You could flat out tell the players they are transporting a block of high yield plastic explosives to a buyer. Now they know it's a bomb... you don't have to worry about them investigating it. When ...

He doesn't need to pick up the books in the first place. RPG's are a recreational activity. If he doesn't want to spend time reading gaming books, then he really has no obligation to do so. Maybe ...

The best way for the wizard to defend a spellbook is the same as the best way for you to protect your precious computer files - have multiple backups. But, if he hasn't had time to make a copy, if ...

From your clarification it sounds like he wants to be playing a front-line fighter, so perhaps it's best (and safest for his long term prospects) if he starts gaining levels as one. That said, some ...

Yes.... and No. Your confusion is about how timing is handled in RPGs. Typically the 6 second rounds only are used during combat or other time critical events/encounters. In the general course of ...

Here's two groups that might not immediately come to mind when you think of dangerous animals: Insects Swarms of angy wasps and bees, biting ants, disease carrying mosquitos, poisonous spiders... a ...

The key to fear is the unknown. It is familiarity that breeds the complacency you see. So, in your case, do not use creatures your players know. And give the ones they do know different, unexpected ...

No, it's not a problem You can't always be prepared for what your players are going to do. That's part of the fun of RPGs. In fact, if the time is towards the end of the session anyways, don't be ...

To be fair to the RAW, I don't think a hole covered by branches is the kind of 'pit trap' they had in mind for the craft checks. If you look at the rules, they are specifically talking about traps in ...

Player Character Gnomes can speak with "any burrowing mammal (such as moles, badgers, ground squirrels, etc)" in first edition AD&D (PHB pg 16). The blue book basic D&D (1974-78) does not ...

You say the player is at the point that the possibility of character death is causing him real world stress. You don't define what that stress is. But since its certainly enough to make you post ...

You don't. You took a chance with a Deck of Many Things, now you have to live with the consequences. That's the very point of those decks. The only way you can change back is if your GM goes soft ...

One means, in addition to some of the excellent ideas already mentioned, is to separate XP from combat all together. Grant XP in blocks, by your descretion, for the characters succeeding in their ...

Clearly you need new dice! And dont let the old ones sit in the same dice bag as the new ones, or the bad luck will rub off on them. Thats a mistake a lot of gamers make. I recommend a complete, ...

A fast running underground river/stream that they have to float/swim/dive down would do the trick. That would give you a one-way entrance to a section of the dungeon (barring magic use that can get ...

I agree with Sardathrion. This is really a GM'ing problem. The GM doesn't know how to challenge a high level character. Why, for example, would a single Ninja walk right up and diectly engage a ...

Backgrounds are a great way to help the GM. I once had a character with three ex-wives. The GM exploited that, I assure you. Every so often one of them would make an appearance for some reason or ...

So long as your characters aren't making stupid decisions that are detrimental to the party, I don't see any reason you need to change how you play them. For example, if you buy some magic beans ...

I recommend against doing this. If you do, be prepared to explain why they can't do things such as dig around it or use spells to get to the other side. I once had a group spend a month's worth of ...

In a dojo, they are behind closed doors and surrounded by other warriors. It's a private area. So I don't think that should be considered in public. It'd be very different if they were at a palace, ...

Reward them with something other than XP. You might instead hand out tokens that can be cashed in as a bonus to a roll, or perhaps a re-roll. Being able to re-roll a failed save is no small bonus! ...

Being Paranoia, you might consider making the outcome less than logical. The troubleshooters are separated and each questioned. Offer a reward to whoever rats out the other as a traitor. Then... ...

I dont think its a good idea to distract the players like that. You run the risk of them focusing more on the movie than the game, esp as other players are taking their turns. That could really ...

Don't tell them to draw dungeon maps But not because they shouldn't be drawing them. Part of the fun of RPG's is the adventure. And a lot of that is learning how to adventure. Many of us old time ...

As a GM, you can usually manipulate the players into doing nearly anything you want them to do, without 'railroading' them. The trick is misdirection. The key is to distract them with some other ...

Here's how I keep combats very fast. Mind you, we play a very un-crunchy, variant of 3E. Initiative. I've found that trying to maintain a list of who has initiative, who goes next, etc, slows ...

The noble GM screen is just as useful to me now as it was 30 years ago. In fact, now that our group is back to D&D, I'm actually using my first edition GM screen again. I dont use it for ...

"hyperventilate" is a good one. Anyone (humanoid) hyperventilating for a minute is going to pass out, taking them out for at least a couple of rounds. The downside is that you can only use it on ...

Have the other players control the missing players' characters. The cleric really shouldn't be out front, but is by necessity because the barbarian is missing. If a player doesn't show up for a game,...

The scenario you describe is text-book GM 'railroading', which may be what Bob is really rebelling against. Some players simply don't enjoy having their characters blackmailed like that, and it will ...