Everyone is familiar with making choices. And some decisions are more difficult and/or more important than others. “What should my major be in college?” – for example – is likely a bit harder and more important than “What brand of peanut butter should I buy in the grocery store?” But regardless of how easy or…
When we’re confronted with a choice, it’s the thought-provoking ones that most often stick with us. While “would you like a free pizza?” is certainly compelling, “would you rather give up pizza or pasta?” is a more thought-provoking ask. When the choices are thought-provoking, multi-dimensional, and have gray area(s), the tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) story…
If you’re a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) story creator, you naturally invest quite a bit of time and energy into worldbuilding. Settings, characters, plot threads…a great deal goes into ironing out these details. Obvious as it may seem, in contrast to film and TV, you need to keep top of mind that you’re going to…
There are many ways to play stories. And virtually all of them have unique ways to approach how we define a character. StoryTogether’s StoryNite framework has a character’s talents front and center for how players can customize their role & play-style. So today’s Newbie Tuesday post is all about how new players can mix and…
When players are coming up with their characters’ backstories, oftentimes they’re not doing so together. Character creation after all traditionally is a highly individual process; although, there’s certainly collaboration here and there. So as the GM when the players submit their characters’ various backstories, it becomes clear pretty quickly that sometimes their various elements can…
When you sit down to start your next tabletop RPG campaign, you’re sitting at a fertile, nearly infinite sandbox of story. And every TTRPG story is different – its twists and turns, worlds and characters – with its many facets up to the GM & players. So before you all take that crucial first step…
Every group of players at the table is unique. They each have their own wants, needs, goals, and play-styles. Balancing these facets can be a challenge, especially if the players’ perspectives are quite different from one another. Today’s GM/DM advice centers more specifically on how the game master can better balance contrasting play-styles in their…
“What do you mean when you say “playing stories”?” I get that question all the time. I’m sure a lot of you in the TTRPG community do too. How do we describe the absolute basics of playing stories to folks who’ve never even heard of a tabletop role-playing game? This week’s quick Newbie Tuesday post…
A tabletop role-playing game story is not a straight line between points A and B. There are many twists and turns, some planned for, some completely unforeseen. Some come from you, the worldbuilder and GM, and other directions dictated by the players. Each change in direction has the opportunity to be a significant tangent in…
There’s no doubt there’s quite a bit to “juggle” in the GM/DM’s role. The players, characters, NPCs, the world itself, what’s happening, what will likely happen…there’s a lot for the GM/DM to consider as the story plays out. Today’s Game Master Advice post aims to help ease the anxiety and pressure folks might feel about…
