There are many ways to build a good character, but one aspect that often gets overlooked -- or conversely, over-worked -- is motivations.
If you know what motivates a character -- PC or NPC -- you can extrapolate a lot of other things on the fly.
The trick is not to make your motivators too broad or too focused. Too broad, and they're meaningless ("She's motivated by a desire to ...
It took me some time to get used to the idea of emerging complexity for player character backgrounds and roleplaying elements (which I wrote about in its own article, Player Characters: Emerging Complexity is A-OK), but the concept is one I've always embraced as a GM.
In this context, "emerging complexity" is the organic growth of a character from a sketch, or from little more than stats or the ...
I love names.
As a player, naming my character is one of my favorite aspects of character creation. It usually shakes out one of two ways:
I hit on the perfect name right away and it instantly helps me define the character. Sometimes this comes at the end of the process, sometimes at the start (it's better at the start).
I agonize over choosing a name. I try real names, random ...
There are lots of ways to use NPCs to motivate your players to take a particular course of action (by motivating their PCs, of course), but I've recently discovered one that surprised me: lying.
Specifically, having an NPC that they would like to trust -- or perhaps have trusted in the past -- turn out to be a filthy, lowdown liar.
This is along the same lines as stealing the ...
With D&D 4e out (and looking awesome so far), I wanted to start building a collection of prepainted fantasy minis for future use. While I plan to buy some boosters as well, I figured I'd kick things off by ordering a host of cheap minis for representing PCs. Even if creatures get counters instead, it's always cool when the PCs have their own minis.
Back when I was collecting ...
When it comes to your campaign, if you come across something you like -- an idea, a character from a novel you're reading, a cool scene from a movie -- steal it and use it in your game. Period.
There is absolutely no reason to be bashful about shamelessly borrowing and stealing elements from any source under the sun. If you like it and you think your players will ...
The players have gathered at their table for their first session in a new adventure. Each player has rolled up a new character, then shared their creation with the others in a quick once-around the table.
A grim realization dawns.
“Oh noooooooooo! We don’t have a cleric! We’re all gonna die!”
And the DM smiles ... and it’s an evil smile.
Play on
Must every party have a cleric, ...
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