The practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering.
19
votes
9answers
604 views
Dealing with skill rerolls by several players
I could use some advice as a GM on how to handle rolls which get repeated by several players one after the other.
Example 1
The PCs stand in front of a locked door and try to force it open. The ...
25
votes
9answers
1k views
How can I replace a player character with an impostor without alerting the group?
I recently picked up a book of example NPCs (the Pathfinder NPC Codex, incidentally) and came across an entry for a "master spy". In the flavor text, it describes how his "secret identities have ...
18
votes
6answers
594 views
Bad/Rash character actions and consequences that don't kill my game
When a character (I mean the in-game character, not the player) makes bad decisions, there should definitely be in-game consequences that have an effect on the character. I'm not trying to punish the ...
4
votes
2answers
177 views
Evolving a region from war torn to merchant hub
Currently in my planning for my campaign I have a desert region that would make for a great way to travel, except tribes of Monkeys are at war. One side quest I have planned out has the players end ...
16
votes
7answers
411 views
How can I use a frame story and keep a sense of danger and mystery?
I am planning a campaign that I would like to present as a frame story: the heroes are recounting their adventures in a tavern in exchange for drinks (and then picking up the last leg of the adventure ...
9
votes
6answers
502 views
How can I introduce twists to the setting without asking the players
I'm starting a new game tomorrow and I'd like to throw something unusual at my players. The setting is a typical Tolkien-esque setting and the players are aware of that..but I'd like to introduce ...
24
votes
3answers
322 views
How to support useful Intraparty Conflict
This is a question calling for tried and tested methods for facilitating entertaining CvC intraparty conflict.
Although Player versus Player (PvP) seems to be the accepted term among a large ...
21
votes
4answers
599 views
How do I explain stress to a d20 crowd?
In the next month or so I'm going to start running the Dresden Files RPG soon with a group that has most of its experience in D&D 3.5 and 4e. We're all new to FATE, and I tried to explain the ...
3
votes
1answer
95 views
How can I maintain game balance at extremely high levels of power in a point-build system?
More specifically, how do I keep the game fun when all parties involved are extremely powerful? The game I'm asking this about is a Wild Talents 2nd Edition game where everyone is built on a budget of ...
2
votes
3answers
242 views
How do you keep players from using out of game knowledge when their characters wouldn't know the answer? [duplicate]
A lot of times I find my players using their knowledge about the game to there characters advantage even when the characters would have no way of knowing certain information.
Here is an example. ...
23
votes
19answers
1k views
What role-playing games have good gamemaster advice sections?
Which RPG's, in your experience, have good advice for gamemasters in their rulebooks, both for novice and experienced gamemasters?
Please keep in mind that this question is not about good games for ...
30
votes
7answers
932 views
How do I avoid clichés while improvising?
Tropes are not bad, but clichés usually are. Sadly, when I need to come up with something on the fly it's much easier and faster to use clichés: if I suddenly need a barkeep, he's probably fat with a ...
16
votes
2answers
210 views
What are the main factors to consider when a PC gains a major airport in V:tM?
Depending on the type of Vampire: the Masquerade campaign, PC's may experience unusual growth in resources. This should generally come with a (potentially complicated) system of pros and cons as well ...
8
votes
2answers
203 views
Fantasy accent and dialect, or how do I speak like Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas?
For example, inhabitants of Planescape setting say things like "chant" for news or gossip, "berk" or "cutter" for a kind of adventurer, "barmy" for crazy, etc.
I want to portray a guy from a far away ...
12
votes
5answers
373 views
Should the DM try to actively fix party wealth in a sandbox game?
This question is inspired by this WBL question. The consensus seems to be that WBL is important. But in a sandbox game , where the course of action is determined by the players, what should be DM's ...
5
votes
1answer
135 views
What considerations to make introducing a new player to an existing party, especially wealth and items?
As well as mechanics for introducing new players what considerations should I take for introducing a new player to an existing party?
My example is that I'm I'm running the Pathfinder Beginner Box ...
11
votes
4answers
437 views
Is there a reason to ignore/adjust the Wealth By Level chart?
While reading this
Cohort Question I was kinda struck by a quote in there and instead of asking an unrelated question in that area I figured it would be good to make a separate question.
The quote ...
20
votes
9answers
818 views
How to Manage Player Frustration and Disengagement
Many RPGs have random elements, such as dice rolling, which can determine success or failure of an action. In some of these games, failure basically means the player character does nothing or ...
43
votes
22answers
1k views
How can a GM quickly create interesting, engaging NPCs?
What techniques do people have for coming up with interesting personalities and histories for non-player characters? I'm mostly interested in the GM side of things. I don't want to do a ton of prep. I ...
11
votes
4answers
303 views
Adding comic relief
As a GM, I would like to add comic relief to my sessions.
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
...
29
votes
6answers
553 views
How to maximize the opportunities of roleplaying military rank in a PC group, while minimizing the limitations on the players
Some games come with a predisposition toward the characters having military rank. This is typically an element of the setting material, and is intended to aid immersion, and produce interesting social ...
10
votes
10answers
830 views
Is It OK To Sic Assassins On My PCs?
L5R has the most specific example in my immediate memory. In one game, the players were in a diplomatic situation and a Shosuro Shinobi (ninja) was sneaking around to stir the pot. This was a ...
12
votes
9answers
795 views
How to help players who roll really badly? [duplicate]
Scenario: player rolls to attack, rolls a 1. Next round, rolls a 1. Round after that, rolls a 1. Fourth round, rolls a 2.
This really happened today. He was going back and forth between two different ...
8
votes
4answers
604 views
Responding to players paying exclusively with gold coins
I noticed that my players would pay everything in gold. A simple piece of bread? 1 copper. "Here, have a gold and keep the change." They get into a tavern. A beer! Here, have a gold coin and keep the ...
12
votes
0answers
263 views
As a GM, how can I create and role-play diverse NPCs better? [duplicate]
I am new to GMing (and role-playing in general, for that matter) and I am having a somewhat difficult time making plausible and interesting NPCs. This is especially true with NPCs who are not "typical ...
23
votes
6answers
508 views
How to get players to be curious and ask questions?
I have recently noticed that my players don't really try to find out much about the world and story beyond the direct "what do we see?" I want to have them interact more with their environment and ...
52
votes
15answers
2k views
Total Party Kill - What do I do as a GM?
Your party has had a streak of bad luck and/or made a poor choice and are now staring down death. The rules were followed to the letter and loss is assured. How do you handle this as a GM?
Does ...
7
votes
3answers
145 views
Introducing a complex game world to players unfamiliar with its fiction whilst still hitting the ground running with character creation?
I am preparing to start up a Hellfrost game using the Savage Worlds system. Although I've run Hellfrost before, it has always been for people who are already familiar with its fiction and fluff. In ...
21
votes
6answers
333 views
Techniques for communicating setting and campaign information to the PCs?
In the past, I've almost always had at least one NPC that would travel with the characters as a type of "lore master" to expand on the story. I've tried to make the character witty and, once the ...
5
votes
2answers
96 views
Reward distribution and story continuity with rotating players/GMs
There are some people who like to GM, and maybe even like it more than role playing themselves. If you have one of those rare specimen in your group consider yourself lucky. Others are not averse to ...
5
votes
2answers
135 views
How can I gauge the strength of my PCs in Legend?
I've been trying to run Legend on and off lately, and I find myself faced with a frustration. Though I find the Mook rules easy enough to comprehend, I can't seem to create appropriate challenges for ...
20
votes
9answers
742 views
How do I help my players get past an obstacle I didn't intend?
Here's the situation. There's a locked door that prevents any further progress into the dungeon. There's a keyhole in the door and a message basically saying that the key needs to be wished for.
In ...
21
votes
7answers
2k views
How do I use Passive Perception to have some characters notice parts of the environment?
I'm new to DM'ing and have an issue I'm not sure how to deal with. The situation is this: It's pitch black outside and the PC is walking, with a lantern in hand, toward a building. A bird is ...
9
votes
11answers
802 views
How to mitigate glass cannon syndrome in Pathfinder?
This is the more gamey part of my other question, What to do when your character is just too good?
In D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder, damage output grows very, very quickly. Much more quickly than hit ...
8
votes
5answers
383 views
How do I reduce the number of encounters in D&D 4E without reducing the difficulty?
4E is setup very well for long chains of battles, especially in the form of a dungeon crawl. However, sometimes it doesn't make sense to constantly be in chains of combat. Here are but a few examples:
...
9
votes
4answers
312 views
Making epic combat interesting and challenging but not complicated
I'm running up on the tail end of a year-and-a-half 4e campaign, and epic levels are exhausting to GM. Everyone has more weird powers than you can shake a dragon at, and that includes the NPCs ...
12
votes
3answers
312 views
Tips and pitfalls for a variable-size group
My gaming group has very fluid attendance. From week to week it's been known to fluctuate between ten and two players, usually hovering around three to five. I've become reasonably adept at building ...
11
votes
7answers
463 views
Could a “Fog of war” prop break a game in any way?
I'm going to run the Pathfinder's Beginners Box scripted adventure that has a dungeon map printed.
This is not only the first time GMing, it's my first time playing an RPG. All of the party are new ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
New GM Advice - How to best use an Adventure Path
I'm new to tabletop RPGs (although I have been interested for a long time, just had difficulty finding like-minded companions, and the funds required to get some of the stuff).
When I was finally ...
0
votes
6answers
548 views
GM developed recurring villain
I have started my first 3.5 campaign and had the idea that as the GM I could still enjoy playing by making a character using the normal rules and running it as the villain. It would gain the same ...
21
votes
7answers
911 views
How can I invoke actual fear in my players?
I'm a DM that focuses heavily on story, description and setting. My goal is to send players home wanting -- no, longing -- to actually be part of the mythos I've created.
The ultimate goal for me as ...
15
votes
4answers
986 views
Please stop giving the town sheriff a noogie!
Related to this question but more closely related to this question.
How can I get my PCs to not cause a single or small handful of characters to become the butt of a joke when that humor could easily ...
13
votes
7answers
284 views
Advantages and disadvantages in using a one-shot pre-gen to introduce a new system
In questions about how to learn new systems, or teach them, a common suggestion is to run a single-session game with pre-made characters and a pre-made scenario.
In your experience as a GM and/or ...
8
votes
2answers
195 views
What should be considered when deciding if and how to use props?
GMs and players who have experience with props in their games, what do you think about when considering props to use and how to use them?
How might props be used to further the game, instead of ...
24
votes
6answers
909 views
How to deal with overly cautious players?
Recent encounters with hard to hurt opponents have left the party pretty beat up. The player is now seemingly scared by similar encounters and prefers fleeing.
I'm GMing a solo game of Pathfinder for ...
6
votes
1answer
116 views
How much, and what kind of, advance planning is appropriate for a sandbox campaign?
New ZM attemping to get ideas for a campaign down something similar to a tabletop fallout game.
How much info is too much info for general prep? Can there ever be too much? Or is there a general ...
9
votes
2answers
229 views
DM organization ideas for Sandbox campaign
I have over the past couple months been putting together Ideas on how I would run an All Flesh Must Be Eaten campaign. How do other DMs organize their Bads or Locations that the PC's might wish to ...
4
votes
3answers
265 views
DM going from D&D 3.5e to AD&D 1st edition [closed]
I recently purchased the following seven AD&D books:
Player Handbook,
Monster Manual,
Dungeon Master's Guide,
Fiend Folio,
Monster Manual 2,
Unearthed Arcana, and.
Deites and Demigods.
Based on ...
13
votes
1answer
207 views
What concrete rules can you point a GM to that is stuck in non-storytelling paradigms for Fate?
Inspired by a response to my answer to Can you concede by dying in Dresden Files?, I was wondering what concrete rules can you point a GM to that is stuck in non-storytelling paradigms in Fate?
I ...
10
votes
5answers
303 views
How can I create a more serious atmosphere when playing with siblings?
At our gaming table the players are always making jokes, and some make nonsense noises for some strange reason. My players generally act like hooligans.
Getting a new group is not an option – they're ...
