Author: Troy E. Taylor

My first visit to Gen Con in 2005 was memorable for two reasons. The first was because I got to attend a seminar on GMing. The panelists were some guys — you might know them — from this hot gaming site, Treasure Tables. I sat in the back row and listened to them. Good seminar. Vicky Potter gave me a mechanical pencil — which I’ve still got. I then had lunch with one of the Werecabbages, John E. Ling. We were two of the “Three…

One of the concepts that has taken root in the “Doctor Who” universe is that of “fixed points in time” — a clever way to say that some events can’t be changed because they are crucial to the fabric of the universe … yada, yada, yada. . It’s a storytelling technique that explains why even River Song can’t kill Hitler to spare us the horrors of World War II or Mount Vesuvius will destroy Pompeii no matter what (or because of any) actions the Doctor…

Bringing a particular mood to a gaming table is one of the most difficult things for a GM to wrangle. First, a given group’s play style has to be receptive to mood-based storytelling. The players gathered for a beer ‘n’ pretzel-style table, for instance, are unlikely to embrace the approach, no matter how skillfully the GM executes it. The jocular table banter — which is how such a group defines “fun” (all the power to them) — pretty much precludes any other attempt at creating…

If you’re the GM, you accept the fact that you are the monster guy. It’s your pleasure and privilege to bring to life the bad guys in your world. Invariably, though, the pace of the game can rob you of that fun — portraying evildoers, that is. You are the devious designer of hundreds of snares and pit traps placed throughout the underground warren by the mad kobold king … which the PCs just sidestepped, outright avoided, and foiled on lucky rolls, not triggering a…

So, during my monthly review of podcasts during my commute to work, and I’m listening to a seminar conducted by Wolfgang Baur — Kobold-in-Chief over at Kobold Press (formerly Open Design) — for the most recent PaizoCon that was recorded and posted by those fine Canadians over at 3.5 Private Sanctuary. Wolfgang talks about his GMing techniques for room and combat description — a broad topic, to be sure. But of particular interest was his approach to combat description for encounters he writes up for…

Based on the positive response from the my recent d100 random generator, Fantasy Wagon Train, I thought I would present another – this time along the lines of a suggestion user Randite made in the comments. So back beneath the shade tree my daughter and I went, iPad in hand. While a new batch of terrain-making plaster set, we brainstormed about the sorts of appropriate, yet sometimes strange and interesting folk you might encounter in a fantasy world’s version of a rest stop. Perhaps your caravan…

One of the things I’m often at a loss to provide my players on the spot would be a description of the various members of a merchant train or caravan, either being met by a party of adventurers on the road or a stock one the adventurers can hitch a ride with. Having let this task go unresolved for too long, I grabbed my iPad and keyboard, a few reference books (fantastic and mundane) and found a shady spot in my yard. With my daughter…