Everyone loves getting something special in the mail every month. Dungeon Masters are no different. They’re also very deserving. After all, they dream up adventures, inhabit NPCs, roll up Big Bads, and run game sessions. The players get to be heroes, but the DM has to do everything else. Read more
Sometimes it’s hard for new GMs to get past the nuts and bolts of game mechanics and into actually running sessions. Using a Star Wars: Edge of the Empire campaign I ran for several months, here are some tips that may help you get your first campaign rolling if you’re not relying on a published scenario. Read more
TL;DR: This 240-page book takes years of hard-won experience about how to make roleplaying awesome, and lays it out cleanly and clearly. It’s easy to read, easy to understand, and it provides enough details without becoming a chore to read.
Read moreAs the (unofficial until quite recently) Community Manager for Degenesis: Rebirth, Erwan has been a highly visible ambassador for the game. In recorded game sessions he always appears calm and collected. He’s also very active on the Degenesis Discord and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the game. So it was a no-brainer to ask him how he runs his sessions, and he kindly answered my questions.
Master of the Game explores the nuts and bolts of how gamemasters run their games. What games do they play and what tools do they use to run ’em?
Liam (aka Boganova), is one of the hosts of Mud & Blood, a podcast that focuses on grim, gritty games. I have been continually impressed with his approach to gamemastering, and he graciously accepted my invitation to share his GMing setup. Read more
Gamemastering isn’t as difficult as it’s often made out to be. Is it some sort of mystical power only possessed by a lucky few? Absolutely not. Is it a skill that can be continuously improved? Absolutely. Read more
Most game masters have at least a few campaign ideas rolling around in their heads. It’s a natural outgrowth of the GM mentality, because you’re always on the lookout for new ingredients to add to your game. Read more
I was reminded of the power of genre tropes last night when one of the players in my Star Wars: Edge of the Empire campaign complained that because all the action in the game takes place in a single city on a single planet, it isn’t very Star Wars at all. Read more
You can find hundreds of podcasts covering all manner of tabletop RPG subjects, from how to optimize a Pathfinder character to storygame actual plays. But some of my favorite RPG inspiration comes from what I call RPG-adjacent podcasts.
Some of them touch on RPGs directly from time to time, but mostly I enjoy them because they help me see the world a bit differently, which is always helpful for a game master. I also get some of my best GM ideas by piecing together bits and pieces from these shows. Read more
