| May 9, 2013 | Posted by Scott Martin |
In the last article, we sketched out the boundaries of a hidden world. (Quick recap: A hidden world is (usually) a world that seems much like our own, but that’s just an illusion. However, the “modern world” isn’t what it seems… for some reason. Compelling reasons include conspiracies secretly running things, aliens quietly interfering, supernatural forces existing and meddling with the world, or even this reality being but one of many.) Welcome Behind the Curtain One of the most influential decisions you can make for…
| May 9, 2013 | Posted by Martin Ralya |
Written by award-winning authors Phil Vecchione and Walt Ciechanowski, the fourth book from Gnome Stew and Engine Publishing is coming in July: Odyssey: The Complete Game Master’s Guide to Campaign Management. Opening with a foreword by RPG industry legend Kenneth Hite, Odyssey is, to our knowledge, the first book of its kind. It offers up 200 pages of system-neutral advice on starting, managing, and ending campaigns for game masters of all stripes and experience levels. Tell me more! You may have guessed from the title…
| May 8, 2013 | Posted by John Arcadian |
I’ve recently completed a move to Mississippi and I have two new groups of players in two very different games. I’m running a very new player friendly game for some people who are unfamiliar with role-playing in general, and I’m running a somewhat advanced game with a mix of experienced players and new to gaming players. As I get used to the new play styles, I’m noticing some interesting things about the groups. The game for the new group is tailored towards teaching what role-playing…
| May 7, 2013 | Posted by 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…
| May 6, 2013 | Posted by Walt Ciechanowski |
Back in the earliest incarnations of Dungeons & Dragons there was a player defined as the “Caller.” In addition to playing her own character, the Caller had the job of collecting all of the other players’ decisions in a round and communicating them to the GM. While this made sense in large games with 20+ players, it seems a little ridiculous when there’s only five people around the table. For my groups “Caller” was merely the D&D term for the party leader in-character. Still, I sometimes…
| May 3, 2013 | Posted by Guest Author |
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…
| May 2, 2013 | Posted by Scott Martin |
Last time, we talked about The Invisible World; a world that has grown so familiar that it goes unnoticed. This time we’ll talk about one of my favorite setting tropes, The Hidden World. The hidden world setting is often a world that begins by modeling the world around us, but adds a concealed truth. There are levels and levels of hidden worlds; sometimes the secrets are literally unknown worlds (like the hollow earth popular in pulp novels–a great place to stash your dinosaurs), others feature…
