All Entries in the "DM Advice" Category
An Assassin, a Mystic and Two Nightbanes Walk Into a Bar
Role-playing campaigns often start in a bar, public house or other public meeting space. Players take turns describing their PC in general terms, sit at the bar and wait for the plot hook to sink in to their back and adventuring begins. There is nothing wrong with this, but it feels forced and artificial. [...]
Catastrophe: When Your RPG Campaign Starts Badly
“Nightbane” is my latest campaign and I got my players energized about the game. Everyone showed up ready to play and then it went horribly wrong. I claim partial credit for the calamity, but the system itself also contributed. Regardless of culpability, I write this post as a cautionary tale to those that come after. [...]
Dungeons and Dragons Essentially Covered – Adding the Egg
Welcome Enworlders! While you are here, take a look at the great contest we are running! First prize is a free copy of the Eoris role-playing game! And now I return with part 2 of my experience with D&D Essentials. Let’s be honest, 4.0 has its flaws. I can concede that point (I admitted to [...]
4th Edition and the Giant Robot–The Modern Dilemma
Around the same time the GSL was being promised in 2008, the wizards of western shores had in fact promised two game system licenses. One was to be the D&D system license and the second, dubbed the 4E GSL, due for release in early 2009 (this has also been described as anecdotal). No one had [...]
Book Report: The Führer’s Headquarters – Hitler’s command bunkers 1939–45
At LivingDice, we often trumpet our love of using history as inspiration for RPG adventuring. One of my favorite quotes, when I think of history and RPGs, comes from an American author named Joseph Heller (of Catch-22 fame). In his book ‘Good as Gold’ he said: History was a trash bag of random coincidences torn open [...]
Write the Damn Ending First!
Some say the journey is more important that the destination. I disagree. No matter the journey’s quality, the destination needs meaning, a reward for the long road travelled. This applies equally to novels, television shows and role-playing campaigns. That said, many writers tend to focus on the concept and the journey while ignoring the closing [...]
Liege-Killer–Post-Apocalyptic Role-Playing Inspiration on Space Colonies
Liege-Killer by Christopher Hinz is an older novel, but still well-worth your time. Since this series of posts focuses on a post-apocalyptic campaign, the Earth is, of course, blown all to hell. However, rather than a standard “devastated earth with survivors” motif, LK moves the action to a series of very large space colonies orbiting [...]
Short and Great vs Long and Mediocre–Campaign Lessons from Television
Role-playing campaigns can learn much from the failures of television series. There is nothing worse than a long-term campaign that drags on past its sell-by date, slowly rotting like old milk. Plots grow convoluted, game master’s creative well runs dry and epic power is in the character’s hands. Rather than squeeze the last drop of [...]
Poor Public Speaking Skills Among Role-Playing Game Masters–Some Solutions
Role-playing game referees require significant public speaking skills. The essence of a GM’s job is to tell a story and a huge portion of that story arrives as spoken words. Poor speaking skills diminishes the story and is a sure recipe for a bad gaming experience. Over the years I played RPGs with literally hundreds [...]