I have had a few players who believed that in Dungeons and Dragons, balanced encounters were very important. In their view the player should always have a 50/50 chance to win a toe to toe fight. The game master should always adjust the relative power of the possible encounters to the capabilities of the characters. I …
Plot Points Podcast Interview with John Tynes
This particular episode interested me greatly. John Tynes wrote Unknown Armies which many game designers talk about as one of the best RPG's ever written or at least having an immense impact on them as designers. He primarily works in the video game industry these days. In the interview; he discusses the surprising influence his …
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Tools Not Rules
There's a phrase that'scliche in old school D&D circles. "Rulings not rules." The basic idea is that role playing games cannot contain a rule for every possible situation and it is better for the game master to simply make a common sense ruling and keeping the game running than to look up an esoteric rule. …
Virtues of the Good Game Master: Organization
I struggle with this one. I’m putting it down as a virtue as much to remind myself as to recommend it to others. I think good game masters are organized. They use folders, binders, tabs, dividers and they keep their stuff categorized in a way that they can find it when they need it. You …
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A Great Gift
One of the players in my Swords and Wizardry game is the lovely human and skilled sculptor Jason Hite. He makes and sells these bad ass dice towers on his website. I've been fortunate to see some of his sculptures in person and they are amazing in their detail and precision. He brought this tower for …
Why Investigative Modules/Games Are Not Railroad Adventures
Because they are a puzzle. Some players dislike investigation games/adventures. They feel like they are railroady. This isn't true. Investigations are a series of nested puzzles that your players have to figure out in order to get a reward. The first set of puzzles is the where to look for the clues. If you are …
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A Metric of Game Mastering Success
Last session, one of the players in my current campaign said, "We need to kill that guy." He was talking about an NPC who has gone from a benefactor and source of information to a probable enemy but, it's not entirely clear. This is one of the ways I know I am on the right …
Grumpy Wizard 
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