Game Masters
The Shab-al-Hiri Roach Review
The Shab-al-Hiri Roach is a Lovecraftian game of academic satire, designed for a single session of play. Players take on the role of professors at Pemberton University, a New England institute of higher education, in the year 1919. These professors, like those at any other university, jockey with one another for prestige and tenure. The catch? An ancient Sumerian roach-god with telepathic powers is running about, crawling inside heads and using you to wreak chaos and destruction upon the human race.
D&D4e: 3 [campaign settings] books and out
The Gamer Dome reports from the GAMA Trade Show: "Forgotten Realms 4e is three books, period, done, end of line: Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, Player’s Guide to FR, and DM’s Guide to FR. All settings will be done like that, one per year, until they run out of settings. They mentioned Greyhawk, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, and Spelljammer as settings on their list!"
TV Shows & Gaming: Carnivale
The first of a short stream of articles concerning TV shows I've watched and liked, why I liked them, and what I learned from them gaming wise. This one addresses Carnivale, one of my favorite shows, and one that I've raved about previously on this site. Now you get to see why.
Living Legends 2 – From Paper to People
Another look at character creation and the process of fleshing out characters and making them as real as possible. In this article, we discuss both building a good character sheet and using that character sheet to the max of your abilities.
Are You Ready For Some Football?!?!?!
Why aren't there sports in roleplaying games? Sports have such a huge impact on us culturally and have been played for thousands of years. So why aren't they mentioned in roleplaying games?
Exploring Non-violence: The Uneasy Truce
Last time I promised adventures, so here's the first one. This political adventure takes place in the quiet rolling foothills, where the halflings live. Cut off from the rest of the world by mountains to the West, a great forest to the North and the unforgiving Sea to the South and East, the land is peaceful and unspoiled. This tranquil realm has been largely untouched by the war raging on the other side of the mountains... until now.
What I Bring to the Table: Part 4 - Magic and Technology
The fourth part of a series of "How-I" articles. This specific article covers what I (as a GM) determine regarding magic and weapons, before the players get their hands on the issue. If you cater to power-gamers and munchkins, this is not for you. If you think your last campaign got shorted becasue of the firepower available, this might help the next time around. "How-to" implies that there is a best way. There might be, and this might be it, or maybe not. This is how I do it.
Player vs. Character Knowledge: Where's the Line?
Yes, I know this is a popular subject that's discussed all too often in the RPG world, but I plan to take a slightly different spin on things. Come share your thoughts!
Exploring Non-violence
I GM-ed a multi-generational D&D3E family game over the Holidays. While that was very rewarding, I was left with some slight doubts. It felt great to bring people together for a fun time and to have some family togetherness, but I saw my young cousins get excited about killing and looting and stealing, which was off-putting to say the least. It made me think about the example I was setting for them at such a young age, and what sort of habits I might have myself that I am unaware of. It made me start thinking about ways to keep the game fun, but to encourage problem-solving that does not always include wanton killing.
Putting the Magic Back in the Game – 2 of 3
Like a magician’s trick, a good gaming session is all about creating a shared experience that leaves the audience mystified – it challenges preconceptions, overturns expectations, and reinforces faith. But tricks don’t work if they are hidden. Making a rabbit appear from a hat only works if you show the empty hat at the beginning. At the end of the trick you need to show the rabbit too. One trick means showing the audience two points in time. Magic is the inability of the audience to connect what is shown with what is hidden.
Dismantling the GameMaster’s Screen – 1 of 3
It is all too easy for the GM to hide behind the screen, make mistakes, and have huge flaws in logic and planning. Through the course of any sustained campaign the players will come to know whether there are indeed any good mysteries behind the screen. By revealing inconsistencies in the story and execution the players can effectively pull down the curtain between player and GM.
Mix Genres, Open Doors
Halfling gunslingers toting lasers. Shape-shifting druids in an age when magic has been made obsolete by science, Dragons attacking nomads in the concrete jungles of a post-apocalyptic world. Oft times, mismatched technology can spawn player disinterest, killing the game. However, with a good GM balancing these factors, mixed genres can bring life and encourage greater storytelling than any undiluted game
Training New Blood
Do you have a bright, creative, potentially great, new GM whose adventures just plain suck? Are you tired of running games ALL THE TIME and you want a chance to play for a change, without having to suffer through lame games? Try training your New Blood GM and teach them some tricks of the trade. This is one thing that worked for me...
When in Rome...Do What (Diety) Asks
Our heroic priest of the Goddess of the Hearth, having just arrived in a capitol city far from his home is invited to enjoy a feast... only to discover later that the feast is the annual rededication to the God of Hedonism! An in-depth look at holidays (HolyDays), the Gods that promote them, and religious characters.
Letting Mistakes Enhance Your Game
What do you do when you slip up while running a game? What do you do when you forget to have the PCs meet up with a certain NPC, or find a certain item and it's too late to go back and introduce them? What do you do when your NPCs don't remember the PCs or when you forget to figure out what the mystery machine DOES when the characters finally activate it?
