So this post is going to be about how I go about preparing narrative/plots for a story arc. This is different from my writing process or how I take notes, or how I do game prep. But they are related to all of those. I call this process “narrative focusing”. Essentially, narrative focusing is an outline […]
Continue readingCategory Archives: Gamemaster’s Guidepost
Gamemaster’s Guidepost: Learning From Your Mistakes
As a gamemaster you will inevitably make mistakes running your game. It’s just going to happen. Accept it now and be prepared to fix them. But how? Create a strong, but flexible base for your campaign. This way you can change it when you need to and still have a sturdy foundation. What do I […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Different Disadvantages
Some game systems don’t have (or need) personified disadvantages/flaws/etc. – GURPS isn’t one of them. Disadvantages play a huge role in determining how a character might react in a given situation or be forced to react if the player isn’t running his character as his disadvantage(s) dictate. That’s the whole point of having them – you get […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Highway to the Danger Zone
Running roleplaying games as a GM can be very rewarding. It can also sap your patience to the point of GM burnout. A state to be avoided at all costs. But how do you avoid that? Here’s a few warning signs I’ve learned (the hard way) to be on the lookout for. Player Despondency Maybe […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Recurring Villains and Their Care
There is nothing quite like an antagonist that all the PCs can hate together to keep a campaign moving forward. Sure, the villian put fricken lasers on the backs of squirrels and tried to kill the PCs, but what is a villian doing when he’s not tormenting the PCs? Moreover, how do you keep the […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Campaign Growth Best Practices
One thing that puzzles many GMs in a point-buy system is advancement and growth within a campaign. In a class system like DnD advancement is literally built in a leveled manner. You know what a given PC will be able to do depending on your level. In a point-buy system like GURPS this is much harder. What […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: The 10 Commandments of Gaming
I’ve been sitting on this post for a while now while I thought on it. But here we go. Here are my 10 Commandants of gaming when you’re the GM. 1. Thou Shalt Be the Law You’re the GM. Your word is law. The game session is a ship, the players are its crew, and you are […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Cutting Down Skill Rolls
Playing an RPG doesn’t mean the dice need to be rolled for every action. The old adage of “Role-playing not Roll-playing” rings particularly true to me. Here are a few things I try to do when I run a game: “Yeah, But Does It Affect The Outcome?” Seriously. If it doesn’t affect the outcome do not roll. […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: The Soul and Your Game
Guest Post by Emily “Bruno” Smirle When designing a game setting with supernatural or mystical elements, it may be necessary to create a firm definition of the “soul” – what is it, who has it, what does it do for (or to) you? Theologists and philosophers have debated the subject endlessly throughout human history; the […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: When to Follow, Make, Ignore, Bend, or Break Rules
GURPS is one of those games where if you try to use every rule for every circumstance you’re going to create an unusable pile of crap. It’s like sticking a bunch of magnets on a refrigerator and then expecting to see what color the fridge is. You can do it – but it’s barely recognizable. So how do […]
Continue reading