It’s a sad fact of playing RPGs that if you make a storyline dependent on a particular character, they’ll almost inevitably die. So how do you recover from a round of bad rolls that sees a character suddenly at -43 hit points?
First of all, this can really throw you. So don’t be afraid to be honest with your players and say “look, I didn’t see that coming and it’s going to disrupt the game a bit. Does everyone want to grab snacks/ have a smoke/ give me a few minutes to work around it?” They’ll understand that sometimes this just happens, and isn’t planned. Next, have some backup options. Does the prophecy say something like “the person carrying the sword of BLAH will defeat the Demon King”, rather than “this specific person will defeat the Demon King”? This way, someone can pick up that sword and carry on in their wake. Or if it’s just a mission, like “liberate my homeland”, you might have slightly more problems, unless a younger sibling or distant cousin wants to pick up where the left off? You can always introduce new characters- consider how the plot would react with them gone. If you have a magic prophecy, does a “new” candidate get introduced from the wings, like the Potential Slayers from Buffy. If someone then gets resurrected, how does the prophecy cope with two agents? (Does one of them then turn evil?) Another option is to keep them “alive” but defeated in another way- permanently injured, disfigured, captured, and so on. You want failing (and being “killed”) to still have a consequence, though, so this can be harder. Imagine if it was a TV series though- if one of the characters is killed... where does the storyline go? (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 4 March 2019) It can sometimes be hard to stay on target and keep on going with any project- whether that’s the campaign you just started, the setting that just got released, or other hobbies you’re working on.
So what are some tricks you can use to keep your mojo? First of all, it can be useful to keep a project diary- and start a new one for each new shiny project. Pick up some cheap exercise books and keep them around for when you see an idea. When you see something that gets you inspired, grab one of the empty books and write it down in there. Continue to accumulate stuff- links, names of movies or TV shows that have inspired you, pictures, anything that makes you go “oh, yeah, that’s why I want to do that thing!”. When you find your energy waning on that project, you can run through your old project journal to get re-inspired. Secondly, limiting your project. Not every campaign will be, or should be, a multi-year epic with dozens of PCs and decades of time (in-game) passing. Build up to that, and certainly allow for success, but start with setting a goal (defeat the planetary governor, or rescue the King, or liberate the nation from its invaders) and just accomplishing that goal. If the players want to keep going, leave yourself a hook for escalating the threat (the planetary governor works for the Evil Empire, the King was kidnapped because of a plot by Doppelgangers, the invaders were being driven by commands from a ancient Demigod), but don’t feel the need to use it. Next, have an idea of big events which will affect your project. If one of your players is going out of town for a month, plan that your group still meets. Play Munchkin, play a few one-shots or something, but don’t lose focus and just never bother coming back to the game. It’s also handy to discuss with a group what your threshold is for missing people, before canceling a game. For my seven players, our agreed threshold is two people, which means if a couple is out for the week due to parents/-in-law visiting, we plan to watch a movie, or play board games. That way, we stay together as a group, and people don’t get left out. If something is going to cause a delay or interruption, it’s important to be able to recover from that. Last, and most important, buff your Willpower saves! When you start feeling your enthusiasm for what you’re doing crumbling, or you start hearing the siren song of a new project calling, have the self-awareness to recognize it and catalogue the new thought in a new journal (or an existing one). Then, re-read your current journal and remind yourself why this project sparked that excitement in you, and that you want to see it through. This can also be useful if your project hits a snag or hasn’t been going the way you expected it to. By the way, this doesn’t just apply to your gaming. The reason I use ‘project’ here is because I’m also a wargamer, writer, and work on a whole bunch of other ideas distracting me. And then I’ve got to write a daily post here... you see how this goes? (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 18 February 2019) Today marks a year that I’ve been posting for Game Masters Stash. Honestly, I had a bunch of ideas for what I wanted to post for today, and I’ll probably use a bunch of them later, but today kind of crept up on me, and poor sleep hit me with a 4d6 sneak attack, so I’m a little under the weather!
This has been a fantastic year. Forcing myself to write something, anything, for today’s post, just about every day has measurably improved my writing, and my confidence in GMing. I’ve gotten to test out a bunch of ideas, edit, and get feedback from players, fellow GMs, and even some industry professionals recently, which has blown my mind. I’ve had runaway successes on posts I thought would be run-of-the-mill and posts I thought for sure would be a success but flopped, and those are a really valuable part of writing too! So thank you to Ragnarokgar who has made Game Masters Stash possible, to Arjade who has always had my back, and our newest contributor Pyre, who’s doing some great stuff. Thanks to all the past contributors we’ve had while I’ve been here. And most importantly, thanks to all our readers. Your enjoyment of what we write keeps us coming back. So keep reading for ongoing Game Mastering content, and hopefully we’ll have some exciting news for you shortly... when I get my act together! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 8 February 2019)
Being a Game Master is already hard- you’ve got to deal with your players’ wacky antics, try to get on with an ongoing plot, control the whole rest of the world... and our job is to make that all easier for you.
Keeping a Session Record Sheet for each game helps you to keep track of NPCs you’ve invented, or that your players have cheated/stolen from/murdered. It helps you track how much experience you’ve given out, and how much gold, and how many magic items (and what they are!). It can also let you track what kinds of creatures your players are defeating, whether it’s just for tracking how many of the crime boss’ minions you’ve taken out, or if you want to do some cool infographics to track progress. You can also keep these in a folder or something so that you can refer back to them, and track what’s been going on, how much time has passed, and how the evil villain’s plan is going. So with that in mind, I’ve created a Game Masters Stash- branded one, so you can print a pile of these and use them to help in tracking your game, and making your Game Mastering even easier! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 3 February 2019) Sometimes, including elements from another game that your players already know can allow for some fun and memorable encounters.
The first Harry Potter book, the Philosopher’s Stone, has Wizard chess as one of the puzzles that the ‘player characters’ have to contend with, in order to proceed to confronting the ‘boss’ of their game. This works well in a location or milieu where “powerful magic makes you do only X”, or controls reality somehow, so you can control players’ actions within the scope and rules of that game. However, when you incorporate other elements, you can allow them to think “outside of the box” and cheat the rules, like jumping from the back of a serpent onto a nearby ladder, in some kind of weird Snakes and Ladders construction. This can be an enjoyable encounter where a player who knows that specific game can really shine, but also breaks down the traditional rules of a D&D-style game. How you can use this in your games: • A mad wizard’s dungeon is a staple of D&D going all the way back to Gary Gygax’s dungeon ‘Castle Greyhawk’. Adding strange elements like this that don’t really make sense, but have quite tightly controlled outcomes and rules can be very strange but also good. • The Fey are renowned for being strange, and forcing intruders to participate in odd games seems very strange indeed. They may even force players to take very unusual roles, like making a Barbarian take the place of a pawn, while a Mage is assigned to the role of a Knight, just for giggles. • Findiing bizarre demiplanes with strange rules assigned to them is almost required for interdimensional travel, and can actually be used as a filler side-quest (especially if you’ve forgotten to make notes for stuff). Just haul out another old game from the games cupboard (you don’t have a games cupboard? Acquire one, post-haste!) and find some way to awkwardly jam it in! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 21 January 2019) “Aragorn, son of Arathorn” has a certain ring to it. As does “Danaerys Stormborn”, or “Elric of Melnibone”. Not so much, “Bob the Fighter”. It’s important to pick something that’s not going to completely undermine the seriousness (or playfulness) of the setting, and that’s something you need to discuss with your other players, including the GM, at your ‘session zero’. If it’s a real-world modern game where you have Barbaras and Stephens, a “Cato Sicarius” will be the out-of-place option. Or if you’re playing MLP: Friendship is Magic, “Malus Darkblade” might seem a little out of character. But as tempting as it may be, don’t just pick a completely dull name if you can’t think of anything, unless your character’s whole schtick is just being an ordinary ‘straight man’ to contrast the weirdness of the setting. Resources you can use to help you: • Read. Honestly, read anything you can. Spot names wherever you are and whatever you’re reading (customer names are good if you’re noticing them at work, but don’t breach anyone’s privacy- mix things up). If you can find somewhere that has a bunch of names from a culture different to your own, that’s A-grade stuff, which can give you some really interesting names. • Get a baby name book in any second-hand shop (and freak out your parents slightly). They’ll often have names with different cultural influences, which can give you some fantastic stuff to work with. • Failing that, a lot of names from fantasy sources are based on real names, with some letters or sounds changed. “Aaron” can become “Aeron”, “Arron”, or “Ayren” just by substituting some different sounds into it. “Stayvon” from “Stephen”, “Bobara” from “Barbara”... maybe that’s not the best example. The point being, we have such amazing resources available to us, there’s really no excuse for a name that spoils other players’ immersion. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash 11 January 2019) Categories All After my last big campaign, I’m working on changing up the world and it’s rules. I’m a D&D 3.5 diehard, but I considered 5e, as the rules are a little more... elegant, I guess? However, I discussed it with the group, and we’ve decided to stick with 3.5, making some rules and modifications. I’m stealing some ideas from 4e, 5e, Pathfinder, and even earlier editions and other games completely. One thing I decided that I wanted to do was rewrite the class system entirely. Which also involved reworking how casting spells worked, how some feats worked, and a whole bunch of related stuff. So far, I’ve been getting distracted from it at every chance I get, but I’ve got five classes fully rewritten of the twelve I’m planning, and some good progress on another three. I’ve scrapped a lot of existing roles, trying to replace them with classes that are individually more interesting, and share a similar power curve and power balance. I’ve got a few things working with the magic system, making arcane and divine magic *cast* and *operate* very differently- I’ll be curious to see how that works on the table. Giving everyone similarly powerful abilities at exactly the same formula, rather than 3.5’s “ad hoc” approach to when people get particular powers, was one of my aims. I’ll probably run things past people here for some ideas and feedback as I go, you folks usually have some great feedback! So, hit me! What mechanics are cool functions have you seen in a game that you’d incorporate to D&D? What interesting things have you always wanted to see in a game but never really found a way of expressing? Give me some ideas to work with- maybe you can help me out of my rut, and I might be able to solve yours! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 17 December 2018) Categories All Today’s post will be dear to the hearts of a few friends who have recently, or are expecting their Kickstarter to deliver, a junior human. There are a lot of things in society that are really difficult to do with junior humans around. Paragliding, for example. But gaming doesn’t have to be one. It’s already indoors, for one thing. This will also depend how old your junior human is. • Freshly-delivered ones don’t need a lot- some feeding and changing, some cuddles, and a lot of sleep. As long as you make sure they’re safe, and the noise doesn’t disturb them, gaming might have to be at your place for a little while. A little understanding from your fellow players will go a long way with this, and make sure that gamers who multiclass into Parent don’t lose their old class abilities. • Crawlers (1/2 - 3 HD) can be a little more trouble, as it’s generally frowned upon to cage them. But keeping them in a safe area isn’t too hard, and as long as they’re not gnawing on your game books or character sheets, the socialization will usually help them be comfortable around people. • Talkers (3-5 HD) are where you usually have a problem area, as they need a bit more attention. Which is fair, because they’re trying to work out the entire game system that our universe operates on, and no-one will just sit them down with a nicely-illustrated book that explains it. Falling back on TV is often an acceptable deflection, but be prepared to accidentally gain a +5 memorization bonus on every episode of Peppa Pig. • Students (6+ HD) are often able to handle things on their own, either joining in, hanging around on the periphery and browsing a Monstrous Manual, or finding other things to do on their own. Most importantly, don’t allow your Gamer/Parent multiclass friends to languish. A strong adventuring party protects and looks after the members who can’t be present all the time, and this Friday night might be their only opportunity to game now. Have fun, and bring your junior humans! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 14 December 2018) Categories All On a Friday afternoon when I sit down with my friends for gaming, I don’t need to prove how hardcore a gamer I am, I just want to tell some stories and have fun. It’s a good idea to discuss this in your Session Zero with your players, so people have an idea whether to make characters in a Dark Souls-style campaign (low individual story, high difficulty, a mostly uncaring world), or a some kind of Anime-style game (very high individual story, moderate to high difficulty, a world which panders to characters a little more), or the new Netflix She-Ra (High individual story, lower than moderate difficulty, a world where heroic action is rewarded). You can vary from your difficulty slider a bit (a grim horror episode, a light-hearted interlude, or a fluffy animal that needs capturing), but that stretches your difficulty, rather than resetting it. Some people prefer a “hard Hard” game, whereas others want to experience a story and feel like a superhero. Work out what it is your players (and you) are interested in, reach a compromise, and be okay with that. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 4 December 2018) Categories All Most of you will have seen the news about Stan Lee passing on today, which has been long expected/dreaded, but really isn’t a surprise. I wanted to take a minute to honour those who created the things we draw pleasure and inspiration from- the Creators. We’ve lost several titans of the entertainment industry in recent times. JRR Tolkien went long before my birth, in 1973, but what he created with the Lord of the Rings launched a vast amount of what we know now as the fantasy genre. Gary Gygax, the “father of D&D”, died only ten years ago, and what he and Dave Arneson (2009) created with D&D is the reason most of us are here now. Without their work, modern role-playing games wouldn’t be what they are. And now Stan Lee, the face of Marvel. Since 1939, he had been in the comics business, telling stories, creating characters, and recently heavily involved in creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what is now a juggernaut of 21 feature films, 11 TV shows, 5 short films, and countless other tie-ins over a period of only 10 years (that’s right, Iron Man was only released in 2008!), a shared universe that has never been accomplished before. The MCU has normalized a lot of what used to be just geek culture, and brought superheroes into amazing colour and life. Countless millions of people are reading comics now who would never have touched them before, and opening up to fantastic storytelling. (And we can make them gamers more easily now, too!) So whether you’re just pressing F to pay respects or gushing a long, heartfelt letter about what it meant to you, thank the people who have created what you love. Thank your GMs for the worlds they create. We’re not all Ed Greenwood (who is thankfully still alive), but a GM’s work is (sadly) never complete. Thanks for everything, Stan Lee. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 13 November 2018) Categories All It’s a fact of life, it happens to gamers everywhere, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of... sometimes you (or another player) just can’t get to your game. As it happens, I’ve got important civic reasons I won’t be able to post for the next six weeks or so, except very rarely, so I’m trying to use the time to write up some new topics and think of posts I’ll be able to do. This seems like a good one. So, what do you do? There are a few schools of thought. Firstly, some GMs simply drag the missing players’ characters along, and they continue to take damage, be targeted by traps/effects, and so on. But coming back to find that your character died because you were sick last week is no fun, so it’s not my favourite. You can always have them ‘on patrol’ or scouting somewhere out of the room, which avoids the first problem, but it does occasionally mean some narrative stretching, especially when something unexpected crops up (getting lost, a teleport trap, or whatever). It does mean that people don’t suffer for being away, though, and that seems better overall to me. Alternately, a character ‘just isn’t there’, which means they miss out on all the damage, treasure, and experience, but this isn’t much fun either. Losing out on XP because your mother needed a hand putting shelves up, just plain sucks. In addition, most modern games don’t work well with unequal experience, working on accomplishments, or the entire group leveling up at once. All of these are also based on someone being out for one night, but what if someone has to be away for longer? Sick parents, sick kids, work, school/university, or any other kinds of complication might remove a player for a longer period, which isn’t fun for anyone. What can often be a good idea is to catch up with them by email, and agree on a narrative reason their character isn’t there- an emergency comes up and they need to go <rescue someone, venture across the seas, return home>. Catch them up when they’re able to get back and maybe have a quick, written “flashback scene” that they can tell the other players when they’re able to return, so that it makes sense that they’re still the same level and appropriately geared. The end result is, look after your players. Don’t punish them for not being able to make it, because it might be circumstances completely out of their control. Do you have any ideas or examples of how you’ve dealt with players being absent, short- or long-term? Tell us about it, and I’ll be able to read them and think of better times... (Originally posted on 27 September 2018) Categories All I was asked recently about playing a campaign in a Dark Ages/Roman Britain style setting, which I’m totally choosing to believe was based on my post from a little while ago about the “Keep on the Borderlands” campaign model. Our reader asked if we had any resources to help out with building the campaign in more detail, like exploration maps, and maps of ruins, temples, and wilderness encounters. All of these are really useful details in working out how a game will work, and it functions as an example of the next step beyond writing a quick blurb and just running with it. So, here are the resources I shared with my dear reader: • a map of 400AD Britain, with 6 mile hexes (a horizon is usually 6 miles/10km or so away, making it ideal size for territory maps) - https://darkagebritannia.weebly.com/ I found this with a google search, and you can find random hex map generators all over the place. • a wilderness random map generator, which can specify a few details, such as whether a river runs through the map, and whether or not you want a grid - http://www.gozzys.com/wilderness-maps • a dungeon map generator (I’d tend to generate small dungeons rather than massive ones, but that’s up to individual taste a bit), from the same creator - http://www.gozzys.com/dungeon-maps • and some amazing pre-illustrated maps done by someone who’s put them up on the internet for use, the incredibly talented Djekspek on DeviantArt - https://www.deviantart.com/djekspek/gallery/?catpath=%2F&edit=0&q=Map (which includes the feature image for today’s post). This all means that, regardless of what role playing rule system is being used, there are many MANY resources we can all use for making our game that much easier. All the video game RPGs do it- have randomly generated maps for random encounters, so why shouldn’t you? Your players don’t even have to know that these were randomly generated! For all they know, you’re just a genius. And this can take HOURS of planning out of your week. If you know you’ve got some forest encounters coming up, generate a few maps, print them out, and just sketch them into a battle map, or whatever you use. It’ll look like you prepared! And that’s how the magic of being a GM works! If you have any further questions, whether specific or general, message me. If Idon’t have an answer straight away, I’ll likely be able to find some resources to help you with. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 10 September 2018) Categories All [Notice, this is a discussion for our fantasy worlds, and is useful as a representative tool only. It’s not designed to be perfectly representative, and we don’t want to get bogged down in discussion of in-real-life politics, if we can avoid it.] Assigning law-chaos/good-evil alignments to people is hard enough (and generates a lot of disagreement), but assigning a similar alignmental system to governments or organizations is difficult, because policy is usually less personally-driven, and more driven by social change. Governments and policies can be influenced by religions or powerful people, but are generally slower to change, and given to oddly antiquated throwbacks to older traditions or laws. This is a suggestion to be able to assess a diverse and cosmopolitan group more easily. This isn’t meant to be a hard-and-fast system- there will obviously be corrupt members of an authoritative group, given to graft, and kind organizations within a dispassionate society- it just gives a guideline of how the society functions. * Authoritative groups tend towards rules- they are commanding and trust in the role of laws to do their job. Societies like this tend to want to follow rules, and when a problem arises, they change the law legally. They want to tend to do things “the right way”. Authoritative groups tend towards tighter rank structures, and are likely to have more ranks in any tiers of society, whether military, public servant, or ruler. They will generally have specific and accepted ways of dealing with conflict between people, and between people of different ranks. Societies that have been in place for a long time are often authoritative (like Dwarves). * Permissive groups tend to thinking that people will do best when left alone- they trust that people will do the right thing, without having to make laws controlling them. They are often “allowed, but not obligatory”, meaning you *can*, but don’t *have to*. They favour more open communication between all, regardless of rank, and favour individuals being chosen by others as representatives, rather than inherited or long-standing roles. They tend to approach conflict based on the situation, and are more free-minded. Societies that are nomadic, or have less outside dangers, tend towards permissive alignments (like Elves). * Caring groups tend towards looking after those who cannot care for themselves- whether indigents, the aged, or the young. Their policies will tend to be thoughtful of those without power. Their society will usually be structured around some sort of obligation arrangement, where an individual or group looks after and gains support from a larger, less powerful group. This may involve claiming tax or tithes from them, but is also more likely to be gentler about the collection of those things. Groups with strong cultural ties to each others’ families and friends will tend to be caring (like Halflings). * Dispassionate groups tend towards believing that “the rules are the rules”, and that those who make the rules tend to be the smartest or most powerful, therefore they’re in the position that they *should* make the rules. If others are disadvantaged by those rules, it gives them an opportunity to ‘step up’ and try harder, and this effort, if successful, makes them worthy of power. Their laws will tend not to be influenced by emotion, and believe that they are more rational, impartial, and logical. Groups under outside threat or military control will tend towards dispassionate government (like Gnomes). As can be seen, these map slightly towards the traditional law-chaos/good-evil alignments, but less so- it’s hard for any established society to actually be Chaotic Evil, but being permissive and dispassionate seems altogether possible. As I mentioned, this is just a representative tool, and not all groups or societies will fit it perfectly. It might just give you an easier way to think about, and consider your groups. (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 7 July 2018) Categories All Sometimes, no matter how good the plan, no matter how good the stats and the spells and all the magic items, the dice betray you, and someone dies. Which is clearly a bummer for them, and affects the mood at the table (unless you’re running a high character turnover game). So, how do you move on, let the player feel like they’re still useful at the table, and refocus to finishing off the session? As well, if you’ve got dangling story arcs dependent on them, how do you deal with that? And how do you deal with Raising/Resurrection without robbing the narrative of its impact, and making being dead just feel like a revolving door? I support the mantra of “be a fan of your characters”- not to the point of saving them unnecessarily, but wanting to see their story told, and see them complete their goals. This can be really hard if the dice dictate that they’re dead, but you’ve got major storylines hinging on them. It can bring up some real connection to a character that you don’t want to lose, or cement that it’s time to move on, so be patient with your players being upset- they’re losing a character that they’ve bonded with at some level or another. I have seen some GMs discuss postponing the death until the player chooses, but they have been mortally wounded and their doom is definitely upon them- a maximum of one session away, unless some urgent method of preserving their life can be found. This lets the player have some agency in the death, and do something cool and useful before they go, like Boromir’s death in the Lord of the Rings movies. This works best if you’re really into story-driven games, and your players have individual motivations and subplots going on during the campaign. Or, you take the dice exactly as they lie, and death is random, unexpected, and unpredictable. This model works best if you’re employing reliable and mechanical (“cast the spell, it works, you’re alive again”) resurrection, because it’s using the rules exactly as written, with no fear or favour towards any particular player. Another option is applying serious injuries instead of death (if the player chooses). This lets you continue about the story with minimal interruption, but the character may be out of action until they can be healed or restored somehow, and you can get some cool “fantasy prosthetics” going on (a hand made of silver, like Nuada Airgetlám, a clockwork leg for a dwarf, one formed entirely out of elemental water for a mage, etc.). This reminds them of their debility but can also be cool and characterful, and lets you continue with the same character, instead of just ending their story. Have you got any fun (or not fun- let’s talk about when we could have done something better, too) stories? (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 6 June 2018) Categories All Unless you’ve already got the ‘Infinity Plus One Sword’, chances are you’re accumulating some sort of stockpile of weapons through your character’s career, and will get more as you run across experiences and equipped enemies. So, how to store them? Do you keep some sort of armoury where you store them all? (I fondly remember an issue of Planetary comics where the ‘good guys’ visited a planet that the bad guys had killed to turn into a museum exhibit, where they stored all their epic gear) Or just keep a golf caddy around who can swap in your Flametongue sword when you spot a White Dragon, and pass the Holy Avenger when the demons show up? Or do you just melt them down and make new magic items out of the orichalcum essence? Or you could just equip a bunch of mercenaries with all your spare gear... if you trust them. Any ideas? Let me know what you think... if you’ve got anything I’ve missed, post it here! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 15 May 2018) Categories All So, X’vtharrr the Despoiler, Father of Terror, He Who Will Bring Ruin To All, the Terror Of Terra, has a cult... but why would anyone join a cult like this? Why would any reasonable person think that this was a worthwhile pursuit? This obviously excepts those who are nihilists, or just want to see the world burn- there will always be crazed extremists of any religion, but surely there must be reasonable worshippers of any faith, even if that’s Bane, Lord of Tyrants. So, what’s the PR (public relations) strategy for these gods, and their churches? How do they market themselves to ordinary people, and not seem like the “Religious Society for Killing People And Taking All Their Stuff”? They won’t necessarily be secretive, but they must have things they market themselves on, things that feel ‘good’ about the religion, and make their worshippers feel comforted and morally right. Any ideas? Is anyone struggling? We can help each here! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 6 May 2018) Categories All The difference between a prop which a player physically gets to handle and read, and two minutes of you reading awkwardly purple prose from a scripted handout, is immense. Where possible, “show, don’t tell”. If you want some aged paper, mix a pinch of instant coffee into some warm water, scrunch your paper lightly and then smooth it back out, and then pour the coffee-water lightly over your handout. After this, put it on a tray in your oven on the lowest setting and DON’T FORGET ABOUT IT (few things spoil a prop more than being on fire, unless that’s the point). Leave it maybe 10-15 minutes, but keep an eye on it. You don’t want it burned around the edges, but the act of wetting and drying it will make it more brittle than normal, and will make it look aged. You can also hand-write it if you want to spend some time on calligraphy, but that can be hard (and I’ve worked as an engraver, trust me). It does add a *lot* to the appearance, though. Study up on the language you’re writing, too. If you can get a digital font which is Dwarvish or something (dafont.com , or rpgnow.com have some good ones), this can save you a lot of time, and will look ‘right’ if you keep it consistent. You may even have a player who takes this to heart, and does their own research, which can really pay off for you. Don’t let them write their whole character sheet or hit points in another language, though... that can backfire! ;) Let us know about props you’ve used in-game! (Originally posted on Game Masters Stash on 25 February 2018) Categories All We’re all keen to sit and roll some dice with friends, but where you choose to do that makes a big difference. You could potentially sit down in a food court and play something, but the background noise and general busy-ness of the place will make the difficult. Ideally, you want something with as little outside interaction as possible, both for noise levels, and for the privacy of your own gaming group (I’m going to touch on this in another post later). If you want background music, pick something unobtrusive (like, Lord of the Rings soundtrack is great, but if the Bridge Of Khazad-Dum track is playing when someone is negotiation with a shopkeeper, it doesn’t fit the mood), or keep control of the tracks so that you can flick between ‘dramatic music’, ‘suspense music’, ‘action music’, and ‘calm music’. Pick your location in the room, as well- if bad lighting is a problem, can you move the table, or close the blinds? I’ve tried, playing by candlelight is actually really hard! Can you dim the overhead lights a little? Enough to create atmosphere, not enough to need squinting. Getting some cheap chair cushions can make a great deal of difference, too- sitting for hours on cheap uncomfortable chairs is hard, and will detract from your players’ attention after a few hours. If you have a dedicated gaming room, can you have maps and appropriate pictures up to really ‘get in the feel’ of your campaign world? I ran a campaign which lasted over three years recently, and a big poster-size map of our world really helped in remembering which kingdoms were which, and how to travel to locations. Ease of access to books, miniatures, maps, and supplies (and the BATHROOM!) can not be overstated, as well. Try to remove or cover things that will distract from the game, like a TV or game console going in the same room. What’s your ideal games room setup? If you had three wishes and infinite gold, how would you spend it to kit out your gaming group? Let us know! Categories All |
AuthorI'm Luke. He/him pronouns. Archives
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