Great, lasting relationships are built on the foundation of shared experiences. Whether it’s the couple who have been married for fifty years, or a group of best friends since childhood, or even a long-running team in sports, the foundation of the experiences that they’ve shared form the strength and depth of their relationships. Marriages, friendships,…
Conflict is the beating heart of most stories. And in tabletop stories/RPGs, there are the three traditional pillars of solving story dilemmas: combat, subterfuge, and diplomacy. Tabletop role-playing games have historically incentivized combat by making those components fun & exciting. Taking their roots from war-gaming, the hyper-tactical nature of combat is the core of a…
What the heck is a character sheet, anyways? It’s one of the first questions I get when a new player joins the table. Those of us who have been playing tabletop RPGs for awhile tend to take questions like these for granted – why would someone who’s never played before know what a character sheet is!? So…
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…
The Mind’s Eye, our mental canvas of limitless possibilities. And for tabletop role-playing games, the platform for our shared story experiences. This theater of the mind empowers us to collectively share and, in many ways, concurrently experience art, music, stories…any shared part of the human creative diaspora. “A stout bush sits atop a tall mountain,…
Being a new player can sometimes be an intimidating experience. You’re often surrounded by folks who know exactly what to do when, where, how, and why. So when the GM turns to you and says “It’s your turn,” it’s all on you now to act – and that can be scary! So today’s post explains…
In their tabletop RPG story, the players need to feel there’s a harmony between the traditional TTRPG yin and yang: role-playing (RP) and combat. The ratio between these two sides of the tabletop RPG coin form the foundation of great played stories. So today’s worldbuilding advice digs deeper into the GM’s options with that combat/RP…
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…
We hear about “getting into a groove” all the time, whether it’s becoming a new parent, starting a new job, or learning a new skill. As we get to know the ins-and-outs of what’s so new, our experience helps us more fluidly navigate its nuances. The same pattern holds true for playing stories. So today’s…
Planning your campaign’s first session brings some pressure along for the ride. You want all the players to really enjoy the story. And perhaps most of all, you want everyone to be excited about playing the next session. So today’s worldbuilding advice aims to help GMs outline their goals for their campaign’s first session so…