This is the fourth and final article in this series -- the home stretch. My definition of "roleplaying-intensive" is in Part 1, along with tips 1-3; tips 4-6 are in Part 2 and tips 7-9 are in Part 3.) 10. Driftable Mechanics (This topic was suggested by Gnome Stew reader Irda Ranger -- excellent suggestion, IR.) "Drift" just means taking an element -- usually a mechanic -- from one RPG and ...

What's the Crock Pot? Just a simmering bowl of lentils and herbs, with a dash of DMing observations. Don't be afraid to dip in your ladle and stir, or throw in something from your own spice rack. Characters with class One of the new online features for Fourth Edition, once Wizards of the Coast gets the DDI rolling, is supposed to be a character creator. But in addition to generating stats ...

(The first three steps, and my definition of "roleplaying-intensive," are in Part 1; tips 4-6 are in Part 2.) 7. Make Good on Your Promises By this point, you've made two promises to your players, one explicit and one implicit: Here's the kind of game I'm going to run. This is the explicit promise you made in in step three, when you pitched a roleplaying-intensive campaign to your players. The follow-through ...

(The first three steps -- and my definition of "roleplaying-intensive" -- are in the first post in this series.) 4. Choose Your System Wisely Suggested by the Stew's own Patrick Benson in the comments on the first roleplaying-intensive game post, picking a system that reinforces the kind of game you want to run is critical. Some games are just better suited to a focus on roleplaying than others -- despite all ...