The practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering.
11
votes
4answers
303 views
How would you play test an RPG before all of its rules are complete?
I've been writing my own RPG, mainly to address some of the flaws / frustrations I've come across in other games. Luckily, I've found a few willing participants to help test the rules and mechanics in ...
9
votes
3answers
473 views
How do I deal with two players who dislike each other and disrupt the game?
I have lately had a problem with some players in a campaign I am running. Basically, they don't get on well together, for various reasons. I don't really understand it, but then again, I am looking in ...
18
votes
5answers
305 views
What field-specific puzzles can I give to engineering and psychology students?
A few sessions ago, I gave my players a puzzle that involved converting a decimal number to binary to figure out the correct sequence to open a door. Since my group consists primarily of computer ...
9
votes
12answers
498 views
How do I design a Christmas-themed horror adventure?
'Tis soon the season and I want to treat my players to a Christmas-themed adventure as part of my ongoing horror campaign. I want to keep the horror element, but I don't mind mixing in a bit of humor ...
11
votes
6answers
575 views
How can I make my adventures more bard-inclusive?
For whatever reason, it seems that no one in my campaigns ever chooses to play a bard. I am beginning to wonder if it has something to do with the adventures I construct as our game's DM. These ...
3
votes
5answers
634 views
How to impose consequences for breaking the Paladin's Code without coming off as a insensitive GM? [closed]
It all started when we were going through a premade adventure's flavor text and got to the bit when the party walked into the town of Night Falls. One PC, a paladin, used his class ability to detect ...
19
votes
7answers
398 views
What should I consider when creating a time travel adventure?
I'm sure that many would advise against doing so at all, but knowing that I will likely try to do so anyway, what are the factors I should consider when creating a time travel adventure? ...
12
votes
3answers
277 views
Single player games suitable for session preparation
I found a demo version of How to Host a Dungeon, and somehow the idea really grew on me. Not just creating dungeons, but actually having methods of making gm prep work into a game.
I haven't seen ...
-3
votes
4answers
284 views
Design an almost unbeatable creature [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How can I make my PCs flee?
From session:
The party is in the woods searching for a macguffin, when they happen across an evil sorcerer sacrificing humans for a ...
11
votes
8answers
266 views
Using Boardgames or Card Games to improve GMing or Playing [closed]
Do you know of any cases of successfully using props or cards from board games/card games (all kinds) to run a campaign, ease preparing for a session or the playing itself?
I am interested both in ...
11
votes
2answers
252 views
Tips for keeping track of NPC stats and conditions
Is there a good paper based solution to keep track of NPC stats so they are avaliable when you need them in-game but don't take hours to keep up to date?
I have a bunch of NPC notes and lists of ...
73
votes
16answers
4k views
How to deal with players who like to use the local authorities to solve their problems
Preface
I apologize beforehand if this question has been asked before, I was not able to find one, except this, which may be related: Dealing with players who try to run from everything?. Also I'd ...
14
votes
5answers
311 views
As a GM, what aids could I use to create adventure scenes on the spot?
As a GM, many a time I run into a situation that I know nothing of, am not prepared about, and need something, NOW! Maybe it is a freeform adventure and plot was not prepared, maybe I prepared some ...
7
votes
3answers
252 views
Avoiding plot pitfalls in Star Trek RPG
We are about to start a Star Trek campaign and I'd like some suggestions on avoiding the obvious plot pitfalls that exist in canon Star Trek. I want the players to think through the plot points and ...
4
votes
2answers
210 views
Plot granted special ability standards?
For the campaign in question, I'm running one person through a dungeon inspired by Vagrant Story. Clearly some things from the video game can't be emulated, and many of those are integral to the game: ...
6
votes
3answers
190 views
When should I separate encounters?
I had a session this week involving a fairly large battle at sea. The encounter involved a couple of boarders while the enemy ship was still at quite a distance, and the larger group still on the ...
13
votes
5answers
263 views
As a GM, how do I encourage PCs to share and play out their backstories?
My players have trouble creating deep backstories for the characters. I have decided to go with that, but provide opportunities in-game for filling out the gaps. I'm considering leading some ...
9
votes
9answers
401 views
How can I speed up combat with a large number of enemies?
I'm DMing for a campaign where the player characters will sometimes face small squads of creatures, most recently six ground troops and two archers helping out. In this setting, these creatures ...
34
votes
15answers
1k views
How can I make my PCs flee?
My players never run away or avoid conflict. Ever. I throw them ridiculous encounters, they will stay and fight. If I tell them, "You know you're not gonna make it, just run," they stay and fight and ...
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.
...
8
votes
2answers
123 views
How can I add Character Advancement in Diaspora Without Breaking the Game?
How can I add some measure of mechanical character advancement in Diaspora without breaking the game?
I'm considering using Diaspora to run a game idea I've had for a while. I really like many of ...
8
votes
5answers
380 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:
...
14
votes
5answers
367 views
When planning a campaign, should I know what the ending is before we start?
I am planning the next campaign while the current one comes to a close. Our group favours sandbox play and I facilitate that with Icar's event driven system. While writing down the list of events ...
20
votes
10answers
929 views
Flaws that aren't flaws
What do you do when a system gives points at character creation for flaws/disadvantages when a player can permanently remove the effects of that flaw by buying something or spending other points to ...
2
votes
1answer
163 views
Techniques for Different Length Game Sessions [closed]
I have been both a player and GM for a long time. Currently, life takes up most of my available gaming time. Thus when I do get a chance to game, I'd like to make it as close to optimal as possible.
...
13
votes
3answers
240 views
Reducing Preparation time for Gumshoe GMs
As a new player in a game of Mutant City Blues, it has struck me that the GM has a very large workload when prepping the investigation scenes if there is to be any real interaction with that scene for ...
7
votes
3answers
170 views
System for tracking hunger in a World of Darkness game
I'm GM-ing a WoD setting where the players have a very limited food supply(if any) are there any good methods for making sure that they have to eat to survive and applying penalties if they don't?
36
votes
6answers
904 views
Preventing saturation in a horror campaign
I am currently designing my first horror campaign and what I've come up with so far is pretty dark and gruesome. I worry that if it is gut wrenching the whole way through, eventually the players will ...
3
votes
0answers
140 views
Dealing with power gamers [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How to Handle a Powergamer / Munchkin
I'm pretty sure this was asked before but I couldn't find it
How do you deal with power gamers? That player who is clearly maxing ...
11
votes
3answers
262 views
Stopping rule questions from overrunning encounters
A common problem I observe is that the players start flooding the GM with questions regarding rules during an encounter (within and outside their respective turns). From the perspective of a GM, how ...
8
votes
4answers
285 views
Are there any problems with spies amongst the players?
As GM, I'm planning to, at some point, invite a friend from out of town who plays RPGs, to join our game with a appropriately levelled character.
This character (and the new player) is actually a spy ...
11
votes
5answers
348 views
How to deal with intimidating amount of rules in Shadowrun
I started to read about Shadowrun as a setting and I'm currently reading the rules and they are really intimidating. There's a lot to know as a player since every aspect of the game as it's own set of ...
18
votes
10answers
429 views
How do I transition my players from roll-playing to role-playing?
The context for this question is the same as this related question about spending time in town, but I am looking for sufficiently different advice so I thought it warranted its own question.
I've ...
13
votes
6answers
380 views
How can I make downtime interesting?
My group is running a set of published adventures, so there's a pretty linear path between them. But between modules, there is the opportunity to go back to town, spend some money, and get some good ...
10
votes
3answers
387 views
How can I emulate TV Shows with only 2-3 main characters?
I watch a lot of TV. Probably too much.
Shows like Buffy the vampire slayer and Firefly have a whole slew of characters, which is perfect for a gaming party as you fill in the slots to the point you ...
17
votes
9answers
556 views
How to help players settle down and focus?
We have a weekly game in the evenings; however, we often don't start playing for a few hours after we get together, if at all. This has been exacerbated recently by other events with the same people ...
11
votes
5answers
328 views
Variants of letting players shop for items
During a game (at least during DnD), there always comes a time when characters need to re-supply, sell stuff, and buy or upgrade their items. I've seen a couple of different variations of how to do ...
14
votes
9answers
968 views
How to have a realistic set of languages without making adventuring prohibitively difficult?
"Do you speak Common?" "Of course I do! Everyone speaks Common..."
My group is starting a somewhat experimental campaign. We're using a setting that is neither canon (e.g. described in a book) nor ...
6
votes
7answers
472 views
How do I help my players figure out how to stay alive in a realistically-deadly sandbox campaign?
Related:
What to do when a player character goes suicide
and
How can DMs effectively telegraph specific dangers in D&D?
I like playing sandbox-style RPGs (whether pen and paper or ...
18
votes
6answers
813 views
What to do when a player character does something suicidal?
Every now and then a player character does something extremely risky because "it would be fun." What are some good ways to handle this as a GM, for the different styles of play? I like playing ...
28
votes
16answers
975 views
How do I get the PCs to visit scary places at night?
Sometimes when I design scenarios, I realize that my mental image of the adventure is only exciting because it takes place at night. When the players actually play through the adventure, they might ...
17
votes
7answers
365 views
Fantasy and magic in a primarily realistic setting
I'm running a game that's best described as "medieval fantasy," in the sense that we're actually trying to have the lives of people in the setting strongly resemble the historical Middle Ages. There ...
11
votes
8answers
493 views
GMing an unorthodox setting the players know NOTHING about
Just a while back, there has been a question concerning GMing a setting the players know better than the GM. Now, let me ask you sort of an inverse of that question. I.e. how to introduce and ...
15
votes
11answers
898 views
How do you keep the party on the map?
I'm running a fairly sandbox game, where the party can wander around easily from place to place. When the party visits areas I've prepared something for, they generally have a good time. When they ...
11
votes
8answers
439 views
How much plot guidance is too much?
I've played in many games that were extremely railroaded. There was basically only one feasible course of action and we, as players, were expected to take that route. (The GM would get very upset if ...
34
votes
6answers
823 views
GMing a setting when your players are more familiar with it than you
My players often ask me to GM games in specific settings we all like. Most of the time, they know FAR more than me about that setting. They will object to events I have happen or how I play an NPC, ...
23
votes
6answers
1k views
How to deal with players not taking things seriously?
As both a player and GM I play with my group of players (and close friends) on multiple occasions and they will often make fun of either my characters, NPC or a specific situation and won't stop ...
8
votes
5answers
1k views
Standard monster tactics for 4E D&D combat
In a similar vein to a question on tactics sources, I'm interested in knowing what are common tactics for monsters to use. The DMB and the MV mention monster groups, which are very useful, but I want ...
2
votes
4answers
279 views
How would society adjust if use of fire is reserved for the elite?
This is an extraction of one of the central questions arising from my original (overly broad) question.
In a society where the use of fire has been restricted, due to religious indoctrination, to the ...
11
votes
3answers
265 views
Are there tips on reconciling the playing differences in this group?
My Werewolf game is going along quite swimmingly to the point that the players will ask that I keep the server (We play using maptools) open so they can discuss the plotline for hours after each ...
