This quick encounter has a fast set-up and can be dropped into place in any Monster Hunters campaign. The players come across information that an actual Nephilim grave (giants who roamed the earth before the Biblical Flood) has been found. After some quick research they realize that the ancient creature has been bound to its […]
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Gamemaster’s Guidepost: A Novel Approach to GMing, Part III: Here’s the Plan
Guest Post by Scott “Rocketman” Rochat It’s the heart of a hundred novels and screenplays: the team of experts, moving like a well-oiled machine. With wit and muscle, they work their way past every obstacle, thanks to their intricate and well-rehearsed plan. But there’s a reason audiences don’t watch a rehearsal. Put it at the […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Dungeon Fantasy Loot Rolls
“Loot! Loot! GIVE US THE LOOT!” cries the players around your table. But dang it! You forgot to roll some loot for your adventure last night because you were too busy designing some traps and custom monsters with which to foil your players. Well guess what? I got you covered. Not only do I have […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: A Novel Approach to GMing, Part II: Do I Feel A Draft?
Guest Post by Scott “Rocketman” Rochat “…I do like to take a story and reorder it, put things in different places. This allows me to see things in a new and sometimes surprising way.” –Carol Windley, Boston Globe interview Revise. Revise. Revise again. Few words are hated more by an author. And few might seem […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: A Novel Approach to GMing, Part 1: The Plot Thickens
Guest Post by Scott “Rocketman” Rochat “You’re a GM, not an author. Don’t railroad!” Sound familiar? Sooner or later, it seems every guide to gamemastering includes that little gem, a reminder that this is a collaborative hobby, where everyone’s imagination counts. Don’t lock the players into a restrictive plot, we’re told, don’t predetermine your ending, […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Dungeon Fantasy Apprenticeships
One of the things I rather liked about Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 was the “0th level” Apprentice rules. I got to thinking the other night…how could I do that in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy? I thought at first I could just use the Mixed Professions rules toned down…but then I had another idea… Optional Rule: Races & […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Apocalypse Features
The post-apocalyptic genre has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years. It was a huge thing during the cold war and about 30 years before that, but waned for a while. Now it’s back and in full measure in pop culture. TV shows like Adventure Time, Revolution, The 100, The Walking Dead (and this summer, […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Wealth as an Attribute
Nathan “Crackerjakk” Joy asked me a couple of weeks back what I thought about Wealth as an attribute. I gave him a couple of answers that settled his questions and he in turn gave me a few ideas. Wealth as an attribute…what an interesting concept. It’s not novel. In fact, it’s been done a couple of times in […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Dungeon Fantasy CER-based Treasure
When I wrote “It’s a Threat!” for Pyramid #3/77: Combat one of the things I had in mind was to have a lengthy box explaining how you can turn the CER of a monster into a way to determine what treasure it might have on it. I talked about it a bit here, but didn’t really […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: Monster Hunters Campaign – The Broken Night
Today’s Gamemaster’s Guidepost is yet another departure from the standard fare I’ve been producing. In fact, it’s a radical from anything I’ve ever posted on my blog. This is something that I’d normally held in reserve for a Pyramid article. But I decided that I have so much already in that grouping that it was […]
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