The practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering.
19
votes
9answers
721 views
How can I create within-party intrigue without destroying group cohesion?
I am a novice GM playing with several more experienced D&D players (who happen to be good friends). I wanted to spice up the game for them and take advantage of their own intelligence/experience ...
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? ...
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 ...
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 ...
18
votes
5answers
283 views
How to fight the unseen, and still keep things interesting?
In a horror themed campaign with a lovecraftian feeling, a big part of the game is to be in a constant feeling of being threatened, but without any visual stimuli other than glimpses, or sounds ...
18
votes
8answers
382 views
Practices to mitigate player characters' conflicting agendas
You have a campaign that provides, by design, a high level of freedom for the players to pick the story threads, sides and whatnot for themselves.
In the long run, a conflict arises: some player ...
18
votes
5answers
359 views
How do I run a game for a larger group?
I am currently running a Dungeons and Dragons 4 campaign for a group of 9 players. Whittling the group down to a more manageable size is not really an option since they are all family. When we do ...
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 ...
18
votes
3answers
379 views
+50
Do you have to reveal your NPC's aspects?
Important NPCs may have hidden aspects that PCs are supposed to assess somehow before using them: can such a NPC invoke one of his hidden aspects without the GM revealing it to the players?
Example:
...
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 ...
17
votes
5answers
785 views
What do I do with a dissonant player?
We have a gaming group that has been playing the game for about 4 years. One of the players is my old friend, with whom I started gaming about 15 years ago. There is also another player, who has also ...
17
votes
8answers
435 views
What to do when your PCs skip an important part of the story line
In the earliest stage of my new duet campaign, I thought I had "rail-roaded" the PC into the first important encounter, one that leads to a major story line for the campaign. Specifically, the PC was ...
17
votes
6answers
880 views
How to kill a character without making their player too angry
I have been DMing a game for a group of friends. In between two sessions, which ended with them facing a few enemy NPCs, I realized that these intelligent opponents had a very good way to kill one of ...
17
votes
7answers
654 views
How can I screen new players to make sure they are a good fit for my game?
I'm looking to start a new Savage Worlds campaign and I need a full set of players for it. I've played in games before and ran a couple of one-shots, but I've never GMed a full campaign. There's ...
17
votes
9answers
543 views
What happens in adventure locations between adventures?
I'm running a sandbox with several adventure locations that have been visited, but not entirely cleared, and ones that have been left open for new residents to arrive.
I'm looking for a method for ...
17
votes
9answers
557 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 ...
17
votes
6answers
426 views
Difference between writing a one-off scenario and writing a quest for a campaign?
I want to get some of my friends into roleplaying by running a self-contained single-session game with them rather than an actual campaign opener (for lack of a better term, I'll refer to this sort of ...
17
votes
5answers
413 views
How do I make a single combat in a day challenging and interesting?
4e is a game of resource attrition. I can't find the quote in DMG right now, but from memory and experience, it works best with about 3-5 combat encounters in an adventuring day. That way, some of the ...
17
votes
7answers
399 views
What makes a good pitch for a new game?
What should make up a pitch about a new game to a prospective group of players? What does a good RPG pitch entail? What should go into the case for why a game should be played (and why that GM is the ...
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 ...
16
votes
6answers
367 views
Techniques for speeding up a game with many players at the table?
I have a table of six players already, and have more people interested in joining my game. I wanted to consult people who had experience with running large tables to see if running for larger groups ...
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 ...
16
votes
5answers
408 views
How to handle the PCs within a large military?
On some level, this might actually be getting closer to RPGs’ roots: I want to try a campaign where the PCs are members of a larger military. There may be need for them to coordinate with other ...
16
votes
6answers
319 views
How do I help create story around the table without writing it?
I love RPGs. I think they can create some of the most fun and enjoyable stories, both from an out-of-game and in-game standpoint.
I also realize that "story" is the result of the game played by the ...
16
votes
4answers
671 views
Designing puzzle-based mysteries
I'm currently watching the BBC series Sherlock. In this episode, the central mystery is fascinating: first, there are symbols scrawled on the wall; next, these turn out to be a cipher; then, the ...
16
votes
1answer
272 views
How is a play-by-email game actually played?
I'm currently interested in learning more about play-by-email RPGs. Searching the Web, I've found many forums and sites promoting PbeM campaigns (Aelyria and Blue Dwarf, for instance), but nothing ...
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 ...
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 ...
15
votes
8answers
430 views
Treasure that's hard to put a price on
(We've been playing D&D, but for this answer I'm looking for a system-agnostic answer that works for a premodern setting. Let's say 1500 AD or earlier.)
Most of the treasure the party gets from ...
15
votes
7answers
480 views
Techniques for skimming through travel (fast travel) without meta-teleportation
In most of my group's campaigns, we spend a lot of time traveling. Unfortunately, this leans one of two ways:
Uninteresting or distracting obstacles. If you want to spend time but keep it fresh, ...
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 ...
15
votes
4answers
501 views
What should a DM do if a player wants to do something impossible?
If a player wants to do something a little out of the ordinary such as punching down a wall with his bare fists, what should I do? Do I make a DC for it? Do I make it so that no matter how much he ...
15
votes
6answers
553 views
As an experienced GM, what pitfalls should I watch out for?
I've been GMing for 20 years and have recently started to question if I need a GM-makeover. We are still having fun but could the game be more fun if I shed some bad, and well ingrained habits? I ...
15
votes
8answers
697 views
My necromancer keeps dying (and can't raise himself)!
Sometimes in the course of running an adventure you will run into an encounter that calls for a summoner to bring on a horde of undead (often minions).
I have a simple problem: My summoners die in ...
15
votes
4answers
349 views
How would I quickly put together a believable map of an area?
As part of my "Closed Circle" campaign, I'm looking for ways to quickly put together a believable map of a college campus and surrounding area, complete with believable building placement. "Quickly" ...
15
votes
5answers
467 views
How can I add story to every encounter so that they don't seem like I'm just piling monsters on the characters for xp?
I am running a Viking themed 3.5 adventure and the party is traveling to confront a barbarian king on the way though they have just been fighting wild animals and it feels like these encounters don't ...
15
votes
2answers
436 views
How does “failure” work in Dungeon World? How does it move the story forward?
I am having trouble understanding the specifics of failure Dungeon World. According to the rules, a GM should "make a move" against players when they fail, and that's alright, I get that.
What I ...
15
votes
4answers
347 views
How do I tell how long my adventure is going to be?
I'm a new DM starting a campaign I've written myself. I have a party of 4 players right now- three have been playing for years, one has never played before. My problem is I'm not sure how to tell how ...
15
votes
2answers
408 views
How can I play monsters and NPCs up to their potential?
In many cases discussions about balance in 3.5 will, inevitably, involve one side or another invoking an anecdote of the time they fought this monster, or a member of that class, and they didn't ...
15
votes
6answers
257 views
How can I mechanistically empower a prophecy or fortune without railroading the plot?
I am interested in the idea of incorporating fate (via prophecy or fortunes told) in my campaign. I would like to come up with a set of rules/mechanics to make a prophecy or fortune teller's ...
15
votes
4answers
267 views
Good techniques for getting player-character backgrounds integrated into the game?
So I'm starting a new campaign for an existing gaming group soon, and I'd like to actually incorporate character backgrounds that the players will be creating (eventually). These aren't epic-novels or ...
15
votes
4answers
296 views
GM Tips for a Rashomon style game
I want to run a Rashomon style session soon and I'm looking for solid advice, as well as lessons learned from your own experience doing so.
14
votes
16answers
445 views
When GMing a game, how much should you prepare in advance?
Obviously you need to have some high level idea of what's going on in the world around the players, and where you are heading with the story, but in an ongoing game at some point players will be ...
14
votes
9answers
971 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 ...
14
votes
6answers
333 views
How to make players care about a community
I've built a lot of villages, some towns and a city or two but I've failed to bring them to life and make the PCs feel like they belong there (maybe not much belong but to just make them care about ...
14
votes
5answers
276 views
What to do when a curse makes a character useless?
It happened in a DnD 4th edition game but it could happen in any game.
My group of players fought a Weretiger and the two melee-type characters now have claws and can't use weapons. Since those claws ...
14
votes
4answers
296 views
How do I signal a flashback?
I have several flashbacks planned that introduce the characters to a backstory that is too complex for a typical plot dump. The problem is that the flashbacks are triggered in the context of the ...
14
votes
7answers
318 views
How can I make my carrying mission interesting
Often my quest will boil down to Dungeons or Go to X because of Y to do Z (I may over simplify it but let's focus on that). Dungeons, I can make those as awesome as they can be. Awesome rooms with ...
14
votes
6answers
367 views
How to implicate the players in the horror?
Good horror implicates the watcher/reader, at least in drama. There is always moment when the audience should cry out, "no, stop, don't!" but of course we don't because we're a well-behaved audience, ...
14
votes
5answers
312 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 ...
