Posts Tagged ‘Cultures-&-Societies’

Like Brains Melting In The Mirror: A Surrealist Buzzstorming Technique

I’ve seen all sorts of ways to ignite your creativity, nudging your mental capacities into a completely different orbit to their usual. I’ve even offered a few, myself, here at Campaign Mastery, that work best when you have some idea of what it is that you’re trying to create. They don’t work that well, however, […]

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The Influence Of Distance Part 2: Near (the other half)

The examination of the consequences to a community being located close to the center of administrative, political, and economic power that is a national capital continues. To recap: So far, I have looked at: Proximity To Power Proximity To Authority Proximity To News Access To Communications Proximity To Trade Proximity To Opportunity Proximity To Fashion […]

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The Influence Of Distance Part 1: Near (the first half)

When I started writing this article, it was expected to be another short one. I had only 3 or 4 impacts in mind… deeper analysis when I started detailed planning soon dispelled that expectation. Of necessity, I’ve had to break it into smaller pieces… Being close to the population / administration / social center of […]

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Let’s Talk About Containers: 22 Wondrous Items

I’ve read a lot of RPG content and advice over the years, much of it D&D related. I’ve contributed my fair share to that total, it must be admitted. Every D&D supplement (that’s not explicitly a collection of monsters) contains new magic items. Websites and magazines abound in them. AD&D creatures, at least came with […]

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Should GMs design a PC’s family?

There’s an old saying: “you can choose your friends, but you cant’ choose your family.” I was thinking about that this morning and it suddenly struck me that there was an interesting RPG-related question that could be founded on that premise – the very question that forms the title of this article. The Arguments for […]

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What Size Is A Kingdom?

Disaster has struck, and the laptop that I have been using to do – well, everything – has lost it’s visual display. It’s possible that this is simply a new symptom of the battery power problem that it’s been experiencing for some time, or it might be some new devilry. This problem is complicated by […]

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Tying Plot Threads Together: Concepts to Executable Plot

How do you take three plot ideas and interlink them to make one grand adventure? I’ve often skimmed over this point because it’s usually arisen in the context of campaign planning, so I thought it was high time that I went into it in greater detail. Another reason why I’ve been dodging this discussion for […]

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2016: The Myth and The Reality

I’ve been holding off on this article for almost 9 months because I wanted to make sure I had an RPG connection. Last week, I finally found it. 2016: The Myth 2016 is perceived to have been a horror year for the loss of celebrities. One famous face or voice left us after another. It […]

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Small Differences: Turning Molehills Into Plot Mountains

“A difference that makes no difference is no difference.” — William James “So make sure that the smallest difference makes a difference.” — Mike’s Corollary to William James’ statement (as applied to RPG Plotting) In Monday’s article, I looked at the first question raised by Ronald, “In fantasy settings, how can the GM and players […]

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Patterns Of Distinction: Playing members of multiple factions

I don’t often get asked for help by another GM through the mailbox here at Campaign Mastery, mainly because the Ask-The-GMs service is suspended until I can get caught up. Nevertheless, I received just such a request the other day, and I thought the questions good ones, so here goes! Ronald wrote, How can I […]

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Goody and Project Roundup April 2017: Ten Goodies To Back or Buy

I always get far more invitations to support and review projects that I can possibly manage to satisfy. Every now and then, I bundle as many of them as I can into a goody roundup to inform those who might be interested in backing them of what’s going on. Today, I have 10 items to […]

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An Easter Surprise: Little Bubbles Of Nothing

You can never tell where inspiration is going to come from. The best you can do is remain alert to the world around you and leap in with both feet whenever you find it. That’s what I was thinking while enjoying a chocolate treat – A mint Aero bar – the other day. For some […]

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