In European myth and folklore, monsters serve a very important function. They are a warning. The etymological root of the word is the latin monstrum. Monstrum was a sign or portent which disrupts the natural order due to divine displeasure. This is seen throughout myth and folklore. Do bad things and the Krampus will come …
Category: game mastering advice
What Are the Stakes?
A key game mastering skill is metering the stakes properly. Stakes are simply what the characters can gain or what they can lose. The consequences of their actions. The ultimate stakes in a fantasy adventure game may not even be the characters' own lives but the fate of the world or even the multiverse if …
Who Is It For?
It isn’t entirely clear to me how much influence bloggers, podcasters, message boards and discussions occurring on social media sites have on the games that actually get played and how they are played. I know there is some influence I just wonder how much it is. Game designers and publishers are often participants in these …
Don’t Tell Your Players Everything
As a game master, I try to tell my players as much as I can. If I think there is a bit of knowlegdge that is common to a group of characters, I tell them. Some game masters would say I tell them too much. The reason I err on the side of too much …
How I Structure Random Encounter Tables
Something I started a few campaigns ago that has worked well for me was to make my random encounter tables weighted toward certain results. There are several ways you can do this. You can do a d100 table and make certain outcomes more likely and others less likely. The ancient dragon only comes up when …
Show Don’t Tell
A brief character background with the broad strokes of what happened to a character prior to them showing up on the stage of the campain can add to the enjoyment of the game for both player and game master. It provides some context. It can help the player immerse themselves into the role of their …
No Prep is Wasted
A common complaint among game masters and a reason why some choose to railroad their players is they hate to "waste" their prep. Time is valuable. Spending a lot of time preparing something your players ignore can be disheartening. This can be especially challenging if you are not very good at improvising when players go …
Grumpy Wizard 
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