This had been saved in my drafts for five years with just the title. However, I still do remember the original motivator for this piece.
[RPG] Player Mistakes 3 – Undermining Emotional Moments
Reply
Category Archives: Skill & Technique
AIs in Aid of GMing
Can AIs be helpful for GMs? Yes, but not for very many things.
Building the Nemesis in RPGs (My Way)
I’ve been playing the old Arkham PC games recently. I like those games, but they have made Batman less interesting as a character to me. He is just too morose. Playing with Catwoman in Arkham City is much more fun. But this is about the bad guys.
Creativity and Sources of Inspiration in RPGs (Blades in the Dark)
There’s a MtG-related Discord server, which happens to also have a channel for tabletop RPGs. It isn’t very active, but someone noted that Blades in the Dark was available in a bundle of some sort, so that sparked a little bit of discussion, as I claimed that because of how the game approaches the role of players, it’s actually easier to run than D&D, because there is not a lot of planning needed. Someone disagreed, so, as Ryan Hollinger would say, let’s talk about it. (Have I already used this somewhere? Not sure.)
GMing Mistakes 17 – Teaching Your Players to be Murder-Hobos
Ever notice how players don’t trust anyone and just kill everyone over anything and with any excuse? Well, it might be your fault.
Now, I would like to note that this might not be only you. If players have learned from through previous games and GMs that violence is often the answer, perhaps the only answer (I’ve played under GMs, who have actually forced combat encounters, when players were actively trying to find other solutions), these players will have learned certain modes of operation, and unlearning them might be difficult. Continue reading
GMing Mistakes 16 – There’s a Difference Between a Genre and a Setting
For many people it may come as a surprise that Star Wars is listed as “action, adventure, fantasy” on IMDb. That’s actually correct. It just doesn’t have the characteristics of sci-fi.
Sources of Inspiration: Murder Ballads
There’s a Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album by that name, but that was named after a genre of music. That album is largely inspired by this kind of music, in fact.
Basically, we are talking about traditional ballads dealing with crime, but it goes deeper than that.
Failing Campaigns
Biggest lesson from last few years of gaming to me might have been that I can accept the fact that not all campaigns will work.
At first this seems like no-brainer. But only after some consideration, failures, and successes was I able to embrace this. It is not “letting your players down” nor is it “failing”. Understanding your own resources as GM is a tool.
So in this post I will try to explain this personal notion.
[RPG] Player Mistakes 2 – Don’t Look to the GM for Leadership
Various organizations have for decades now been moving away from the traditional model of hierarchy. The basic idea is that instead we want autonomous teams, which work together to achieve goals versus the old model of having groups of people performing individual tasks.
[RPG] Player Mistakes 1 – Too Much Detail in the Character Background
It would seem like it would be a good idea to be the good student and do your homework. And to a point, yes. You should have some idea of your characters background. On the other hand, too much detail can be a huge detriment.