Aside from a lack of fear, one of the biggest problems in having player characters act realistically in a combat situation is the use of hit points (or a similar mechanic). The player knows how much damage her PC can soak before falling and can make tactical decisions based on the amount of damage that a creature/armed villain/martial artist/trap doles out. Ultimately, this is a matter of security. Players ...

A modern variant of the mythical "grim and gritty" fantasy campaign is the "standard horror" campaign. How many of us have dreamed of running a horror adventure (horror generally doesn't lend itself well to campaigns without high PC turnover rates) where all of the PCs are regular people forced to confront something horrific? How much fun would it be to have a flight attendant, a bookish college student, ...

Making players — and by implication, their characters — feel as if they are in over their heads is the hallmark of a savvy GM. Especially for your horror-themed game session. It also takes players who are willing to buy into the moment — the payoff comes when the sick feeling in the pit of the stomach starts churning. Creating that moment of dread requires more than dropping a dragon ...

Recently fellow gnome John Arcadian and I attended “Con on the Cob” where we hung out with the crew from Windmill Game Co. They are the creative power behind the new Dread: Tales of Terror series which are supplements that provide wonderful scenarios and questionnaires for the fabulous game Dread. Now every year I run a very simple RPG for non-gamers around Halloween time. In the past I have ...

When I first saw the summary page for Miskatonic River Press’s new adventure book Our Ladies of Sorrow I was Instantly excited about getting my hands on a copy. Not only is the cover art phenomenal (click through on the link above to see the original as opposed to my butchered version on the left), but the promise of a mythological ghost story featuring goddesses of grief madness ...

Need a one-shot horror scenario on short notice? You're in luck: Plenty of horror movies are ready-made templates for RPG adventures -- and I've picked three doozies. As a GM, you should already be a raging kleptomaniac. The best thing about these three particular movies is that you can use them almost as-is, with very little prep on your part: 30 Days of Night The Thing Quarantine All three share some similarities, but ...

The Ghostwalk Campaign Option (2003, Wizards of the Coast) is the gem of my collection of Third Edition gaming materials. Even though it is often overlooked because of its release just prior to the 3.5 revision of the rules, my appreciation for the supplement has only grown in the intervening five years.  And because the setting presents components such as the Tombyards, the Spirit Wood, a nemesis that ...

It’s a given that  your October- or Halloween-themed 4E-dungeon’s going to have a hovering ghost (page 116, Monster Manual) haunting the undisturbed crypt, at least one gruesome hag (page150) stirring a kettle with a noxious brew and a blood-thirsty vampire (page 258) waiting in the wings — so to speak — to strike. But here are some other monsters from that glorious tome you could use to slip ...

October is upon us (by which I mean I'm writing this on the 1st, not that you'll necessarily see it on the 1st). While I haven't had to deal with one in well over a decade, I have no doubt that the "DnD* is a tool of the Devil" crowd are still out there and going strong, if a tad less vocal, and that one of the oddball bits of our hobby ...

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. The brew that is Gnome Stew is all about dispensing tasty GMing advice. Frequent readers know I tend to offer a nuts’n’bolts approach to such things. I’m not a gaming theory sort of ...