The Heart Monitor
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 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.
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.
How It Started Vs. How It’s Going. Open Heart Games— Our First Year!
It’s the last week of December. A special time of year. Time seems to behave differently, and we are filled with a sense of reverence as we have completed another circuit around the sun. The excitement of a new year full of endless possibilities seems to electrify the very air. We gather with loved ones and raise a glass to everything that happened in this past year. We celebrate our accomplishments, mourn our losses, congratulate ourselves on our achievements, and forgive ourselves our failures. We’ve had an exciting first year in business and we’ve learned a lot. In the new year, we look forward to continuing to build our community, raise money for our local children’s hospital, and come up with new and exciting ways to engage with our wonderful group of gaming-enthusiasts. Thank you for being a part of it. Let’s look at all that we have accomplished together in the past 12 months.
‘Twas the Night Before Strahdmas
In mid 2020, as Open Heart Games was just starting to come into being, I began running a favorite campaign [that I had run several times before] in order to gain experience and playtest games online–D&D 5E: Curse of Strahd. About halfway through 2021, as the campaign began to wrap up, the players came up with a nefarious plan to turn one of their favorite NPCs into the dark Barovian version of Santa Claus. They used as many things as they could find from the campaign, including: a bag of holding, an arbalest stolen from the top of a castle, a hollowed out skull from Baba Yaga. Oh, and one of the characters inexplicably turned into a tree. . .you know. . . the normal stuff that happens over the course of a campaign. Before the final climactic battle I unleashed this poem, written by my wife and I, upon my unwitting players. Their response was nothing short of cackling glee. So in the spirit of the holidays, I wanted to share this story with you. Merry Strahdmas, everyone!!
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.
Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost. Using Exploration Encounters.
Today I wanted to talk a little about another important facet of roleplaying that often goes under-appreciated: exploration. . .This can come in many forms, from searching for treasure, to discovering clues, and even solving puzzles. . . Exploration encounters are the foundation for every encounter, setting the scene as the world forms around the players.
For the Kids! Extra Life Game Day 2021.
As of today, we have raised over $1,700 towards our goal and have become the largest Extra Life donor in support of our local children's hospital, Carillion Children’s. All of this is possible due to the support of our friends, family, and our wonderful community of gaming fans. A heartfelt thank you to all. And while we are close to our goal, we still have work to do. So make plans to join us once again as we venture into the dungeon on Saturday, November 6th at 10am EST. FOR THE KIDS!!
Sometimes Your Players Surprise You. A Recent Encounter and What I Took Away From It.
We can never be fully prepared for the choices our players may make and we must be able and willing to roll with the punches and adjust the story to suit our players. This recently happened in my Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus campaign and it really inspired me to write this blog about the need for all Game Masters to maintain a degree of fluidity in their games---because no amount of prep can prepare anyone for the choices your players will make and if you give them the freedom, your players will often surprise you as mine did in this campaign.
Open Heart Games Live-Streaming!
In case you missed it, Open Heart Games is now on Twitch! You can catch our livestream every Thursday from 8:00-11:00 pm EST. Last week, we were very pleased to be invited to join the Twitch Affiliate program, which affords us an additional revenue stream, another way to reach our fans, and another way to raise funds for our local children's hospital. A big thanks to our amazing community of gaming fans; we couldn’t have done it without your help! Huzzah!
The Future of D&D
In a recent panel titled Future of D&D, Chris Perkins, Jeremy Crawford, Liz Schuh, and Ray Winninger (all big names in the Dungeons and Dragons world) sat down to tease and discuss the future of Dungeons and Dragons and their comments have set the internet ablaze. . .I wanted to focus today on the future as teased by these Titans of Dungeons and Dragons and what I expect to see and what I hope to see in the future of D&D.
The Wild Wait is over! The Witchlight Carnival Awaits!
In a previous blog, I expressed my excitement and interest for the upcoming D&D module The Wild Beyond the Witchlight. In that blog I shared my predictions for this highly anticipated module. I am excited to share that today is the day to test my prescience! Without further ado, let's jump into the first prediction and see how close I was!
The Giants are Back! Extra Life Game Day 12 Hour Marathon!
In honor of Extra Life Game Day, and by popular demand, we are bringing back our 12 Hour Marathon and continuing Against the Giants. . .this time with Frost Giants! The event will take place Saturday, November 6th from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm EST and will once again be live-streamed on Twitch! Registration for this event will open October 1st and will be limited to 7 players.
Curse of Strahd Post-Mortem
During the founding of Open Heart Games, in order to gain familiarity with Roll20 and playing online, I asked a group of friends to join me in playing this module. Why did I choose Curse of Strahd? . .Curse of Strahd is a fantastic module and one that you should consider running if you have not already done so. That being said there are a few things that I think could be improved upon. . . .
Incorporating Ceremonies and Celebrations in Your Roleplaying Games
Ceremonies and celebrations are one of the ways we mark the passage of time and the important events we experience in our lives. They can take the form of a joyous wedding, a somber funeral, or a boisterous harvest festival. These events can be enormous consequential events with a guestlist in the thousands or intimate seemingly paltry affairs occurring within a single village or even a household. As I am composing this blog, I am packing and preparing for my sister-in-law’s imminent wedding in a nearby state. Considering all of the work and preparation that goes into a wedding and the emotions and feelings tied to these events, I thought it pertinent to talk about how to introduce these keystone events into our roleplaying games and how they can serve as a fun living backdrop to the scenes that the players can interact with.
A Heartfelt Thank You
We had such a wonderful time running and streaming 12 hours of D&D 5E: Against the Giants. We’d especially like to thank our players for making it so much fun, Jeff with World Gone Geek for helping us stream, Josh with Obelisk Productions for helping us to get set up and showing us the ropes and designing our overlays (the photo credit of which goes to Taylor of Taylored Photography), and Josh K. for helping monitor our chat! We would also like to thank everyone who donated, tuned in to watch, or shared their support for Open Heart Games on social media. We’ve got such a great community here. Thank you all.
Life After Death: What Do You Do After a Total Party Kill?
When the entire party is defeated, it can be a very frustrating experience. . .this article [will] provide Game Masters with a few options when a party has a run of bad luck, bites off more they can chew and. . .well. . .bites it.
Avoiding Boring Combat
Combat should be the most interactive and the most intense of the three aspects of roleplaying. Right? Yet in many systems, especially D&D, combat can break down to a dice slog of: roll initiative, roll to hit, hit, now roll damage. . .and so it goes until the monster dies. . .hopefully. Surely we as game masters (and players as well) can do something to help inject some flavor and some fun into our combats to make them more interesting. But how?