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 […]
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 […]
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 Storytellers
In my discussions with several readers and friends, I noticed that many RPG group are divided into two broad categories of gamers. One one side you have your min/maxed, Butt kicking power gamers who are on the lookout for the next fight. On the other you have the psychodrama-loving story-starved players who only truly become […]
The 5×5 Method
When working on chapter 2 of my D&D 4e campaign (in the paragon tier, chapter 1 having encompassed the heroic tier), I kept running into roadblocks when trying to map out the next major arc. I had left a number of dangling plot threads that didn’t feel right to abandon (that the players were just getting into, as well) so changing gears majorly didn’t seem like the right thing to do. At the same time, I wanted to give the arc a bigger scope than the specific mission-based adventures that I had been sending them on, as well as giving them more freedom to roam about the world I had spent 9 levels introducing them to. I also wanted to let them take more direct control of where they wanted to go next, but still script things out enough to let me plan ahead (i.e. not go full-on sandbox quite yet).
Friday Chat: Do You Sprinkle Silliness in your Campaigns?
The Bloodbowl 4e post with the actual rules is taking longer than planned to finish and the Ennies application process deadline came and bit me in the a$$. Instead of posting part 4 of my Dungeon Reality Show this morning, I’m posting another of those Friday questions. I’ll post the DRS one as soon as […]
Friday Chat: Dealing with Instigators
About a year ago, I wrote about player types and motivations. It’s a subject that’s very near my DMing heart because I believe that the recipe of a good campaign lies in understanding your players and catering to their specific needs as much as you cater to yours in your game. Lately, I’ve been musing […]
Chatty Bits: Deadlands Ideas
(This discussion actually happened, I have edited some part to make it into a better story) As I was planning my bi-monthly game, my IM chat windows pops up. RFJ: Question for you Ô chatty one. Chatty: I’ll try to answer Ô (name censored for security purposes) RFJ: Many thanks. If you are a voodoo […]
Do You Throw Rocks in Your PC’s Puddle?
I was having lunch with a DM friend of mine. He was telling me how he was trying to steer his group in is Homebrewed campaign so that they would “spontaneously” decide to go see an Oracle and thus start the Forgotten Realms’ Sceptertower of Spellguard” Adventure. He told me how one of his players […]
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