Posts Tagged by Technique
| April 3, 2012 | Posted by Guest Author |
Today’s guest article was written by reader Andrew Bell. He’s about to swap places with the GM of a long-running successful campaign, and he’s got some excellent ideas to share about making sure his game is every bit as good — but different, too. Thanks, Andrew! In a few short weeks, the game in which I currently play is coming to an end after seven years. Loose threads are being tied up, plots are coming to fruition, and the universe needs saving thrice over. Seven…
| February 27, 2012 | Posted by Guest Author |
Today’s guest article was written by Lord Byte, and it looks at a worldbuilding technique that doesn’t get much attention as some other approaches. His lens is D&D 4e, but the advice can be applied to a wide range of RPGs. Thanks, LB! The dwarves live in the mountains to the north, the elves in the forest, the humans in cities along the coast… I’m willing to bet that pretty much every first campaign world started like that. And the second. And third. (Guilty!) Every…
| February 13, 2012 | Posted by Guest Author |
Today’s guest article comes from reader BryanB, who tackles one approach to running non-linear adventures in a comprehensive, usability-focused way. Thanks, Bryan! I used to use a fairly linear approach to adventure design, much like the writers of a typical module utilize. I’d often do a painstaking amount of detailed game prep. As many of my players tended to go off path during an adventure, I grew tired of seeing more than half of my preparation effort never see any use at the table. A…
| October 13, 2010 | Posted by Kurt "Telas" Schneider |
First Time GM is a series of articles dedicated to the newly-minted game master, making his or her first tentative die rolls behind the screen. Today’s article deals with techniques used to prepare for a game. A broader look at the process is here. GMing is an art form; no two GMs will prepare in exactly the same manner. In addition, the list of techniques for game prep is massive and ever-changing. I’ll try to cover a few big topics, but each GM have to…
| June 9, 2009 | Posted by Martin Ralya |
We’ve all been there: The game is going gangbusters, but it’s getting late. People have work or school in the morning, and you have to stop soon — even though the adventure isn’t over. Before my baby daughter Lark was in the picture, I was up for gaming until two or three in the morning on Saturday nights. I could sleep in the next day without any worries, so quitting time didn’t really matter. These days? I need my sleep. So what do you do…
| February 10, 2009 | Posted by Matthew J. Neagley |
What do you do when you have a chunk of time with nothing planned out? Standing in a line, between the ordering and the eating at a restaurant, waiting for a meeting to start? Don’t waste that time. Instead, have the tools on hand to game. Most commonly, that means carrying around your Tiny Notebook and working on your next session, fleshing out NPCs, or roughing out an encounter or map. But what about when you’re sharing that time with your fellow gamers? If you’re standing in…
