Posts Tagged ‘Tools & Techniques’

World Building Part II: Communities and Politics

This entry is part 6 of 14 in the series GM Toolbox

Written by Michael Beck, with contributions and editing by Da’Vane. GM’s Toolbox, looks at tools, tips, and techniques you can use to improve your games. Toolbox offers you a skeleton for running a campaign, rather than fleshed out tips. This series is presented in a discussion style, and we ask you to contribute with comments […]

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We All Have Our Roles To Play: Personality Archetypes, Part 4

This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series We All Have Our Roles

Reintroduction If there is one thing I hate, it’s interrupting a task, especially a creative one, before it’s finished. That includes interrupting a series. At the same time, doing the same thing for week after week can be enough to drive me around the bend, and after a while, I need to take a break […]

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Prep-Tools II: Encounter and Scene Planning

This entry is part 3 of 14 in the series GM Toolbox

Written by Michael Beck, with contributions and editing by Da’Vane. GM’s Toolbox, looks at tools, tips, and techniques you can use to improve your games. Toolbox offers you a skeleton for running a campaign, rather than fleshed out tips. This series is presented in a discussion style, and we ask you to contribute with comments […]

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Prep-Tools Part I: Campaign and Adventure Planning

This entry is part 2 of 14 in the series GM Toolbox

Written by Michael Beck, with contributions and editing by Da’Vane. GM’s Toolbox, looks at tools, tips, and techniques you can use to improve your games. Toolbox offers you a skeleton for running a campaign, rather than fleshed out tips. This series is presented in a discussion style, and we ask you to contribute with comments […]

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GM’s Toolbox – Introduction

This entry is part 1 of 14 in the series GM Toolbox

This week we kick off a new series written by German RPG blogger, Michael Beck. GM’s Toolbox, looks at tools, tips, and techniques you can use to improve your games. Toolbox offers you a skeleton for running a campaign, rather than fleshed out tips. The series covers breaks GMing into four sections: World Building: Creating […]

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Directed Plots, Undirected Narrative, and Stuff That Just Happens

There’s been a lot of commentary over the years about different styles of campaign. Most distinguish between Episodic and Serialized campaigns, and many writers seem to assume that those are the only types of campaign there are. This is a position with which I don’t agree; there are more layers and levels within this classification […]

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Speed Up Combat By Building Your Own Combat GM Screen

What is the number one way to make combat go faster? For D&D type games, it is mastering the rules. When you can make decisions based on accurate rules knowledge, not only do you have more options available, but you play with more effectiveness and confidence. You also need to make fewer rules references on […]

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How To Fall In Love With GMing Again + iPad App Review of Daily Notes

Write down your ideas when they come to you. This core GM tip gets repeated often in the Roleplaying Tips newsletter for good reason. If you do not record your ideas, they could get lost or fuddled, and I find nothing more frustrating when my brain pumps out a super idea only to ignore or […]

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My Group’s Time Thief Revealed – Chronology iPad App Review

I was curious to see how long combat encounters last in my Riddleport campaign, and how long my group takes on each turn to do our actions. I surfed around for a long time, looking for the right timer software, and then I finally found it, for the iPad. This is a review of how […]

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8 Easy Ways to Organize Your Dungeon Tiles

This month’s RPG blog carnival is about cartography and mapping. So, I thought I’d talk about D&D tiles, of which I have several sets, and I like them a lot. If you own more than a couple sets of D&D tiles you understand the challenge in organizing them. The tiles are double-sided, so you want […]

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Undead Foe Generator

Who says undead can’t have personality? While rank and file skeletons and zombies will get mowed down faster than you can roleplay, you can turn any single undead into a remarkable NPC. To do that, you just need to add a few details beyond the stat block. Today’s generator will help you do this. Skull […]

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Hexographer – RPG Mapping Dream

Hexographer RPG Mapping Software Summary: Hexographer rocks and solves wilderness mapping fast for RPGs. Even left-brain squareheads like me can churn out beautiful and functional maps quick with Hexographer. I have known about this software for awhile but only recently contacted the owner for a review copy. Erin Smale, publisher of Chimera, put me onto […]

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