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You are here: Home / Archives for gming advice

The Index Card Method Codex, Part 2

April 22, 2015 by The Chatty DM

A stack is a great inspiration tool when you’re looking for what happens next, especially when you run a no-prep style game. When you’re thinking about what comes next in play, just pick up your stack and go through it. You might find something that inspires a whole scene, especially if you keep up-to-date notes.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, D&D, dungeon world, GM, GMing, gming advice, Gming tools

The Index Card Method Codex, Part 1

April 20, 2015 by The Chatty DM

I’ve been using index cards as a GMing tool a lot this last year. In July, I posted about using them to create adventures in your downtime. I’ve since found new uses for them and brought everything together in this post.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Campaign Logs, Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, D&D, dungeon world, GM, GMing, gming advice, Gming tools

“13th Age” Musings: Running Non-Combat PC vs. NPC Scenes

December 20, 2013 by The Chatty DM

Specifically for my needs, 13th Age does not have an obvious way to emulate “duel of wits.” I’m aware I could just “roleplay” them or make use of the generic difficulty ratings and “failing forward” concepts. In spite of that, I still felt like something’s missing from my 13th Age GMing toolbox.

Filed Under: Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, Game Hacks & Content, gming advice, hacking

Chatty’s Adventure Scaffold #1 : Words with Fiends

April 20, 2011 by The Chatty DM

Where Chatty makes his triumphant return by being all cryptic about what he did these last few weeks. At least, you’ll get a cool adventure plan for your reading troubles.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: adventure design, Adventure Plan, Adventure Scaffold, gming advice, Mouseburning, old school

Pain of Campaigning: Rotating GMs

April 14, 2011 by The Main Event

Dave and I always joked about our gaming white whale: The Supers Game. It’s not that running a superhero game was impossible, it was just that, for us, it had never gelled. Enter Gencon 2010 and my purchase of DC Adventures. I had a system, and I had player interest (though just barely); I even had a weeknight that would work, but I had one problem:

I wanted to play the damn game, not just run it.

Filed Under: Pain of Publication, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: dc adventures, DC Universe, gming advice, Super Heroes, Supers

How Do You Turn a GM Off the Tracks Onto a Dirt Road?

November 22, 2010 by guest

As part of running Roleplaying Tips, I often receive questions about common gaming problems. One reader sent me this question recently, which might have come up in your gaming group: “How do you wean a GM off of a cinematic/railroad style?”

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Inquisition of the Week, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: gming advice, railroading

The Guest DM

July 23, 2010 by The Main Event

Occasionally, DMs need a break. In long-running highly developed game worlds players may find that there are parts of the campaign or the world that they are particular interested in. If they notice that the DM needs a break, but is still is gung-ho about his game, this presents a golden opportunity. Running a single adventure in the regular DM’s game world is an unusual break for him and a change of place for the players.

Filed Under: Pain of Publication, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: DM advice, gming advice, star wars

About the Author

  • The Chatty DM

    The Chatty DM is the "nom de plume" of gamer geek Philippe-Antoine Menard. He has been a GM for over 40 years. An award-winning RPG blogger, game designer, and scriptwriter at Ubisoft. He squats a corner of Critical Hits he affectionately calls "Musings of the Chatty DM." (Email Phil or follow him on Twitter.)

    Email: chattydm@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//category/chattydm/

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