Running role-playing games at a convention or a one shot at a game shop for Free RPG Day is a different animal from running campaigns. There are some things you need to consider before you begin writing your adventure. You have no control over who sits down at the table. Generally speaking, GM's at conventions …
Category: game mastering advice
You Must Create Tension
The most important tool of the game master is tension. Tension is created primarily by uncertain outcomes. If you are good at creating tension, your players will feel it in their guts. You'll know you've turned up the tension when they look worried and lean in to see the result of the die roll. The …
I Keep Sheets Unless the Player Wants To
Delta wrote a nice little post about who keeps the character sheets in different game groups. My practice has been for the last three or four campaigns is to encourage players to let me keep their character sheets. I carry my books and games notes in file folder box. I keep the character sheets in …
Not Every Session Will Be Good
And that's OK. If you want to be good at anything, you have to suck at it first. This include game mastering. The unfortunate situation with game mastering is that you have to suck in front of your friends and they have sacrificed some part of their precious time to experience the suck. Therefore, there …
GM Advice: Steal From Everywhere
I use , mechanics, technique, concepts, art, non-player characters from anywhere I can find them. History, screen writing books, other games, TV, people I work with, business podcasts, documentaries... everywhere. GMing well is difficult. Make it easier by stealing good ideas and combining them. This camouflages where they come from and the combo may even …
Not All Metagaming Is Bad
I roll almost everything out in the open for my Swords And Wizardry game. That includes monster hit points, monster to hit rolls, monster saves and random encounter rolls. The random encounter roll is one that my players metagame all the time. If they make noise trying to break down a door in a monster infested …
Embedded Story Through Magic Items
You can tell the story of your campaign milieu through the embedded stories of the magic items your characters encounter. One of the magic items in my campaign is known as The Sword of Osmund. At first, the players only knew about its most basic mechanical benefits in combat. It is a +3 sword. It …
Grumpy Wizard 
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