Category: Johnny’s Five
| December 22, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
It is no secret that I’m a fan of shared narrative in the games I run and create. If you are unfamiliar with the term, shared narrative is essentially handing narrative control of the story over to the players instead of the Game Master. If you want a more detailed explanation of shared narrative, here is an article that I wrote on the subject a while back. Some games make shared narrative the cornerstone of their concept and I definitely enjoy these types of games.…
| December 16, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
I’ve always had a bit of an issue dealing with money and loot in-game. Depending on the game system and setting that we are playing, money is very important. For some game systems, like D&D and Shadowrun, it enables the PCs to get gear that enhances their abilities. In other game systems, where the mechanical effect isn’t as tangible, it gives the PCs a resource with which to influence the game world. Often, I have a hard time creating scenarios that provide realistic reasons for…
| November 25, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
The Gnome Stew suggestion pot has 2 questions about a tricky situation that comes up every so often. Parties and gaming groups that have grown too big. This is something I just finished dealing with in my current gaming group, so I thought I would tackle the issue. The first comment was from Zaraphina: Zaraphina I’m a fairly new DM with a problem. I have a HUGE PARTY. I’m not exaggerating. My whole party is about 13 people, with 7-10 showing up regularly. It’s sort…
| October 30, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
With Halloween being tomorrow, I figured I would lay down a few ideas for horror/monster themed games that I’m not going to have time to run. My regular game will take the party into a city where necromancy is legal. My party plans for Saturday night will have me carrying along a block tower and characters so that I can co-opt whoever is awake at 3 in the am into a game of Dread. So I’m covered for horror themed games this Halloween. How about…
| October 8, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
No form of entertainment is entirely realistic. Movies, video games, books, and pretty much any other form of media cut a lot of corners when portraying the world. If they didn’t, they would be bogged down with boring minutia and detail. However, a lot of gamers like the complexity and detail of “realistic” gaming. Without the challenged presented by these small challenges a tabletop game might not feel any different from a video game, to some people. Here are 5 places where gaming will never…
| September 15, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
To those of you who do the convention circuit, you’ve probably heard about this thing called Con on The Cob – Games, Art, Freaks & Fun. It’s a small-ish convention in northern Ohio from October 15th –17th. It generates a lot of buzz for a very good reason. I went to last year’s Con On the Cob with my gaming company and had a blast. I have some stories that I can’t really tell, and I have some stories that I can tell. I…
| August 12, 2009 | Posted by John Arcadian |
I recently ran a game that had a far too long and not fun combat in it. The party size is a little bloated, and I had planned out a combat with lots of combatants (mostly mooks who got taken out very easily, but a few actual threats) that became very un-fun. The mooks didn’t get creamed like I expected, one character decided he wasn’t going to participate in the combat based on character reasons, other characters didn’t make the most of their multiple attacks,…
