Last night, I found a note written in my own handwriting that I didn’t remember writing. It said only “HE WAS VERY BAD.” Do I simply have a bad memory, or is something more sinister afoot? Has something sinister happened that I simply forgot about? Is Bigfoot involved? Read on, and share the constant nightmare that has become my life.
The Stay-At-Home Adventurer
Yesterday marked the beginning of my third week of unemployment. While the stress of my previous job is no longer an issue, I am faced with a whole new host of things to worry about. The first is, obviously, trying to find a new job. There’s lots of things to get done around the house, so it’s not as if I have a lack of things to do. Getting them done with a 3 year old who has no regard for his own personal safety (much less the well-being and structural integrity of his parents’ belongings, the furniture, or even the house) significantly raises the challenge rating on keeping my sanity. So I started thinking about what a campaign would be like if the PCs never went anywhere and the adventure came to them. I bet it’d be more exciting than Super Why.
Dear Mom & Dad: Please Send GP
College is a special time in every PC’s life. They’re learning new things, they feel more free than they’ve ever been, their hormones are raging, and their backstories are finally blossoming. Just make sure yours uses protection.
Splitting Shadows
This past week, I decided to pretend I was J.J. Abrams in the final season of Lost and concocted a reason for all the mysterious events and shadowy nether-business in my campaign. Since the PCs were trapped in some horrifyingly evil prison demiplane, I decided an appropriately evil thing should be trying to make everything worse. But I was still stuck. Then reality splintered all over the place. It takes a really good vacuum to get reality out of a carpet.
Proper Villainy: The Crockpot Of The Damned
This week we discuss some good practical evil you can do in your own backyard. Proper villains use fear, uncertainty, and doubt to ply their dark craft and cement their power over the helpless. Learn from the dark example of the mac daddy of interstellar villainy, Lord Vader. Dude can make a serious bowl of evil gumbo.
Proper Villainy
Villains add a great element to a campaign: an opposing force that the players can invest themselves in fighting against. But what exactly makes a good villain? Let’s take a little trip down a road paved with good intentions.
It’s Got Electrolytes
One problem I keep running into with my campaign is that I have tunnel vision. I see the story, I see the characters, I see the players, and I have a tendency not to think about the existence of other things without some effort. One major side effect of this is that we’re 5 sessions in and nobody has received any loot. We also don’t use XP in my campaign. I think my players are getting antsy. I’m worried they might snap and hold me for ransom if I don’t figure out how to reward them somehow. If I suddenly stop tweeting one day, don’t wait. Call the cops.
The Creme Filling Of The DM Soul
In which I ignore good advice, accept better advice, accidentally stumble into great adventure, and achieve my heart’s desire. If you’re a cinnamon roll aficionado and this is making you hungry, then this post is probably going to disappoint. Only I can eat my words. Shame they don’t taste like cinnamon rolls.
Funny Pants of Omnipotence: The Metaphor Overstays Its Welcome
After last week’s existential crisis, I take a look at some of the difficulties I face in coming up with the right plot framework for my campaign, and realize for the 74,343rd time that I have difficulties being serious.
Innocence Lost: The Price of Omnipotence
In which Vanir opens the Pandora’s Box of gaming, and learns things he cannot un-know. In which the Infinite Improbability Drive of D&D can let a DM both cheat and not cheat simultaneously. In which redemption is sought,
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