the Tribe can impact your games, and how to use it effectively. As humans, we are primed to need to be in a group. Groups provide us with security,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: A Look at the Murder Hobo Mentality
A character who kills everyone they meet can be a source of frustration for many GMs. Quite often, we hear GMs lamenting the fact that their party has turned into a pack of “murder hobos,” homeless...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Setup for Success: The Point of it All
When you plan a campaign, there are two considerations to make before anything else: What’s the point, and who’s the audience? What’s the point? Consider carefully: What is the purpose of your...
View Article