Posts Tagged ‘Tools & Techniques’

Running the Game I: Creating the Mood

This entry is part 8 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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50 Assassin Hooks

An edited excerpt from the upcoming book for game masters, Assassin’s Amulet. Assassins make awesome NPCs. Thing is, they often have paper-thin character development. Well, you can fix this right now. Start by giving your next assassin one of the tasty hooks below. Some hooks concern motives, others personality traits, and others situations or objectives. […]

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Forging Unexpected Connections: Putting PC Dossiers To Work

Real Life has caught up with me this week, so this won’t be as extensive an article as I was originally intending. But I’m going to do my best to turn that into an asset. This post was also intended to be Campaign Mastery’s entry into this month’s Blog Carnival, which was going to be […]

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World Building Part III: History, Mythology and Stocking Dungeons

This entry is part 7 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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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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