Author: Guest Author

Today’s guest article is by John Fredericks, and it’s a unique idea we’ve never discussed here before. Thanks, John! Introduction All GMs long for player investment in their characters and in the campaign world. As GMs, we’re often (very) caught up in the planning and running of the game. This makes it difficult for us to gauge whether we are meeting the players’ expectations at the table. In this article, I’ll share an idea that I used recently to garner more player input on their…

Today’s guest article is by Christopher M. Sniezak, the producer and host of The Misdirected Mark Podcast, one of the movers behind the Queen City Conquest gaming convention, who is slowly building up writing credits in the gaming and fiction industry. He believes you should try every game you can so you can figure out what you actually enjoy. Thanks, Chris! I think presentation is king, be it at the table or in the rulebook you’re reading. When it comes to playing at the table…

John Fiore is a “low-prep” GM and a connoisseur of stuff that makes his life easier. His guest article sold me a set of these little cubes on the spot. Thanks, John! I wouldn’t have spent a single minute with Caitlin — let alone date her for almost six months — had I known in advance that she was a militant vegan with severe dependency issues and a fondness for Coldplay. Our relationship was, at best, terribly inconvenient for me, and I could have done…

Today’s guest article by Jakob Kallin is about RPG Ambience, a free tool for GMs. He initially wrote to us to tell us about the app, but once I’d checked it out I asked him to submit an article about using it. Thanks, Jakob! Ten years ago, I started planning my first Star Wars campaign. After watching the movies over and over, I knew one thing that I just had to include in my game: music. When the first session started and the sound of…

Edward Lockhart is an aspiring Pen and Paper Roleplaying Game Designer, a Giant Nerd, and former frontman of a terrible High School Punk-Rock band. He also enjoys craft beer, single malts, and fine cheeses (and writes Violent Media). Thanks, Edward! Almost everyone’s thought about it, even if just for a moment. When you’re watching old footage of Mick Jagger swaggering around a stage, looking on with awe as Geddy Lee’s hands blur on his bass guitar, or just feeling that exciting buzz fill a pub…

Today’s guest author is Jonathon Narvey, who blogs about RPG stuff over at Savage Games. Jonathon is a GM (and occasional player), copywriter and political propagandist. He is also the author of a Cthulhu-themed sci-fi novel with lots of tentacles in it, as well as a novel about Yiddish-spouting gangsters fighting for survival in the Middle Eastside. He drinks six cups of coffee a day, minimum. Thanks, Jonathon! Deadlines concentrate the mind. Giving your players the sense that if they don’t do something fast, “something…

Today’s guest article by Ben Phelps advocates taking non-gaming stuff we all watch and read (books, movies, TV shows) and mining it for ways to improve your game. It’s great advice that’s easy to apply to your campaign. Thanks, Ben! Beg, borrow, and steal. No matter your roleplaying system of choice, those four words guide virtually every bit of game mastering advice in just about every book and on almost every website on the subject. Characters, stories, locations, set pieces…just file off those serial numbers…