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 […]
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Gamemaster’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 readingCarpe Blogiem: Best Blogging Practices
Yo, dawg, I heard you liked blogging. So I put a blog about a blog on your blog. So, you want to start a blog, becom e rich and famous, design games for the stars . . . well, the first one is possible and the latter are . . . improbable. Let’s face it. […]
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 […]
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Gamemaster’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 readingBoil and Bubble: Quick and Dirty Travel Spells for DFRPG
Guest Post by Kalzazz The Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game has some rather elaborate rules for overland travel, including uses for Survival, Navigation, Weather Sense, and many other skills, oh my. It does not however include particularly convenient rules for the use of spells during said travel, despite including spells such as Quick March, Create Food, and […]
Continue readingCarpe Blogiem: What I Look For In Players as a GM, Part II
As I talked about before, I have criteria for picking players. Avoiding bad players can be just as challenging as finding good player. As discussed in my previous post, I have criteria for finding good players. The reverse of that is also true – I flat out avoid those with certain traits. Spotlight Hog: One of […]
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Gamemaster’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 […]
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Gamemaster’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 […]
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