Jan 052017
 
The GM is not a player, or is he?

It’s Throwback-Thursday, where we revisit an awesome article from years ago… You know the drill: A group of gamers get together, one’s a GM and the rest of us are players. The GM makes the monsters – we kill them. He makes the NPCs – we steal from them. He makes the traps – we get trapped by them. He designs the adventures – we [Read the article]

Jan 022017
 
Making Undead Scarier Part 1: Incorporeal Undead:  Ghosts, Shadows, Wraiths, & More

Ghosts. Shadows. Spectres. Wraiths. These incorporeal undead (and many more) are common threats found in many types of RPG games. Unfortunately, it’s far too easy for the GM to roleplay them in a simplistic manner, as simple monsters to vanquish, giving them no backstory or interest, and an opportunity for world building is lost. But by knowing their abilities and distinctions, as well as giving [Read the article]

Dec 012016
 
DMing Monsters: Animated Objects (Part 2)

Click to check out Part 1 here… Animated objects have been around forever with the flying rugs, levitating rope tricks, swords that swing themselves and the Golem portrayed in Jewish mythology. More recently there have been the story of Frankenstein’s monster to various self-animated robots and the castle staff in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” For the most part these have always been portrayed as [Read the article]

Nov 292016
 
DMing Monsters: Animated Objects (Part 1)

Animated objects have been around forever with the flying rugs, levitating rope tricks, swords that swing themselves and the Golem portrayed in Jewish mythology. More recently there have been the story of Frankenstein’s monster to various self-animated robots and the castle staff in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” For the most part these have always been portrayed as rampaging monsters or played off for comedy. [Read the article]

SHADOWRUN HACK OF SHADOWRUN (Downloads!)

 Posted by on October 28, 2016  Filed as: Better Gameplay?  1 Response »  Topic(s):
Oct 282016
 
SHADOWRUN HACK OF SHADOWRUN (Downloads!)

“This ever happen to you, chummer?  It’s 4 a.m. and you find yourself in front of the SoyFroYoGo machine (again), choosing between pink-blue and orange-yellow (tan? really?).  It must be the Stuffer Shack.  Suddenly, the door’s AR chimes, and behind you enters a trio of Halloweeners, armed with all manner of ballistic beat-down.  Your finger finds the trigger of the sawed-off shotgun beneath your coat.

Oct 102016
 
DMing Monsters: Plants, Slimes, Molds, Jellies, and Puddings!

Most DMs don’t have many encounters with plant monsters, slimes, molds, and puddings. They’re oftentimes relegated to things that players stumble into like traps, side quests, and areas of heavy overgrowth. With a few simple solutions, they can easily take the spotlight…

Less Map, More Play

 Posted by on October 3, 2016  Filed as: Better Gameplay?  2 Responses »  Topic(s):
Oct 032016
 
Less Map, More Play

Mapping out your campaign world and key locations can be a hassle, and that battle map that took hours to plot out might never get revisited.  Simpler maps work fine, are fast to make and get the creativity and improvisation juices flowing.  I’ll show you a few simple methods that will get you going in no time…

Sep 192016
 
Anticipation in your Games [mature]

Creating a sense of anticipation is a worthwhile technique no matter what genre or artistic vehicle you choose. However, this blog post is about erotic anticipation (I can get away with using the word “erotic” here because I haven’t gotten to the really sleazy parts yet). I’m talking about my own space opera RPG Alpha Blue, specifically. Although, any game can benefit from occasional titillation.

Combat Stunts for D&D Fifth Edition

 Posted by on September 7, 2016  Filed as: Better Gameplay?  1 Response »
Sep 072016
 
Combat Stunts for D&D Fifth Edition

Combat in D&D is an abstract affair. It has been this way since day one. And, probably since day two, there were those who preferred a more concrete, blow-by-blow, experience, and came up with various house rules for making combat more detailed. This isn’t just a figure of speech; the Perrin Conventions, for example, suggested 10-second rounds and rules for knockback and knockdown in 1978.

Dramatic Combat

 Posted by on August 29, 2016  Filed as: Better Gameplay?  1 Response »  Topic(s):
Aug 292016
 
Dramatic Combat

Wouldn’t it be the bee’s knees if you could run a game session without those pesky non-fun moments?  I think so.  Actually, I know so!  That’s why I laboriously reinvented that thing that was already invented, and put it into words that are my own!   You see, it took many decades of alchemy, wizardry, and drunken dumbery to create, no, to manifest this knowledge! “Well [Read the article]