The practical arts and methods applied to gamemastering.
8
votes
4answers
131 views
Encouraging players to play games they normally wouldn't?
So one of my traditional groups has a member who's gone through a pretty serious health crisis, and in addition to that the remainder of the group is going on some traveling soon. Eventually we'll get ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
Introducing new players to Legend: Shared track game?
A little while ago in Legend’s IRC channel, someone suggested having a thematic team where everyone shared a track; this was largely shouted down because in Legend, you can have the theme of, ...
14
votes
4answers
319 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
4answers
318 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 ...
14
votes
7answers
274 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 ...
30
votes
7answers
1k views
How To Divide Up Loot?
I've been GMing a very successful (Pathfinder) campaign for quite a few months now, but we've developed a bit of a problem I'm not sure how to resolve: loot distribution.
None of my players are ...
9
votes
3answers
122 views
How should I properly lay out the expectations of my players for the campaign, and how do I support these expectations?
I've been planning on running my 1000 point Wild Talents campaign for some time now, and I think it diverges significantly in how it will be played from campaigns we've run in the past. My group has ...
10
votes
3answers
245 views
Dealing with a disgruntled player leaving my campaign
So I've been running a game of Shadowrun over the internet for the past few weeks online, and I've had a hectic personal schedule, so I haven't been able to do lengthy sessions. I've got a player who ...
15
votes
6answers
227 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 ...
29
votes
4answers
319 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 ...
29
votes
8answers
783 views
What are the essential features of a successful evil campaign?
Until this point, I have demanded that my players not build characters with evil alignments, as I am familiar with how to design campaigns and adventures around "good" or "redemption" themes. ...
1
vote
3answers
169 views
What CR adjustment should I make for Divine Rank 0
How do I calculate the the CR adjustment when adding Divine Rank 0?
Note: Yes, I know that not everyone agrees with the CR but it is a useful overall guide. So, with that being said I need to make ...
16
votes
1answer
253 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 ...
13
votes
2answers
128 views
How do you turn a plot seed into a scenario
Given a plot seed, how do you turn that into a scenario complete with clues, conflicts, NPC's, places, etc.?
e.g., players are Delta Green-style or Hunter the Vigil anti-supernatural secret agents, ...
11
votes
10answers
493 views
How to motivate players without the promise of gold and XP?
The only way I seem to be able to motivate my players to go on adventures is the promise of gold or XP they don't seem to want to go anywhere unless some kind of physical reward is promised.
For ...
14
votes
6answers
328 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 ...
26
votes
6answers
644 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 ...
17
votes
5answers
762 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 ...
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 ...
18
votes
6answers
587 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 ...
16
votes
7answers
402 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
173 views
Evolving a region from war torn to merchant hub
Currently in my planning for my campaign I have a desert region that would make for a great way to travel, except tribes of Monkeys are at war. One side quest I have planned out has the players end ...
9
votes
6answers
501 views
How can I introduce twists to the setting without asking the players
I'm starting a new game tomorrow and I'd like to throw something unusual at my players. The setting is a typical Tolkien-esque setting and the players are aware of that..but I'd like to introduce ...
24
votes
3answers
316 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
How can I maintain game balance at extremely high levels of power in a point-build system?
More specifically, how do I keep the game fun when all parties involved are extremely powerful? The game I'm asking this about is a Wild Talents 2nd Edition game where everyone is built on a budget of ...
2
votes
3answers
236 views
How do you keep players from using out of game knowledge when their characters wouldn't know the answer? [duplicate]
A lot of times I find my players using their knowledge about the game to there characters advantage even when the characters would have no way of knowing certain information.
Here is an example. ...
19
votes
9answers
593 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 ...
16
votes
2answers
206 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 ...
8
votes
2answers
191 views
Fantasy accent and dialect, or how do I speak like Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas?
For example, inhabitants of Planescape setting say things like "chant" for news or gossip, "berk" or "cutter" for a kind of adventurer, "barmy" for crazy, etc.
I want to portray a guy from a far away ...
17
votes
6answers
623 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 ...
20
votes
9answers
803 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
786 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
904 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 ...
18
votes
4answers
370 views
How do I learn to become a good GM?
I have played and tried to GM games since I was in elementary school, beginning with games like Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and Champions. Recently, I've gotten dack into gaming with a variety of other ...
8
votes
4answers
535 views
Responding to players paying exclusively with gold coins
I noticed that my players would pay everything in gold. A simple piece of bread? 1 copper. "Here, have a gold and keep the change." They get into a tavern. A beer! Here, have a gold coin and keep the ...
7
votes
3answers
137 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
93 views
Reward distribution and story continuity with rotating players/GMs
There are some people who like to GM, and maybe even like it more than role playing themselves. If you have one of those rare specimen in your group consider yourself lucky. Others are not averse to ...
23
votes
6answers
502 views
How to get players to be curious and ask questions?
I have recently noticed that my players don't really try to find out much about the world and story beyond the direct "what do we see?" I want to have them interact more with their environment and ...
10
votes
10answers
829 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
134 views
How can I gauge the strength of my PCs in Legend?
I've been trying to run Legend on and off lately, and I find myself faced with a frustration. Though I find the Mook rules easy enough to comprehend, I can't seem to create appropriate challenges for ...
20
votes
9answers
732 views
How do I help my players get past an obstacle I didn't intend?
Here's the situation. There's a locked door that prevents any further progress into the dungeon. There's a keyhole in the door and a message basically saying that the key needs to be wished for.
In ...
17
votes
6answers
843 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 ...
10
votes
7answers
420 views
Ending combat: should I “kill” monsters prematurely?
Out of time constraints (my group can generally only meet for 3-4 hours every other week), as a GM I frequently find myself prematurely "killing" off monsters when it seems clear to me that the ...
9
votes
4answers
299 views
Making epic combat interesting and challenging but not complicated
I'm running up on the tail end of a year-and-a-half 4e campaign, and epic levels are exhausting to GM. Everyone has more weird powers than you can shake a dragon at, and that includes the NPCs ...
9
votes
11answers
730 views
How to mitigate glass cannon syndrome in Pathfinder?
This is the more gamey part of my other question, What to do when your character is just too good?
In D&D 3.5e and Pathfinder, damage output grows very, very quickly. Much more quickly than hit ...
0
votes
6answers
537 views
GM developed recurring villain
I have started my first 3.5 campaign and had the idea that as the GM I could still enjoy playing by making a character using the normal rules and running it as the villain. It would gain the same ...
12
votes
3answers
306 views
Tips and pitfalls for a variable-size group
My gaming group has very fluid attendance. From week to week it's been known to fluctuate between ten and two players, usually hovering around three to five. I've become reasonably adept at building ...
15
votes
4answers
972 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 ...
12
votes
5answers
370 views
Should the DM try to actively fix party wealth in a sandbox game?
This question is inspired by this WBL question. The consensus seems to be that WBL is important. But in a sandbox game , where the course of action is determined by the players, what should be DM's ...
21
votes
7answers
901 views
How can I invoke actual fear in my players?
I'm a DM that focuses heavily on story, description and setting. My goal is to send players home wanting -- no, longing -- to actually be part of the mythos I've created.
The ultimate goal for me as ...
