Archive for the ‘PCs’ Category

Casual Opportunities For Priests: Divergences and Differences

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Casual Opportunities

The first part of this sub-series analyzed the basic character of the modern priest archetype, identified elements that representatives of that archetype all have in common, and along the way considered how to employ casual encounters to enhance and reveal the character’s basic role in a campaign. In this second part, I’ll take a closer […]

Comments Off on Casual Opportunities For Priests: Divergences and Differences

Casual Opportunities For Priests: Analysis and Commonalities

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Casual Opportunities

About the Casual Opportunities series: This series seeks to offer opportunities for PCs to reflect their primary role within a campaign. Opportunities for heroes to be heroes, for villains to be villains, for geeks to be geeks. It’s easy to become so focused on the primary plot, or on the things that the PCs are […]

Comments (3)

The Application Of Time and Motion to RPG Game Mechanics

How do you tell a good House Rule from a Bad? I know, I promised something short. As long-time readers will know, I don’t do “short” very well… “Time and motion studies” used to be the favorite tool of “efficiency” experts who optimized a process for speed. They quickly became the butts of a lot […]

Comments (7)

Ask The GMs: Fresh Meat In A Hurry

Ian Gray contributed to this article. Anniversaries have a way of reminding you of the promises on which you have yet to deliver, and so does the start of a New Year. “Ask The GMs” is one of the cornerstones of what got Campaign Mastery to it’s 5th anniversary. It’s now 2014 and for two […]

Comments (1)

The Scariest Villain

This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Making A Great Villain

Something got me thinking the other day about the villains trilogy that I wrote last year – Part 1 – The Mastermind, Part 2 – The Combat Monster, and Part 3 – the Character Villain and about something that wasn’t included. What makes the scariest villain? Beginning at the Beginning: What is Fear? Wikipedia has […]

Comments (5)

Fire Fighting, Systems Analysis, and RPG Problem Solving Part 3 of 3: Complexity and Nuance

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Problem-Solving

This is the third, final, and largest part of this series, which examines the lessons in problem-solving that I learned through training as a fire warden and as a systems analyst back in the early 90s, as applied to an RPG context. The goal is offer practical techniques that can be used to get a […]

Comments (1)

Digging into Difference: A review of The Unconventional Dwarf

Warning PG-13 content It’s been suggested that I should advise readers that some of the discussion that follows touches on topics of a mature nature and may not be suitable for thos under the age of 13. Children should consult their parents before reading this article. Personally, I think most children these days are well […]

Comments (2)

Stat Vs Stat Part Two: Strength Vs. Stat

This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Stat Vs Stat

The second of 9 parts in the series looks at STR checks and how they relate to the other core stats that are common to most game systems – with some surprises along the way.

Comments (2)

Stat Vs Stat Part One: Introduction – The Basis and Methods of comparison

This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series Stat Vs Stat

This nine-part series looks at opposed stat checks and what they can represent. Part 8 will create a new characterization tool, The Stat Matrix, based on the interactions described, and show how to use it to turn stats into characters, and Part 9 will warp up the series by turning that process on its head and demonstrate a way to use the Stat Matrix to turn a personality into a set of stats for a character.

Comments (2)

Casual Opportunities: Mini-encounters for… Barbarians

This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Casual Opportunities

About the Casual Opportunities series: I realized recently that something is missing from my campaigns, and has been for a long time: casual opportunities for the PCs to establish their primary role within the campaign. Casual opportunities for heroes to be heroes, for villains to be villains, for geeks to be geeks. It’s easy to […]

Comments (3)

The betrayal of all that’s unholy: Treason and infidelity in RPGs

In celebration of Guy Fawkes Night, this month’s blog carnival, hosted by Nearly Enough Dice is all about Gunpowder, Treason, and Plots. I decided to take a comprehensive look at treason and betrayal as Campaign Mastery’s contribution…

Comments (7)

Lessons From The West Wing IV: Victory At Any Price

This entry is part 8 of 9 in the series Lessons From The West Wing

“Lessons From The West Wing” is a series of occasional articles inspired by the Television Series. I’ve had this article sitting around in partially completed form for a couple of years now, waiting for the right example with which to illustrate the concluding point. Finally, that condition has been met, so it’s time to look […]

Comments Off on Lessons From The West Wing IV: Victory At Any Price