I discourage character backgrounds of more than a few sentences. I like watching the player reveal the character in play. I think the results are more interesting that way. When you are sitting around thinking about what kind of character you would like to play; You think about what that character looks like, what they …
Category: game mastering advice
It’s About the Play
In my younger days, I would write a full on campaign history and back ground information. What was worse, I expected players to read that stuff. I learned that they weren't interested in reading my pile of made up history about a made up place. Game masters, I'm talking to you. I do not want …
Monsters
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 …
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 …
Grumpy Wizard 
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