Campaign Mastery

Yesterday, I took the day off (actually, this was back in April 2018 – this post has sat around unfinished for quite a while, I’;m probably due to do it again!) This morning (April 2018 again), I was reflecting on how much I enjoyed setting aside the stresses and strains of daily life and just […]

I Spent much of the weekend a few weeks ago performing my regular data backup. Everyone in IT has horror stories resulting from inadequacy of backups. Even IT professionals and past professionals like myself – who know how essential backups are – have lost irreplaceable material to inadequacy of backups. That’s because there are two […]

Today I’m going to discuss the art and utilization of the Synopsis. While I might omit these from time to time in my campaigns, notably at the start of a new adventure, or even position a “big-picture status update” after an opening action / dramatic sequence, they are routinely part of my mid-adventure structure. This […]

RPGs have a lot of genre elements that do not exist in the real world. Magic, Divine visitations, strange creatures, non-human races with exotic capabilities, exotic potions and arcane enchantments of all kinds, and that’s just the fantasy genre! On top of that, there’s the look-and-feel of the environment, and that means that certain actions […]

Campaign Mastery is hosting the August 2020 Blog Carnival, and the topic that I’ve come up with is “What We Need Is/Are….” What does your campaign need more of? What does your campaign world need more of? What do you need more of in your adventures? In you characters? In your players? What does gaming […]

Last time I outlined the first half (roughly) of a process for the introduction of a system of organization for plotting to an existing campaign. I hope everyone’s already familiar with what was in Webs Of Gossamer: Retrofitting For Plot Pt I because I don’t have time to do much of a recap. Instead, I’m […]

So let’s say that you have an RPG campaign that is doing well. Your plotlines are interacting with each other, your adventures are compelling, your players are happy, and everyone’s having fun, but you’re starting to struggle to keep on top of the entwined complexities of your plots and your prep is becoming a nightmare […]

0. Fundamentals (repeated for all posts:) — The Sixes System is a minimalist game system suitable for any and all genres. — It has been used in my Dr Who campaign since September 2014, which has just come to a successful conclusion. — Characters are constructed using a point-buy methodology with NPCs generatable using die rolls […]

A long time ago – 2013 – I wrote a series on Writer’s Block. Recently, that problem reared it’s ugly head in a very specific circumstance within my (still shut-down-for-Covid-19-reasons) superhero campaign. I’ve never encountered a writer’s block this bad in my entire life, to be honest. You see, I have a long string of […]

Folk wisdom is a funny old thing. Sometimes it’s a pearl, other times it’s what in Australia might be called a Pearler. Much of the time, it’s sensible, practical advice when applied to situations that are comparable to that which gave rise to the saying; – and incredibly foolhardy when not. For example, take that […]

A Tale Of Australian Cuisine I have the advantage of living in a country which is remote from just about everywhere, in which much of the culture has been imported from Europe and the US, and parts of Asia. That’s particularly true when it comes to diet. Our basic recipes have all been imported from […]

I didn’t quite get the next part of the Sixes System written up in time – I’m only a few hours short of target, having written almost 6000 words, but time has run out. So I’ll use one of my standby articles and finish the Sixes System up for publication before next week’s disruption. Have […]