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Grumpy Wizard

Travis Miller's Blog About Sword & Sorcery Fiction and Classic Fantasy Adventure Gaming

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Category: assumption busters

Is Fudging Dice Good Game Mastering?

On May 25, 2023June 9, 2023 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, game mastering advice5 Comments

It's bad practice to fudge dice rolls for a number of reasons.

A Lesson Not Learned By the Gaming Industry

On May 11, 2023December 4, 2024 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, crowd funding, game business, musings18 Comments

At some point in the 80's, someone at a game company called TSR noticed that there were more players than game masters. They came up with a hypothesis: If you make books for players instead of game masters, you can sell more books. That seems obvious but it turns out that this is not a very good long term strategy.

The Dramatic Question and Game Mechanics

On January 19, 2023January 23, 2023 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, design theory9 Comments

Game masters use the tools of storytelling to create a dramatic question but use game mechanics and rules to resolve it.

You Can Play It Wrong.

On December 15, 2022February 9, 2025 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, game mastering advice, musings15 Comments

"As long as everyone is having fun, you are playing it right." Bullshit.

Books about storytelling and writing on a shelf

How Storytelling Skills Apply to Game Mastering

On September 29, 2022August 9, 2025 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, musings, storytelling7 Comments

What can game masters learn from storytelling professionals?

Are OSR Games Good for Introducing New Players To the Tabletop RPG Hobby?

On March 10, 2022March 10, 2022 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, musings7 Comments

Old School Renaissance games are an ideal entry point for new players.

The Grumpy Wizard Doesn’t Care About Your Opinion

On December 30, 2021February 28, 2022 By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, musings6 Comments

You can waste your time telling me I'm a jerk, if you want.

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Travis Miller

I write about tabletop role-playing games, sword-and-sorcery fiction, storytelling, and heavy metal. 

The friendships I’ve forged while playing adventure games, listening to heavy music, and sharing stories saved my life and made it worth living.  

I live in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. America’s most underrated city.

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Cover of a a roleplaying game product titled "Hogwater: Village of Secrets" by Travis Miller

If you aren't logged into DTRPG or have your account settings to see adult content, Hogwater won't show up for you when you click on the link. The "adult" content is limited to the cover and bit of suggestive text in one encounter.

Hogwater: Village of Secrets is a starting location for a sandbox campaign. It includes everything you need to begin a campaign while still having the space to add your favorite old school modules or build your own. There are factions, non-player characters, unique monsters, locations, and a series of pre-written hooks for you to introduce players to the village of Hogwater and its troubles.

Immortals Inc, one of Cleveland's best Friendly Local Game Stores, keeps signed copies of Hogwater in stock. They ship to locations inside of the United States or you can pick it up yourself if you happen to be in the area. Great shop and great people. I also run special events and appear on their YouTube channel from time to time.

Buy Hogwater on Lulu in Print. Send me the receipt and I'll send you a PDF for free.

Buy Hogwater in PDF on Lulu

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Ten Foot Pole

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