Do you want to know what one of the key differences is between a bad campaign and a good one? It’s not a particularly well-kept secret, mind you. In fact, there are dozens of gaming blogs that will tell you about it in a dozen of different ways. In technical terms though, the difference between a good campaign and a bad one, is that in [Read the article]
“In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.” This quote paints the far-future setting of Warhammer 40k as a bleak and dismal world. The fate of mankind is a constant struggle for survival in a perilous universe that only cares to see you killed. Combats are fast and furious, and those who do not act, die. It is with this humbling and [Read the article]
There are plenty of issues out there that divide people – be it race, religion, politics or sexuality. We all have our own beliefs and experiences with these subjects. They have shaped our ideals and are part of our identity. It is only natural that something so intrinsically personal has been the cause of wars throughout history. We want to defend what is important to us. [Read the article]
Welcome back to our Playing with FATE series. Being the GM of any game definitely has it’s rewards, but it also has it’s challenges. A big part of those challenges includes working those creative muscles – specifically envisioning, designing, and implementing adversaries for your group. Sure, this can also be a reward, which is why I’m enjoying writing this particular post. Today, I’m going to [Read the article]
The Id DM examines the “snake-like” behavior of players that cheat in roleplaying games, and provides suggestions for preventing cheating at the table.
I love Doctor Who quite a bit. It provides elements of fantasy, science fiction, adventure, humor and historical fiction in an almost hap-hazardously creative fashion. I also like to blend many of these genres into my Dungeons and Dragons home campaign. When one of my players approached me, saying that he wanted his new character in the campaign to be The Doctor, I assumed he meant that the character [Read the article]
You may have read some recent talk about using themes to fill some gaps in 4e. If you haven’t, head over to Loremaster.org to read Matt James’ take on Themes as a way to multi-class and make valuable race options. Then check out Robert Schwalb’s Response. [Edit: It seems Ryven Cedrylle started talking about this as early as 2/18/11. I missed those articles, but they’re [Read the article]
As you’ve probably noticed, our gaming group’s preferred incarnation of the FATE system is Strands of Fate. SoF resembles other Fate games in many respects, but differs in its approach in a couple of ways, ways that I feel improve the Fate experience. Author’s Note: For a comparison of differences, click here. For me, the difference that really sets SoF apart from it’s contemporaries is [Read the article]
I’ve never thought of myself as an “Old School” gamer. I’m not nearly old enough to qualify. What I have been doing is following their blogs, puzzling out for myself what it is about the new-school that seems to offend. . . and why so much of what they have to say makes an odd kind of sense. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I [Read the article]
Step 1 – Don’t Prepare Now, I know you’re busy with work or school or kids, so you don’t always have time to prepare for your sessions. That’s okay because it’s your first step to running a great improv session. Remember, the less you actually prepare, the better off you will be. Now, I’m not saying don’t prepare anything; create monsters or NPCs or dungeons [Read the article]