Posts Tagged by prep
| May 10, 2013 | Posted by Phil Vecchione |
Last week, one of the groups I play in decided to end our Pathfinder campaign, and after some discussion it was decided that Bob is going to run Numenera for us. It has been a little while since Bob has run something, and we got to talking about getting back behind the screen again, along with some concerns that Bob might have. Having just come back from my own slump, I thought I would share some advice with Bob…and you all as well. A Little Background Our group…
| March 19, 2013 | Posted by John Arcadian |
My room-mate and I often take a night or two a week to watch through episodes of some series together. This is the closest either of us get to watching “TV” in the traditional sense. Our latest effort, House Of Cards, is a series on Netflix that deals with Francis Underwood, the current Majority Whip getting passed up for Secretary of State and using his influence and power to destroy his Washington enemies with politics and backstabbing. It’s a great series and got us talking about how…
| March 14, 2013 | Posted by Don Mappin |
There will come a time, through no fault of your own, when you will be expected to run a game or exercise your GMing prowess and you will feel…lacking. We speak often of player and NPC motivation within the context of constructing a game or campaign, but very little about what keeps a GM motivated and returning to the table, week after week (hopefully). Some ideas to get through that darkness and into the light…. Fake It Until You Make It You’ve probably heard this…
| January 15, 2013 | Posted by Martin Ralya |
This is the third and final article in my sporadic series on Lamentations of the Flame Princess products: a look at my favorite aspect of Vornheim: The Complete City Kit. (The previous two articles covered Carcosa and Isle of the Unknown.) Like its predecessors, this is a product spotlight and not a review; Phil reviewed Vornheim back in 2011. Vornheim is a neat book in all sorts of ways. Written by Zak S., the author of Playing D&D with Pornstars (which is NSFW and excellent…
| December 26, 2012 | Posted by Guest Author |
Today’s guest article was written by Erik Tiernan, who posts on the Stew as Razjah. If (like me) you can’t pitch a game to your players worth a damn, this article’s for you — simple rules based on practical experience. Thanks, Erik! This article started when I commented (as Razjah) on Martin’s article How Do You Pitch a New Game to Your Players? with seven rules for making the pitch. These rules are based on my experience at college as the president of the Role…
| October 5, 2012 | Posted by Guest Author |
Today’s guest article is by Gnome Stew reader Rickard Elimää, and it details a fantastic technique for GMs: the “fish tank” model for creating a mystery adventure. Thanks, Rickard! Why is a mystery like a fish tank? Imagine a fish tank with some piranhas in it. The tank and the water are the environment of the latent mystery waiting to be disturbed. The fish represent the people and their relationships with each other. Now imagine the GM throws the PCs into the tank, sits back…
| August 7, 2012 | Posted by Guest Author |
Today’s guest article was written by reader Ben A., who has learned a lot about creating fun dungeons by playing the Legend of Zelda games. Thanks, Ben! The dungeon: One of the big staples of tabletop RPGs. While the word conjures up images of a Tolkien-esque band of treasure hunters looting a medieval crypt full of skeletons, the term “dungeon” could just as easily apply to a corporate research lab in Shadowrun or a supervillain’s secret lair in Mutants and Masterminds. Once the context is…
