The practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering.
19
votes
9answers
720 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 ...
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 ...
-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 ...
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 ...
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
253 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
9
votes
3answers
257 views
In Lady Blackbird, how do you NPC the characters people haven't picked?
My normal Apocalypse World crew was down a player this week, so I ran Lady Blackbird for 'em. It was my first time running the game (and we all had a blast), but I got rather confused when playing the ...
7
votes
3answers
253 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 ...
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
4answers
347 views
How to make spell components relevant again?
The spell components mechanic has always seemed a bit ham-fistedly handled in D&D since 2nd edition. What should be an interesting way of defining a wizard generally becomes "I have my pouch" and ...
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 ...
11
votes
4answers
221 views
Building a sense of desperation
For a GUMSHOE game I want to build up the suspense through the more subtle, but very effective, buildup of a sense of desperation. This is a medical drama and the characters will be in quarantine. I’m ...
26
votes
9answers
903 views
Introducing new players to GURPS
So, I have a group of players who have played a variety of other systems - D&D 3.5, D&D 4th, Shadowrun, White Wolf, etc. Some have played GURPS in the past and had some less than ideal ...
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 ...
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.
...
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 ...
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?
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 ...
36
votes
6answers
905 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
40
votes
12answers
723 views
How do I make weather an important part of the game?
We're starting up a dark ages fantasy game, using some homebrew rules similar to D&D.
As the GM, how can I make weather an important part of the game?
To be clear, I'm not trying to just toss in ...
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 ...
23
votes
8answers
913 views
Suggestions for decreasing metagaming and increasing player immersion?
This question is posed in a great way over on the Paizo boards, where I hang out since I play/run a lot of Pathfinder. Immersion is one of the key parts of the RPG experience to me, so I loved the ...
11
votes
5answers
349 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 ...
10
votes
3answers
388 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 ...
24
votes
5answers
626 views
Dealing with people who turn up late for sessions
I run sessions every Monday evening at a pub in the centre of London, and most people come to play straight from work. Up until recently we were attempting to start at 7pm, but there were one or two ...
2
votes
4answers
280 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
17
votes
6answers
423 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 ...
8
votes
3answers
348 views
Role playing/plot focused one shot sessions
I am faced with a challenge with creating a one shot session for a couple of friends. From experience I can see that it is difficult to indulge players into setting, plot, world, characters in a ...
20
votes
7answers
559 views
How can I convey the nonsensicality of a dream world?
Soon I will be GMing a campaign that allows the players to move freely back and forth between the "real" world and the "dream" world. I do not want this to be a secret or try to confuse the players; ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
8
votes
2answers
206 views
How to make rituals a part of everyday life
I would like to know how to make it clear that little, non-magical rituals such as a blessing before eating, drawing water, harvesting grain, starting a fire and the like are a part of everyday life, ...
4
votes
1answer
207 views
How can I represent the use of fire being misrepresented in a campaign?
This is an extraction of one of the central questions arising from my original (overly broad) question.
I would like to know how to best represent the concept that there is a god who is, through a ...
8
votes
1answer
205 views
How does monster hiding work when some players detect them and some don't?
In one of our battles in DnD Next, I had some bugbears hiding in trees trying to attack the players.
The bugbear rolled a 21 on its attempt to hide. Four of the players rolled less than 21 on their ...
8
votes
5answers
396 views
Starting a campaign at higher level
It's been difficult for me to start a game at higher level than level 1-4 in Pathfinder.
At higher level, the scale of the game changes. In the beginning of level 1-4 you save a village or a clan ...
