This post bring together all the articles I wrote about Robin Laws of Good Game Mastering from January 2008 to July 2009. For those who haven’t heard or seen it, this book, published in 1999, gives advice on being a Game Master (irrespective of game systems). The series was aimed at revisiting it in the […]
Robin Laws Revisited, Part 9: Conclusions (His and Mine)
Back in January 2008, I purchased a PDF called Robin Laws’ of Good Game Mastering over at the Steve Jackson Games’ PDF store. I had heard of that book from many GMs and I had seen it at my favorite game store. More importantly however, I had recently read (and been blown away by) his […]
It’s a Circus out here!
To say that I’m busy would be a gross understatement. I’m slowly getting accustomed to working full time after 5 months of sick-leave. However, my freelance to do list starts here and ends up somewhere behind Saturn… or so it seems to me. Here’s a little sample: Build the One Page Dungeon PDF with Chgowhiz. […]
Robin Laws’ Revisited, Part 8: Improvising
After 5 days of starting a post and then trashing it, I decided to look at my unfinished projects to see what I could focus on to kill my latest white page syndrome. When I picked up my very creased stapled copy of Robin Laws’ book, I noticed that it was opened at the last […]
Tales of the City Within, Session 2, Part 2
See part 1 here. A History Lesson from Beyond the Grave The PCs got their info-dump dose from the Dwarf Lich. The city’s founder explained that the recent discovery of the techniques to manipulate the energies of the Dungeon and the Nexus would enable the PCs to take the fight directly to the Dungeon and […]
Tales of the City Within, Session 2, Part 1
Last Friday we sat down for another session of our Summer mini-campaign set in our homegrown setting of the City Within the Dungeon. See the reports of the last session here and here. The Myth Debunked. Franky: “Phil, based on some comments we’ve read, many of your readers seem to think that we’re this kind […]
4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PVP D&D Podcast, Part 2
In part 1, I discussed common D&D 4e mistakes, taking examples from the excellent D&D podcast featuring the guys from Penny Arcade, Scott from PVP and that wonderboy who used to play in that Sci-Fi show. Today I want to look at how the two Dungeon Masters, Chris Perkins and James Wyatt, were DMing. The […]
4e Lessons: The Penny Arcade/PVP D&D Podcast, Part 1
I’m almost done listening to the Penny Arcade/PVP D&D podcast (which I enjoy immensely) and it makes me realize just how many good D&D 4e lessons are in there. The numerous play mistakes made by the inexperienced players, while annoying to anal retentive rules freaks like me, probably reveal a lot about the parts of […]
Friday Chat: Dealing with Aggressive/Jerk Players
A few weeks ago I got a very interesting letter. I joined my past 2 live tabletop campaigns as a new player joining a pre-established group of players for a new campaign. In both, I’ve encountered a particularly nasty type of player that has caused no end of strife and grief, as follows: 1. Their […]
Tales of the City Within: Session 1, Part 2
See part 1 here. (After writing part 1, I realized that I got the order of how each of the four plots were introduced wrong. Instead of correcting it, I’ll adjust the tale accordingly. Let’s just assume that the PCs convinced the Drow to give them a few hours’ respite). When the PCs, standing on […]
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