The Campaign Launch Pad
All the information you need to start, run, and end a campaign with as little preparation as possible.
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Are these DMs on fire? Why, yes, I believe they are.
Power your way to great gaming sessions by optimizing your prep time.
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Love-to-hate-them villains: a how-to guide
D&D Tuesday tips for DMs (DNDTTFDM) 04-15-08 PCs are the backbone of your campaign. Villains help flesh out the adventure! Here are some easy ways to make that villain brilliant, annoying, intrusive, challenging. In other words, these are my thoughts on making villains easy to hate and remember! The love-to-hate-them villains should: Miss appointments. The villain asks…
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Top 5 ways to run a game without a grid map
Who needs a gridmap? You forgot your gridmap? Or your minis? Or you need a change of pace for your campaign? Here a 5 ways to replace the battlemat. Top 5 ways to run a game without a grid map Whiteboard or chalkboard When I was in college I would often get together with some…
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Make your campaign better… NOW!
Random thoughts With the ever-growing geek population I wonder if we’re ever going to live through a “taped glasses and hunched back is sexy” trend. 7 quick ways to make your campaign better Just because you have planned a fun campaign and your next few games are prepared doesn’t mean your campaign can’t get better. …
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Cameo time!
Cameo time Looks like I’m going to have a special PC cameo during my next game. A good friend of mine who has never played an RPG has recently shown interest. So what will I focus on for that special occasion? Make him understand the DM gets free pizza, chips, and salsa. Let him roll…
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D&D Instant World Builder
Build a better world in less time This is a quick read that will help you shave dozens of hours in world building. A lot of work went into this document and the content was edited and updated since it was first written. Have fun. Download the Instant World Builder PDF (right-click and “save as”)…
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Better NPCs, better world
I bundled the Instant World Builder in a single file but I decided to wait for a few days before releasing the .pdf file. The reason? I want to make it better. So this is an unofficial addition to the project. Generic NPC quirks A great way to add flavour to a region of a…
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Instant world builder – Part VIII: Color Commentary
This article is part 8 of the Instant World Builder series. The color commentator Two of the characters in my ongoing campaign once met an NPC – completely improvised at the time – who stuck around and became a fan of the 2 PCs. The NPC was a bard and would travel the world singing…
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Instant world builder – Part VII: Hero Potential
This article is part 7 of the Instant World Builder series. Superstar factor I already wrote about making your players feel like superstars in the Instant Campaign Builder series. There’s not much more to say about the concept itself: your players will enjoy seeing the characters grow, have success, and achieve greatness in highlight reel…
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Instant world builder – Part VI: Paths
This article is part 6 of the Instant World Builder series. Working with paths Most quests require the PCs to travel. Sometimes the journey from point A to point B is an integral part of the adventure. Sometimes it’s just an uneventful journey. Some journeys have to be completed many times: traveling from one city…
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Instant world builder – Part V: Thinking big
This article is part 5 of the Instant World Builder series. Starting small. Thinking big. In the previous Instant World Builder article – Starting small – I mentioned that designing a small area to start a campaign is a great way to save time, but the campaign still needs a grand plan. So what’s the…
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Instant world builder – Part III: Gathering data
This article is part of the Instant World Builder series. Instant world builder #3: Data You could spend weeks gathering information about the world you’re creating – poltical system, level of magic, climate, fauna, how awesome red dragons are, etc. So how do you determine what is valuable information and what is just irrelevant fluff?…
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Pull a heist in 4 easy steps
How to run a heist adventure Heist movies are the essence of cool. Cool characters, intriguing situations, mind-boggling puzzles. A D&D heist adventure has tremendous potential since the campaign already has cool characters and a unique and rich setting – especially if you read the Instant World Builder and Instant Campaign Builder. Tim, a Dungeon…
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D&D Instant World Builder – Part 1: Maps
This article is part of the Instant World Builder Project. Instant World Builder #1: Maps Drawing maps for a new campaign might be my favorite DM activity. It’s what I start with when I design worlds and campaigns. I am usually motivated, inspired and always surprised to see the plot hooks that arise during map-drawing….
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D&D Instant Campaign Builder
Prepare a better campaign in less time This is a quick read that will help you shave dozens of hours in campaign planning. A lot of work went into this document and the content was edited and updated since it was first written. Have fun. Dowload the Instant Campaign Builder (.pdf file) (right-click and “save…
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How to run a chase scene
Random thoughts This morning a rooster decided it was a good idea to start crowing right next to my bedroom window. It’s 8am right now and he’s been going for 3 hours straight. A wizard NPC looking to play mind games with his enemies should just summon roosters when they’re trying to sleep. Running an…
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D&D rat chase – Part 2
Have you read the first part of this article? Read D&D rat chase – Part 1 here! The Woldians say… This article stemmed from an e-mail discussion between Robert – a Dungeon Mastering reader – and Kim & Jerry from Woldian Games. If you haven’t done it yet take the time to check it their…
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D&D rat chase – Part 1
Running a chase scene – Part 1 Robert sent me an e-mail when I was in L.A. to get some tips on running a chase scene. I did not get to write down my thought at the time because I was hanging out with Merlin. Lucky for him and I, Robert also asked a few…
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9 ways to grasp you players’ attention
Boredom alert! There’s nothing wrong with a game that’s slowing down. Dungeon masters are only human and can’t possibly plan for everything. Dungeons & Dragons players also often have A.D.D. – which is the main reason TSR called the old version of the game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. (A.D.D.) So what’s a DM to do…
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D&D superstars
Instant Campaign Builder Part X: D&D superstars This article is part of the Instant Campaign Builder Project. It’s tweaking time All the hard work is done. The campaign is almost ready to be unveiled. Almost! There’s still a few things you can do to make it better. In no particular order here are 4 things…