Keeping your players off guard is helpful in building suspense and also keeps them guessing as to what’s coming next. The most common ploy to do this is to simply roll a die or two behind your screen and smile at the players, but why not take it up a notch. Pick a player at…
If one thing is certain when it comes to role-playing games is that you’re going to have encounters. Some good, some bad, some where the players come out on top and still others where the NPCs seem to have the upperhand. After reading the ongoing thread on the gmmastery mailing list I decided that an…
Running an effective and enjoyable campaign requires a lot of organization. Many GMs have volumes of information about the campaign they’re running–maps, NPCs, histories, cultures, the list goes on. Unfortunately, all that information can be unwieldy when running a session. Even worse, you can’t remember what information you’ve already given the players, the plot line…
There are many role-playing websites on the Internet these days, some are quite good while others may be a bit lacking. What do I look for? A site that’s updated regularly, provides me with good solid information I can use as either a player or game master and is presented in a professional manner. The…
No matter what role-playing system you end up playing there’s always a need to come up with names for people and places. Instead using the old standbys (like baby books or the name of a character from your favorite book) why not try something different – an anagram. For those not familiar with the term…
Instead of handing out an XP bonus for outstanding play or contributions consider giving out a token instead. Your tokens can all be of equal value or as in my case I have three ‘levels’ of value as I use poker chips with my group. Then later these tokens can be redeemed for any variety…
