The Heart Monitor
Spooky Spaces: 5 Settings for your Spooky Season RPG Session
Location! Location! Location! In this latest episode of our spooky season series, we focus on some spooky locations for your players to visit. In previous blogs we have discussed some monsters and villains that you can use to ramp up the spookiness and, now, with these location suggestions–you can have the spookiest RPG session for this Halloween!
It’s My Party and I’ll Blog if I Want to.
Is this going to be a sappy thank you note from me to all of our fans? Yes. Is this going to be a shameless plug for our Extra Life fundraiser? Also yes. Is this blog also going to have an interesting suggestion as to how to tie birthdays into your roleplaying campaigns? Unsurprisingly, yes.
Story So Far: Why You Should Keep A Campaign Record
Running a campaign has many parallels with live theater. The show runs for a period of time, sometimes months, all the while entertaining its audiences. The cast of characters grows close and makes lasting memories. But eventually, the curtain falls for the final time, the cast and crew say their final goodbyes, the set is dismantled, and with that the story is over. The only thing that remains is our memories of the show, perhaps some photos, and a souvenir playbill. Similarly, wrapping up a campaign can feel the same; aside from some character sheets, there is often not much left other than the fond memories those who played in the campaign now share. This got me thinking about how I could preserve a telling of the story for myself and my friends that we could look back on in the future
Five Ways to Improve Your Session Zero
I am a Game Master who has been running session zeroes for years and I have a process that I like to go through; however, I am always learning new things, reading about new best practices, and trying to improve all my sessions. In my opinion, session zero is the most important session as it either consciously or subconsciously drafts up a social contract, gives the players a roadmap of the campaign, and gives players and the GM the opportunity to discuss the hard and soft limits of any content they wish to experience within the campaign.
Late Campaign Tip: Loose End Checklist
Today I want to talk about how to prepare to wrap up a campaign, tie up those loose ends, and give your players the satisfying ending that will excite them and give your campaign the ending it deserves.
If you love what you do. . .
. . .this week and next we are taking a break from this “work” to celebrate something else that we work hard at every day—our marriage!
Now You Are Asking the Right Questions
In a previous blog post, I gave several tips for online play and today I wanted to dive deeper into the topic. I especially want to highlight ways to ensure that each player has their time in the spotlight and gets to shine. I think it comes down to making sure you are asking the right questions in your sessions as a Game Master and giving each player an opportunity to speak.
Give The People What They Want!
Over the past few weeks I had something pretty unique happen not once, but twice. Each session ended with the players using all of the resources at their disposal, some great character synergy, and no small amount of luck and one way or another the big boss fight I had planned was over much sooner than I anticipated. It was truly memorable and enjoyable for the players, and rather frustrating for me as a Game Master, especially due to what feels like wasted prep. But here's the thing, it isn't important to me as a storyteller as long as the players are having a good time, making memories, and are able to tell a great story for years afterwards. Sometimes you just have to give the players what they want!
Take A Break
Taking a week or two off for a vacation allows us to recharge, come back with fresh ideas, and to polish up our existing ideas. It also allows us to focus on something other than our campaigns and worldbuilding. We can unplug and be at rest (or play) and in this way we avoid burning out. The font of creativity is only so deep and we must give it time to refill as we recharge.
Homebrew Mythology
Like the ancient Greeks (or any other culture really) we as Game Masters and as players are engaging in a form of storytelling and of myth-weaving. We get to see our myths live, grow, change and take form. It is the closest thing to pure magic that I have ever experienced and it is what keeps me coming back to RPGs time after time. But what can we as storytellers learn from our ancient predecessors? How can we use mythology to make our stories better?
The Benefit of Helping Others
Being able to share our experiences with others is how we teach, learn, and grow as Game Masters. . .We are all a part of this wonderful community and share this passionate hobby. Helping others can help you prepare for the challenges in your own games. Who knows? Perhaps the true treasure really is the friends we make along the way and the gifts we share with others.
Advice for Remote Play
When I was recently at Ravenwood Castle, it occurred to me that I am well into my second year of running role-playing games almost exclusively online, a fact that I reflected on in a previous blog entry. I was speaking to a new friend about how running games in person is so different from running games remotely and that got me thinking about how I had to learn to run my games differently when I began running sessions remotely. Being the naturally curious and research-driven person that I am, I began a deep dive into the web to discover the best way to translate the excitement of roleplaying from the tabletop to the digital realm when I decided to begin running games online. Here are some tips and resources that I have found useful.
The Mid-Campaign Check-In
. . .a Session Zero. . .is basically where the Game Master sits down with the players and sets expectations and ground rules for the session. The Game Master also discusses potential plot points, major factions, and other important details. So is it possible to do a Session Zero mid-campaign? The short answer is no, but I think it is possible to do something similar with a Mid-Campaign Check-In.
Don’t Fear the Prep
What if I told you that there is something that even Game Masters dread? A four letter word that makes them sit straight up in a cold sweat the night before their next session. Something that makes them question their very existence. What is this four letter word you might ask? Prep.
Introducing GM 1-on-1!
Last week we announced some new content to our Twitch stream: GM 1-on-1. This interview-style event will be hosted regularly on our Twitch stream and will tackle different topics of role-playing. In this month’s topic, The Hallmarks of Horror, we will take a look at what makes a great horror RPG session, how to prepare for a Call of Cthulhu session, and how to really dial in the terror. Our guest will be Veteran Game Master Tyler Hudak!
The “Blueprint” Heist
Picture this if you will. You are getting ready to sit down for your regular roleplaying session and you tell your players that they are going to help you prepare. With a smirk, you gently slide an outline of a building in the middle of the table. You tell your players that they are going to plan a heist and that the blueprint before them contains everything they will need to do just that. And with that, you turn it over to your players to ask their questions while you build the encounter around these questions and the answers.
The One Note Card Challenge. Streamlining Your Session Prep.
Could you fit all of your session notes on a 3x5 note card? For many Game Masters this may feel like it would be an incredibly difficult challenge, perhaps even impossible. However, in my experience dealing with session prep, less is often more. The more focused you can make your notes, the less you will have to reference and the more useful your notes will be. Most of your prep is subject to the actions and reactions of your players so the more prep that you can cut back on, the better. . . .Let’s take a look now at how I streamline my session prep and how you can too!
Toss a Coin to your Players. Utilizing Non-linear Storytelling.
One of the things. . .that I have been seeing a lot recently in the media is the use of non-linear storytelling. What I mean by that is that the story is told somewhat out of order using flashbacks, flashforwards, visions, and even time travel occasionally. We see this especially in the first season of The Witcher, but also in shows like The Book of Boba Fett, and Loki. I really enjoyed the non-linear storytelling in each of these shows and would love to translate them as a storytelling tool for roleplaying, but I feel it comes with some challenges which we will unpack later. So how can we make the best use of non-linear storytelling to have the greatest impact in our RPG sessions?
I Need a Hero!
How do we as Game Masters facilitate this desire to be heroes. . .We must give the players something to fight for: a banner to carry, innocents to protect, or a quest to fulfil.
Talk Nerdy To Me: How to Make Social Encounters More Interesting
Today I want to talk about my personal favorite aspect of role-playing: social encounters! Social encounters are encounters which require the Player Characters (or PCs) to interact with non-player characters (NPCs) and try to negotiate, gather information, or talk their way out of trouble. This allows the players to get into character and engage in some minor theatrics. . .Social encounters allow us to engage in a pure form of cooperative storytelling.