Not related to any one particular system of rules.
10
votes
5answers
169 views
How can a GM prevent getting disillusioned at his own game?
I recently began a new game in which I gave the players much more free reign in designing their characters than I might have in the past. What I wound up with was a very morally-diverse party, with ...
15
votes
4answers
382 views
Filling in holes in published adventures?
I have had really bad experiences with Published adventures whenever I try and run a game. My parties always seem to do or ask questions that the published material just doesn't answer. Many times I ...
9
votes
6answers
576 views
Encouraging players to not cheat the item purchase system?
I'm running a campaign for a group of friends who - while not new to roleplaying - are new to the idea of a generic resource points system. For context only (still system-agnostic advice), I'm talking ...
15
votes
5answers
647 views
Why the bad guys don't just teleport somewhere drop a bomb and teleport back?
This question could be also How to avoid teleport/drop bomb/teleport back attacks? or How to avoid the use of Dimensional Shamblers as bomb carriers?
Background
Recently my group of players thought ...
7
votes
1answer
135 views
How to describe combat with brutes
How can I describe combat where player characters face multiple opponents? For example, in 7th Sea there are up to six brutes in a squad. I'd like to have some inspiration for how to describe the ...
15
votes
4answers
298 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 ...
17
votes
8answers
638 views
How can I motivate my fellow players?
Although I'm very much enjoying the one of the games I'm in, the other players seem to be flagging and losing interest. This is a bit disheartening as their lack of enthusiasm is bringing down the ...
1
vote
1answer
127 views
What use is a car, with no infrastructure? [closed]
I've got an idea that's not fully formed yet, kicking around in my head. I'm trying to set up a modern character who ends up stuck in a fantasy setting. Through plot-relevant forces, he was abducted ...
16
votes
5answers
433 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 ...
13
votes
11answers
486 views
How can non-magical healers be useful when magic healing is available?
In many roleplaying games the prerequisite to perform magic healing is knowledge, and during action it is mostly limited by magic capacity and sometimes time. Meanwhile the prerequisite to perform ...
17
votes
6answers
575 views
Making magic “magical”
When I work with settings that contain magic, whether traditional fantasy or others, I always perceive something of a tension when trying to portray the magic between the following factors:
Magic ...
24
votes
12answers
2k views
How does a DM correct the balance after accidentally giving the players too much gold?
Inspired by some of the answers to Pitfalls of using the optional 'XP for Gold' rule in a Basic D&D Retro Clone game?
As DM/GM, you slipped up and ended up giving the PCs significantly ...
29
votes
4answers
375 views
Resources for Complex Puzzle-Traps
I'm looking for resources for designing complex challenges - something that's not quite a puzzle and not quite a trap, but somewhere in between. There are tons of resources for really complex or ...
27
votes
6answers
696 views
How can I check whether an extremely adult/mature plot idea would be accepted by players without revealing any details of the idea itself?
I am running a post-apocalyptic zombie game with a dark and mature story, exploring a number of adult themes. I have complete buy-in from the players; some of them have stated it is their favourite ...
0
votes
1answer
173 views
Why does the ghost of a small peasant girl haunt the castle? [closed]
There's your typical fantasy or medieval castle, complete with some lord or lady owning it, his or her castellan to deal with the daily business needs while they are busy doing their lordly and ...
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 ...
24
votes
3answers
328 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 ...
6
votes
5answers
194 views
Modern or future polar horror adventure
I'm looking for a contemporary or sci-fi horror adventure (for any such rpg), set in a polar – Arctic or Antarctic or alternate planet – environment.
Mind you, I'll be trying to come up with my own ...
21
votes
11answers
665 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 ...
5
votes
1answer
201 views
Powergamer to Roleplayer [closed]
I would classify myself as a powergamer. Most of the characters that I make are carefully optimized and crafted. However, the most "Fun" I ever had in a game was when my character was not optimized ...
20
votes
7answers
756 views
How to handle wealthy player characters as a GM?
One of the long-standing settings our group keeps returning to is classic medieval fantasy. (Examples are MERP, Rolemaster, The Dark Eye -- But this question is aimed to be system agnostic and is ...
6
votes
2answers
120 views
Methods for round-robin style DM'ing?
Round-robin storytelling has been around for a while, and something I have always been interested in experimenting with a variation of DM'ing where players take turns becoming the DM in the same ...
20
votes
9answers
840 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 ...
12
votes
9answers
806 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 ...
30
votes
7answers
965 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 ...
7
votes
3answers
148 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 ...
10
votes
10answers
835 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 ...
8
votes
7answers
512 views
How do I set the base price in a barter system?
I'm currently working on a homebrew system and one concept I was intending to incorperate is that there is no in-game currency; items are traded using a barter system.
The thing is, how do I set a ...
26
votes
13answers
1k views
How can I deal with players who are reluctant to spend resources?
There's a certain kind of people who like to hoard whatever limited resources they get "just in case"; they usually end up never using them, always waiting for bigger emergency. On the other hand, ...
27
votes
7answers
719 views
What makes a character/creature/power/ability/etc. over-powered?
In generic terms, what makes something, regardless of what game it's being used in, over powered?
I hear the term a lot, and while I can recognize it when I see it in-play (often due to someone ...
22
votes
11answers
957 views
What to do when your character is just too good?
I'm playing in the Paizo Pathfinder Jade Regent adventure path and we're having a good time so far (campaign blog and session summaries). However, as my character has gone up in power I'm now ...
15
votes
4answers
988 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
295 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
199 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
920 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 ...
8
votes
3answers
222 views
How do I make a story based campaign revolve around a megadungeon?
I'd really like to make a more story-heavy setting in my next fantasy campaign, but I also love megadungeons. What is a good way to use a megadungeon to tell a story instead of as a place for ...
10
votes
5answers
314 views
How to go from a humorous campaign to a more serious one?
I am currently running a D&D 4E game. The game started off kind of goofy (we have a thrikreen rogue with glowing blonde hair, an ale-obsessed dwarf battlemind, a ditzy human wizard, and a dwarf ...
11
votes
3answers
506 views
Where does the stereotype that wizards can't wear armor come from? [closed]
Why are wizards and their ilk so restricted in their choice of personal armor in most fantasy roleplaying games? (...let alone novels etc.)
Sure, learning takes up a lot of time, especially about ...
6
votes
3answers
315 views
Where do the standard racial tropes for Dwarves come from? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Where does the D&D concept of a dwarf come from?
In all traditional fantasy RPGs I've heard of or played, Dwarves are a mining/smithing race of short, anti-magic ...
13
votes
6answers
348 views
Is the information gained from a knowledge check fallible?
I got into a big argument on another forum about the fallibility of knowledge checks. I was under the impression that they represented things a character had learned by virtue of living life in the ...
21
votes
6answers
707 views
When GMing in a high-tech game world how do you handle potentially disruptive tech?
This question stems from my Eclipse Phase campaign, but applies to any high-tech setting. While the setting books describe a wealth of technology, there are plenty of tools that are not listed. That's ...
10
votes
1answer
104 views
Software to keep track of mapnotes
Can anyone recommend a good tool for keeping track of maps? I want to run an Eberron setting game, and I'd like to use the Eberron map, which I have as a high-resolution png, but be able to add quick ...
18
votes
10answers
982 views
How do I encourage a GM to use the rules as written?
Related to this question, there are some game masters who either don't know the rules or ignore them properly. They come into conflict with rules lawyers, players who know the rules well and expect ...
6
votes
3answers
172 views
Representing different languages in online games
What are methods for clearly representing different languages (e.g. Elven, Dwarven, Deep Speech) in text-based online play?
We have tried footnotes and are using colored text (green for Elven, brown ...
4
votes
2answers
223 views
Star System Summary Sheets
I'm updating my Star Wars notes (from hastily scribbled notepads) to a more organised format in a binder and I'd like to make a page that summarises each star-system with helpful information, like ...
10
votes
4answers
351 views
Tips on playing a character whose goals run contrary to his outward actions (to the other PCs)
So, in one of the previous campaigns I played, I had a character whose own personal goals often ended up at odds with the rest of the party (who all agreed with each other). It was difficult to ...
15
votes
4answers
355 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" ...
23
votes
7answers
357 views
How do you get a new player engaged in an old campaign?
A group of three players had been going through my campaign for a year and a half, when a fourth player was added around level 15.
The new player entered in media res: there was a ton of back story, ...
12
votes
3answers
302 views
How can I build open-ended questions into a scenario in a GM driven world?
Inspired by this question.
In a game where the GM has the traditional role of answering all the questions about the world, what is the benefit of building open-ended questions into the scenario for ...
7
votes
3answers
228 views
How do I keep track of “hidden” in game variables without getting bogged down?
I'm currently designing a campaign that has a monumental amount of in-game variables to keep track of, which I'll need to check every time a certain kind of event happens. Reducing the number of ...
