On the surface, the sheer scale and variety of tabletop RPG systems makes it seem as though your story – your world – is meant to be tailored to just one of them. That it’s your world which needs to conform to their rules in order to be brought to life… Today’s Worldbuilding Monday post aims to help reverse…
If we’re lucky, we’ll get the opportunity as DMs/GMs to complete our tabletop RPG campaigns. Whether it’s scheduling difficulties or life getting in the way, finishing long-term campaigns can be a relatively rare opportunity. So this week’s DM/GM advice zooms in on how best to capitalize on that good fortune when it occurs – and…
Every group of players at the table is unique. They each have their own wants, needs, goals, and play-styles. Balancing these factors 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…
No matter how thorough the rule book for the tabletop RPG (TTRPG) system you’re using, there are going to be times when a situation is more or less up for interpretation. And naturally, players care about the result in these situations. After all, they’ve invested considerable time, effort, and energy into their characters, the party,…
Whenever a tabletop story begins, Schrodinger’s character exists: are they just words on a page? Or are they a real and tangible being? As GMs/DMs, we’re tasked with providing the story canvas from which these characters can truly be brought to life. So this week’s Worldbuilding advice is all about the process of providing that…
In stories today, shock value has in many cases replaced the simple beauty of being in awe. That sense of amazement – of wonder – is both an underrated and crucial component of tabletop role-playing game stories as well. This week’s GM/DM advice aims to help the worldbuilder invest in these moments so that the…
Life goes by fast. Faster than you’d ever expect. And with the pace of modern living, it’s all the more difficult to appreciate the truly important moments of our lives in real time. And for those of us who get so much out of playing stories together, this sentiment holds doubly true. So this week’s…
No one likes getting bogged down when you’re playing a tabletop RPG. The players don’t quite know how to act or what choices to make. And likewise, the GM/DM doesn’t quite know how best to setup the players to continue the story. So today’s Worldbuilding Monday advice is all about how to improve your story’s…
Tabletop RPG GMs/DMs have a lot to manage when they’re facilitating stories. And sometimes, when things aren’t going their way, frustration can build and boil over to railroading and over-punishing players. Today’s GM Advice is all about how shifting your mindset from being the table’s leader to the table’s guide can exponentially improve everyone’s experience…
When you’re the GM of a tabletop role-playing game, it’s pretty standard to expect that the players’ characters will come with various degrees of backstories. Some will be short and sweet and others complex, and full of twists and intrigue. Either way, the onus will be on you, the GM, to integrate various aspects of…
