Your party has been tracking down the dragon across the wilderness. Traveling over the plains took a long time. The forest was full of minions who harassed and ambushed you. Now, mountains loom ahead as you near the location of the creature’s lair. Blocking your way is a deep gorge you need to cross and you are running short on time. The wizard has assessed [Read the article]
There are a lot of RPG players – way more than Game Masters. So, it was high-time that I wrote a little something for those on the other side of the screen. Recently, I came out with a short PDF called Play Your Character like a Fucking Boss. It’s a follow-up to the successful How to Game Master like a Fucking Boss. In the spirit [Read the article]
“Hello, I’m your neurosurgeon, Doctor Michael Clauberg. Don’t worry, this won’t hurt—much!” It’s usually a bad idea to screw over the rest of your party, but, just sometimes, it’s awesome, possibly even necessary…
![Class-Based Character Backgrounds [part 1]](https://stuffershack.com/wp-content/uploads/thumb-cache/dungeons-dragons-tactics-20061220024839010_640w-300x300-a1722d6f3ede599a5bc9bd6f1b5d2329-200x200-75-nocrop.jpg)
It’s throwback-time, where we revisit an awesome article from years ago… In my last article, Character Connection = Player Satisfaction, I talked about hooks that connect the character and the player to the campaign. One of the three fundamental questions I suggested readers to ask themselves was, “Why did my character choose his class?” The answer to that question helps connect your character to the setting. [Read the article]
Olympus Inc., a modern day setting for Savage Worlds written by Gilbert Gallo and Charles White (produced by Fabled Environments), is a setting in which the world is controlled by shadow groups. These groups are very powerful, and exert their influence to further their own goals. Unlike most worldwide corporate conglomerates, however, this power does not simply come from significant wealth and connections. In Olympus [Read the article]
I’m currently engaged in my 10th Kickstarter campaign at the moment. It’s a project called Trinity of Awesome Returns! A lot of people have asked me about what all goes into my Kickstarters; like, how do you get from the initial idea (step A) all the way to fulfillment (step Z)? Well, as you can imagine from the space between the first and last letters [Read the article]
Shadowrun: Anarchy is the new, rules-light, narrative-focused, alternate ruleset for the world of Shadowrun (You can read my review Here). It allows GMs and players to get into the action and intrigue of Shadowrun much faster and to stay there much longer without reference to rules and charts and extensive calculations of Shadowrun 5th Ed. There are rules, however light, and every game with rules [Read the article]
In a recent review of CGL’s new Shadowrun: Anarchy, I pointed out that the cast of NPCs published therein were best used as inspiration for your own cast of NPC threats. There were issues with balance, utility, and playability that needed to be resolved before I pit them against my players. In this article, I submit to you the set of NPCs that I have [Read the article]
Liches 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 making them unique, giving them unfamiliar and difficult to destroy phylacteries, giving them unique places to find them, [Read the article]
It’s throwback-time, where we revisit an awesome article from years ago… I don’t think I’m being overly presumptuous when I say that most, if not all gamers want to play a great character. I’m not necessarily talking about playing some super powerful, mega bad-ass; I’m talking about a character that is something more than just a collection of stats and abilities running around doing stuff. [Read the article]