Campaign Mastery

Some problems are so serious that they threaten the viability of the entire campaign. All is not lost – here are your choices. The Elephant In The Gray Room is a metaphor that I have created to represent Plot Holes. These are matters of huge significance or importance that everyone is overlooking because they are […]

GMs can take a lot of the strain off by worldbuilding within their encounters. It’s easier than it sounds! Any genre. I’ve been increasingly frustrated lately by dramatic headlines that offer two choices, neither realistic, only for the whole of the content that follows to knock down one of the two and assert that this […]

Discomfort niggles, nags, distracts, and exhausts – for everyone. Until now, there have been no rules for simulating this. If it’s good enough for elite athletes to take into account, it’s good enough for an RPG. Another quick World Cup -inspired post today. During the Qatar v. Switzerland match (in Portland, I think), played in […]

This post offers a way to create unique original names on the fly, selecting for cultural relevance as you go. It’s another shortish one to help me stay on-schedule while devoting time to the bigger articles to come! I was half-watching a FIFA world cup preview on YouTube when the hosts flashed up a list […]

There can be huge benefits to undertaking measures that will improve the delivery of languages (real or alien) and accents at the game table. The article below contains a lot of advice for the delivery of foreign-language speech and accented speech at the game table. You don’t have to adopt all of it – find […]

There are parallels between Perspective, as used by artists, and how players and PCs will perceive plotlines in an RPG Campaign. Wow, but this turned out to be bigger than I expected. I expected to be able to post it Monday, instead it’s going up today – early Sunday morning in my neck of the […]

Some secrets are worth killing for, and it can be highly effective to build a campaign, and a campaign world, around that premise. It can be very satisfying to build a campaign, or a campaign arc, around the Big Lie, but it can be harder work than expected. This article will lay out a blueprint […]

A question so obvious I don’t think I’ve ever answered it before: Why does a game physics matter? I give 7 reasons. I was working on a future post detailing a speculative (real-world) physics – it’s good stuff, coming soon – when it struck me that I don’t think I’ve ever addressed this fairly fundamental […]

A simplified mechanism for the simulation of trade in an RPG where it is not to be the focal point. Background A confluence of thoughts from different sources came together the other day relating to how we assess profit from selling something. I’m not sure it was strong enough to count as a revelation, but […]

Ripple plotlines use domino chains that feed back to the main plotline while cascading out to trigger other plotlines in a chain reaction. They can start from the most apparently inconsequential act or decision and grow until whole Kingdoms hang from them like Christmas baubles. Today (as I write this) is Australia Day, our equivalent […]

What is a Fairy Colony, and why should you never annoy one? Or attack one? I didn’t want to go full “Fey” so I came up with something different… In the Zenith-3 superhero campaign, there’s a Fairy Colony at the bottom of their back yard. It was placed there years ago (real time) but until […]

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 […]