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 Use Secret Language for Clues
Posted: Thu, 28 Mar 04:13:19
Category: World Building, NPCs & Roleplaying, Players & Characters

Last week, I wondered how you might prove one’s citizenship in a low-tech fantasy setting. Even if this isn’t a factor in your adventures, it’s a cool little detail to help your setting feel real. I received two language-related responses I thought you might find interesting: The first is from RPT GM Maja: Thanks for […]

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 We Only Think of the Gold
Posted: Tue, 26 Mar 06:19:15
Category: Running Games, Encounters, Gming - Beginner

RPT GM Patrick writes in response to my tip about playtesting our encounters with mental playthroughs: Good morning my fellow GM! This approach has been truly amazing, as you mentioned, in addressing any peculiarities that might have been overlooked during the initial creation phase. I’ve been employing this method for several months now, and the […]

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 Use This One Trick to Make Your Encounters Twice as Fun
Posted: Mon, 25 Mar 04:04:54
Category: Running Games, Encounters, Gming - Beginner

Here’s something you can do to level-up your encounters. It takes only a minute, and it’s free. Play the encounter through in your mind before it hits the table. In helping GMs with their encounters over the years, I’ve discovered that almost no one does a mental playtest of the encounters they prep. This is […]

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 Are Your Papers in Order, Citizen?
Posted: Fri, 22 Mar 06:24:37
Category: World Building, Players & Characters

Young Baron Kellan in my Basilica campaign has a problem. He’s just led his country through two years of civil war. Food is scarce. And many citizens have died due to the fighting, from a shortage of clerics to treat the wounded or diseased, or have simply vanished. Decades after the Empire’s collapse, every neighbouring […]

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 Our Modern Day Scheduling Crisis
Posted: Fri, 15 Mar 05:24:03
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, Adventure & Campaign Building, Players & Characters

Recently, Wizard of Adventure Michael B brought up an excellent question regarding The Demonplague, our epic level 1-20 D&D 5E campaign. He asked: I’m interested in running Demonplague at some point, but not interested in running a level 20 adventure. Is there an easy way to cut it short to level 11? This coincides with […]

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 Give ‘Em Bragging Rights
Posted: Thu, 14 Mar 02:45:20
Category: Players & Characters, Running the Game

Here’s a quick player engagement tip from RPT GM Damion: Another one I’d like to add to your list of things that get the players grinning like Cheshires and craving more is bragging rights. Was in a hexcrawl and we’d accidentally befriended a treant. Insane accident. Naturally, he became Treebeard when the Halfling Warrior named […]

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 My Strategy For Epic Campaigns
Posted: Mon, 11 Mar 01:30:03
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, Agile Gming, GMing - Advance

In 2018 I got back into board games in a big way. I had stopped playing in 2003, so did not get to experience the new wave and evolution in design of the 2000s and 2010s. Then I dropped into a board game day at a local shop and became hooked again. So many new […]

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 Confident Minimalist Prep
Posted: Fri, 08 Mar 00:45:21
Category: Running Games, Agile Gming, GMing - Advance

An RPT GM asked me this great question about Tiny Prep. Paraphrasing two paragraphs: How can I gain more confidence in my ability to run a game with minimal prep? My solution for this is a methodology called Prepare to Improvise. I don’t know who invented that phrase, but I learned it at Toastmasters. In […]

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 Gamify Your Daily Prep
Posted: Thu, 07 Mar 00:18:17
Category: Running Games, Adventure & Campaign Building, Agile Gming

Do you know the difference between game masters and players? Game masters get to play every day! If you find session preparation a grind, put it off, and then panic come game day, one reason you’re in this vicious cycle is you aren’t having fun with prep. I’ve seen this lead to fizzled campaigns and […]

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 Turn Pit Traps from Pit Stops to Pit Tales
Posted: Tue, 05 Mar 23:27:38
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, Adventure & Campaign Building, Dungeons & Megadungeons

I have a sinking feeling that today’s tips might involve some puns. Don’t fall for them though! I’m going to drop a bunch of ideas to help change a classic trap from filler into great gameplay. No More Pit Bull I like pit traps. They work in any genre. They’re simple. Almost any foe can […]

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 How Do You Eat a Tarrasque?
Posted: Tue, 05 Mar 00:04:57
Category: Adventure Building & Campaigns, Agile Gming, GMing - Advance

My latest book just released! It’s called Tiny Prep, and was co-written by Che Webster from roleplayrescue.com. You can buy our Tiny Prep book through this link to get a discount. Tiny Prep will transform your GMing with tiny tools that garner you big swings at the game table. Our book will: It’s the perfect […]

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 How to Subvert Clues in Room Descriptions
Posted: Mon, 04 Mar 23:50:20
Category: Running Games, Descriptions, GMing - Advance

How do you subvert expectations in room descriptions when you’re running a mystery or hiding clues? This is a question I received from Wizard of Adventure Arvindh. He goes on: How do you control how much info you give away when you’re running a mystery game? Like, if there’s a hidden door below the bed, […]

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