Archive for December, 2016

Risk Assessment For GMs

This article was started way back when I was submitting articles to Roleplaying Tips, in fact, more than ten years ago, but it was never finished – until now. So “recently” means “relative to 2006″… I recently read a book describing the calamities that befell Lloyds of London in the early 80s and 90s and […]

Comments Off on Risk Assessment For GMs

Paving Over Plot Holes: A Masterclass in Adventure Creation

I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the last couple of weeks working on the next adventure in the Zenith-3 campaign, and the techniques employed have enabled me to illustrate some of the techniques that I’ve written about in the past. Normally, I would not post an article on the subject until after the […]

Comments (3)

Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 10th Shelf

This entry is part 11 of 15 in the series The Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others)

The Tenth Shelf: Beliefs I (Religions, Nazi Occultism, & Cthulhu) – Introduction by Mike It’s always difficult when you need to take something that was supposed to be whole and split it in two, usually for reasons of practicality. Take this shelf and the next as a case in point: No-one can argue that Religion, […]

Comments Off on Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 10th Shelf

The Perils Of Pre-Play

As part of the recent Blog Carnival, I shared a tool that I had developed for creating a character’s background (Blog Carnival November 2016: The Ordinary Life of a Fantasy PC). As part of that article, I originally had a section (entitled “An Alternative Route”) discussing playing a pre-game to enable players to develop the […]

Comments (1)

Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 9th Shelf

This entry is part 10 of 15 in the series The Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others)

The Ninth Shelf: Life In The Pulp Era II – Non-Civilian Life [Crime, Policing, and Militaria] – Introduction by Mike It sometimes seems that the term “delicate balancing act’ is over-used, but when it comes to Pulp it is a true description of some aspect of reality for the GM in at least some respects. […]

Comments Off on Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 9th Shelf

A life less ordinary: November 2016 Blog Carnival Wrap-up

I wasn’t going to write and publish this until later in the week, but a mis-remembered schedule means that there will otherwise be no article today, so this seemed the practical solution. After all, the odds of a late entry coming in grow vanishingly smaller with each passing day; the carnival itself has well-and-truly moved […]

Comments (4)

Ask The GMs – Up Hill and Down Dale: RPG Travel Laid Bare

Once again I’m daring to tackle a topic without the counsel of my friends and fellow GMs, largely because I had a clear answer in mind. Today’s question comes courtesy of Jason B, who asked, “Hey, I was about to start up a campaign that would ultimately take characters to all ends of the world. […]

Comments Off on Ask The GMs – Up Hill and Down Dale: RPG Travel Laid Bare