I’ve been running a Primetime Adventures campaign while taking a little bit of a brain break from our Errant campaign. PTA is nice in that I typically spend 10 minutes prep between sessions &…| Deeper in the Game
It’s been years since I was last hiking, but something occurred to me. GM Prep is a bit like deciding what you’re taking with you when you go hiking. If you bring the right stuff, your experience is more comfortable, easier, and you’re ready for problems. If you bring too little, you have to do […]| Deeper in the Game
I see the discourse is starting because there’s a $1000 “Dungeon Master University” retreat. I can honestly say the things that gave me the most useful GMing skills was running a few games that simply trained and taught me skills I carry over to other games as well. Primetime Adventures Primetime Adventures is a game […]| Deeper in the Game
Last week I ran the Wildsea. Next week I'll run Mythic Bastionland. The week after I'll run The Electrum Archive. A week ago I hadn't read any of the games' books, and some weeks I only have an hour's worth of reading time. Here's how to get a game to the table quickly, with a twist at the end.| Musings from Fanterland
Some players are in it for the game choices, some are in it for the world immersion, and some are in it for the character story. If the last one applies to you. and you've played anything like D&D, you'll be used to being frustrated with sessions that felt like the story went nowhere. Story is not a given if your game's goal is to simulate a battle step-by-step. What if we set up our session in a way that you can't help but have a complete story? Let's do it.| Musings from Fanterland
There is sometimes a habit, when it comes to sci-fi| POCGamer
We're finally doing it:| Spouting Lore
"Did you hear that? It sounds like... click bait!"| Spouting Lore
I've got a little process that I use whenever I start a game of Dungeon World or Homebrew World. It's similar to the first session procedure that's described in the book, but different in some key ways. I've found that this approach reliably kicks off a new game quickly and with a lot of energy, in a way that makes it pretty darn easy to run and improvise. | Spouting Lore
I've been working on the GMing chapters for Stonetop, and recently finished the "Dangers" chapter. Part of that chapter is a section on "Using Monsters and Running Fights." It's a distillation of procedures, advice, and wisdom that you'll find floating around the Dungeon World community, but that isn't really specifically laid out in the DW text. | Spouting Lore
Discern Realities is a move that is near and dear to my heart. It's one of my favorite moves, and I've written about it at length:In Defense of Discern Realities| Spouting Lore
I've been working on the GMing chapters for Stonetop, and it's made me think about how the conversation really flows. I've also been thinking about GM moves, and Principles and Agenda, and how they all work together. I thought I'd talk about them a little here. | Spouting Lore
This post was originally a conversation on the Dungeon World Tavern back in Google+. Bryan Alexander said "Let's talk about Fronts and Dangers and Grim Portents... you start!" | Spouting Lore
I originally posted this on the Dungeon World Tavern, in response to Lauri Maijala asking: | Spouting Lore
Over on Google+ (in it's last, dying days), Tom Pleasant said this (across a couple different comments):| Spouting Lore
There are a lot of great generic (read: setting &| POCGamer
NPCs are a continuous challenge to a GM. Stat lines,| POCGamer
I often see people asking about what they need to prepare for their RPG or DnD session, and though what needs to be prepared depends on the system and the group, here are 3 tips to help you prepare for narrative play in any of your games. Create some questions to ask your players when […]| The Bardic Inquiry
I see, almost weekly, many posts online describing how some people struggle to schedule a game of DnD, and to keep that group together long-term. In this article, I will explain 4 tips (ordered from most to least impactful) I have used to establish consistent and lasting groups for any roleplaying games, not just DnD. […]| The Bardic Inquiry
This ultimate guide will teach you how to play a solo RPG in six quick steps and cover some common pitfalls for new solo players. In this guide, I will discuss: What is a solo RPG? A solo RPG is just like any other group RPG, except you are both the game master (GM) and […]| The Bardic Inquiry
Node-based design was created by Justin Alexander of the Alexandrian and was, primarily, a method for planning and running mystery ttrpg campaigns. Though it can be divisive in the ttrpg community, I was planning to run a mystery campaign in Night’s Black Agents and I did not believe my usual method would work. I thought […]| The Bardic Inquiry
To write a backstory for a DnD character, you should avoid writing a detailed recount of their life and instead opt to describe a few key events or relationships. This can improve the colloborative storytelling component of these games and provide you with enough character flkexibility to help you enjoy the game more consistently. In […]| The Bardic Inquiry
Questions help us communicate and understand each other and we can use them to improve the engagement of our players in our roleplaying games. By asking the right type questions of our players, we …| The Bardic Inquiry
I don’t think I’ve ever done a review where I The post Mythic Pathfinder: A Double Review! appeared first on POCGamer.| POCGamer
Traveller is the original sci-fi tabletop RPG, released in 1977.| POCGamer
Lore is a core component of tabletop RPGs, but Bofuri and Shangri-La Frontier have made me realize we need to approach it differently!| POCGamer