Campaign Mastery

Snakes & Spiders in RPGs tend to one-size-fits-all construction. Use reality to make them exceptional! I got curious this morning. Australia is well-known around the world for the number and variety of deadly fauna we live alongside. The likelihood of your home being robbed drops by a ratio of between 100-1000 times if you live […]

This post is a review of Once We Were Heroes by Fool Moon Productions, which uses art that’s AI-Generated. So I’ve had to set some ground rules. This post features AI-generated art. If you object to that art or its use, you can click on This Link to read a plaintext version of the article. […]

This post is a review of Once We Were Heroes by Fool Moon Productions, which uses art that’s AI-Generated. So I’ve had to set some ground rules. As the owner/operator of Campaign Mastery, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what the site’s policy should be with respect to art by Generative AI, […]

We all have expectations when we belly up to the game table. Sometimes, the GM delivers on promises both real and implied, and sometimes those expectations were never realistic in the first place. After struggling with the most recent installment of the Topologia game setting (it really should have been three parts, maybe 4, but […]

A rant about Auto-updating software leads into a discussion about how updates to source material and game systems impacts RPGs at various levels. I hate Auto-update I hate auto-update. There, I’ve said it. The reasons are many, and I’ll look into them individually below, but for me, it’s a colossal pain in the backside with […]

With the economic foundations sorted, this part gets back to the distribution of fortifications, defensive networks, and Inns. Table Of Contents In part 1: Chapter 5: Land Transport 5.1 Distance, Time, & Detriments 5.1.1 Time Vs Distance 5.1.2 Defining a terrain / region / locality      5.1.2.1 Road Quality: An introductory mention 5.2 Terrain 5.2.0 Terrain […]

The career of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher holds some important lessons for RPG GMs. Backstory A video on the achievements of legendary F1 driver Michael Schumacher inspired this article when I connected a couple of stray thoughts together. Having roughed out the content in my head, I decided not to write it, to do […]

This is part 2 of the guest article on Wars in TTRPGs by Alexander Atoz. Wars are inevitable in most RPGs, sooner or later, but GMs often struggle to walk the fine line between making the conflict seem realistically big enough and keeping the experience personal to the players. Vast armies lend themselves to Roll-playing, […]

An observed pattern sheds surprising light on how RPG styles differ from one nation to another. This is the latest in my series of time-out posts in between the Trade In Fantasy series. The YouTube viewer that I use most often displays, at the end of a video, thumbnails of other videos that you might […]

Why splitting the party is a natural development, learning to handle it, and techniques that it opens up for the GM. Plus a writing tip or 2! That’s today’s prescription. This is the latest in my series of time-out posts in between the Trade In Fantasy series. Phases Of Experience “Don’t Split The Party” is […]

There are ways of imparting dynamic life to a background and to characters that are hard work and ways that are easy. This is one of the easy ways. This is the latest in my series of time-out posts in between the Trade In Fantasy series. I’m concurrently reading two books right now: Dr Who […]

Running a campaign is a lot easier if there’s a clear process that maximizes opportunities for success and avoids the worst traps and pitfalls. Campaign Mastery has again been recognized as one of the top 20 blogs devoted to the subject of RPGs. Given the caliber of the opposition, I consider this to be a […]