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Frontloading Campaign Prep for my Sailor Moon RPG Campaign
Sailor Mermaid, created with the Sailor Senshi Maker For my upcoming Sailor Moon Roleplaying Game campaign, I’m trying something different than my usual campaign prep regimen. Instead of taking it one...
View ArticleFebruary RPG Blog Carnival: How and Where I Write and/or Game Prep
Leicester’s Ramble is hosting February’s RPG Blog Carnival, and this month’s topic is “How and Where You Write and/or Game Prep.” Given my current projects–two RPG campaigns and one unfinished novel–I...
View ArticleDay 27: Sharing the World with a Co-GM
Lately I’ve been gearing up to run my Knights of Dragoneia campaign (not that Dragonia), which is essentially a Legend of the Five Rings homebrew game heavily inspired by such animes as Magic Knight...
View ArticleGamemastering for Emotional Impact Pt. 1
Emotion: The Raison D’Être of Roleplaying Games Recently I wrote a preview article about how to use emotional strengths and weaknesses part of the Morality mechanic in Star Wars: Force and Destiny, an...
View ArticleGamemastering for Emotional Impact Pt. 2
Varieties of Emotional Experiences in Roleplaying Games In the introductory article for this series, I determined that in my mind, at least, the main job of the GM is to elicit or evoke emotion in the...
View ArticleDay 8: How do you prep for each session?
Almost two years ago I wrote the first post for Day 8 of the 30 Days of Gamemastering Challenge. With two more campaigns under my belt, my prep style has evolved (perhaps matured?) into a method that...
View ArticleGamemastering for Emotional Impact Pt. 3
Determining Your Players’ Likes and Dislikes I’ve talked before about how I believe the main job of the GM—besides having fun, of course—is to elicit or evoke emotion (e.g. fun) in the players. Before...
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The 3-Act Formula as a Mini RPG Campaign Template
By UfofVincent (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia CommonsType in “novel structure” to the nearest search engine and you’ll find a smorgasbord of templates and spreadsheets to help you plot your...
View ArticleMini RPG Campaign Template: Session 0
Technically the first “session” in my nine-part mini RPG campaign template, I like to call this part “Session 0“: it doesn’t actually involve running the game yet, but it does entail everything you...
View ArticleMini RPG Campaign Template: Session 1
After deciding to run a mini RPG campaign templated off the three-act structure, you’ve talked to the players about the type of campaign you want to run, you’ve guided them through character creation...
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How to Create RPG Campaign Subplots
“I like to call [subplots] supporting plots. They are there to support the main plot.” – McDonald, Brian. Invisible Ink (p. 100). Libertary. Kindle Edition. Subplots in roleplaying games are the side...
View ArticleMini RPG Campaign Template: Session 2
Last session, as GM you introduced the players to the world just before setting it on fire. You gave them a glimpse of the villain’s plans and showcased the stakes of failure. Now, you’ve set the...
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Don’t Let Fear or Anxiety Keep You Out of the GM’s Chair
As with any activity that requires you to perform in front of other people, GMing can be nerve-wracking. Some amount of nervousness is to be expected, but when your fears overwhelm you and you...
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Find Your Ideal RPG Campaign Organization Method
Are you gearing up to run a new RPG campaign this fall? Do you need to get a better handle on your long-running game? Let us help you choose the campaign management option that best suits your group’s...
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Craft Sizzling Social Intrigue Encounters with these Five Tips
If you’re like most game masters, you probably got your start running dungeon crawls. But after a dozen or so sessions, when the player characters are ready to emerge from the darkness and step into...
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Why Novelists Make Great (and Terrible) Game Masters
Last weekend, NerdCon: Stories came to Minneapolis to celebrate storytelling in all its forms. As a featured guest, I got to give a talk about narrative structure in my favorite medium for telling...
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Choose Your Way to Better RPG Session Prep
The Dragon Age, Mass Effect, and The Witcher video game series have all made names for themselves by forcing players to make important choices throughout the game. Although decision points in tabletop...
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Gamemaster like a Pirate: Wisdom from Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Brugess
The game master wears a lot of hats—that of group leader to storyteller to rules adjudicator, and so on—but it surprised even me how much overlap there was running a game and teaching a class. When I...
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