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 How I Run One-Shots (Great For Convention Games Too)
Posted: Sat, 12 Jul 00:46:35
Category: Running Games, Gming - Beginner, Johnn's Games

How much should you cover before and in the first session so new players feel ready and excited – but not buried under rules? Wizard of Adventure L asks: I’m looking for practical thoughts on how to run a Session 0 (or 0.5) that helps brand new players feel comfortable with the rules – without […]

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 My 2-Stage Prep System And How I’m Ready For EVERY Session
Posted: Thu, 10 Jul 01:22:25
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, GMing - Advance, Preparation

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by prep? Or struggle to balance world building with what’s urgently needed for next game? I used to fall into this GM pit trap a lot. Scrambling every game day while also stressing over my incomplete campaign plans and setting. The core issue often stems from mixing Session Prep and […]

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 My New Dice Tower
Posted: Wed, 09 Jul 04:10:32
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, Adventure & Campaign Building, Encounters

Check out this sweet dice tower I made on the weekend with my father-in-law: It just needs a couple coats of stain. Then the critical hits can begin rolling down upon my players’ heads like bard tears at an orc wedding. I’m learning woodworking, thus this is my “build a bird feeder” first project. While […]

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 First Aid, Troll Blood, and Magic Rocks – d6 Healing Alternatives
Posted: Tue, 01 Jul 06:36:24
Category: Players & Characters, Combat & Action, Gming - Beginner

Big news from the Johnn Four household. Everyone is officially cancer free! My wife’s final radiation blast was yesterday. My mom also completed her radiation in January. To celebrate, I thought I’d offer three ideas for giving brittle parties extra healing options. Having played a few new RPGs in the last while, I’ve noticed some […]

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 How I’m Scaling My New Campaign From 0 to Epic Universe
Posted: Tue, 01 Jul 06:00:13
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, Adventure & Campaign Building, GMing - Advance

If you start with just one 5 Room Dungeon today, you’ll soon have a player-driven world brimming with factions, mysteries, and drama, all without burning out, herding cats, or skipping sessions due to lack of prep time. That’s not just theory. It’s exactly how I’m building my own new campaign, using the very system I […]

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 CampaignCraft: Announcing My New Secret Weapon for Building & Launching Successful Campaigns
Posted: Wed, 25 Jun 02:20:45
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, 5 Room Dungeons, Adventure & Campaign Building

The secret weapon I wish I’d had in my first dozen campaigns… GMing long-term campaigns is hard. I’ve started dozens over the years. Some crashed. Some fizzled. And a few became legends. What made the difference? How I started. Big worlds. Big plots. Big prep. Those campaigns buckled under their own weight. The best ones […]

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 New House Rule: Do Anything
Posted: Tue, 10 Jun 14:23:31
Category: Running Games, Gming - Beginner, Improvising

“People look at the rules set to see what they can do in the game.” That quote’s from a great email I received from Roleplaying Tips GM Steve S. And it’s often true. For example, lately I tried the Fallout and Dark Eye RPGs. And both times, when not my turn, I was scanning the […]

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 It’s on Fire!
Posted: Wed, 04 Jun 04:35:33
Category: Running Games, GMing - Advance, Puzzle & Hazards

Last week a field across the street burned. A copse of trees also caught fire.  A farmer — Kevin, a friend from volleyball —  hopped onto his tiller and started turning the soil up to slow the blaze down. And fire trucks were cycling at the nearest hydrant and making ranged attack rolls against the […]

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 Do Skill Systems Make Characters Too Similar?
Posted: Tue, 03 Jun 02:55:40
Category: Players & Characters, Design, GMing - Advance

Classless systems can feel liberating at first. But then characters start to feel same-same. Wizard of Adventure SDavies nails why in this great comment he posted yesterday in CampaignCraft: From 5 Room Dungeon to Universe: I ran a many-year RuneQuest campaign, which is classless. I wasn’t careful and some characters ended up various shades of grey, […]

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 Your World Is An NPC
Posted: Thu, 29 May 04:58:30
Category: World Building, Gming - Beginner, NPCs & Roleplaying

Before I share today’s tip, a reminder for Wizards of Adventure that it’s the last Saturday of the month in a few days and that means it’s Zoom time! Hop onto a call with me this Saturday noon Mountain Time to get some help. Get tips, ideas, or feedback about your next encounter, monster tactics, […]

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 A Quick Trick to Create Killer Ideas
Posted: Tue, 27 May 04:28:13
Category: Running Games, Campaign Logger, Gming - Beginner

This tip comes from Old Man Masha via the Roleplaying Tips Discord: Here’s a cool way to come up with interesting ideas for elements of your game. First, get a collection of 10 random words. I got: Then, randomly pair them up. I got: Now, each pair can be used as an inspiration! Check it […]

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 Golemageddon: Golem Ideas for Your Next Campaign
Posted: Tue, 20 May 06:55:10
Category: World Building, Design, GMing - Advance

A couple of quick announcements. First, I was on the Roleplay Rescue podcast recently with Tiny Prep co-author, Che Webster. It starts off with a question: What would you do if you had a new player to add to your existing roleplaying group? And the convo evolves from there. Here’s the link to listen. Second, […]

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