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. …
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Instant Campaign Builder Part V: LOCKing scenes This article is part of the Instant Campaign Builder Project. The LOCK technique I read about the LOCK system in a fiction writing book and quickly figured that it would be useful for my D&D game planning. According to this system here are the 4 elements of a…
Instant Campaign Builder Part III: Improvisation This article is part of the Instant Campaign Builder Project. Trust your improvisation skills The tools and tips described in the Instant Campaign Builder Project can only be used successfully by a dungeon master willing to improvise. A lot!
Instant Campaign Builder Part II: Props This article is part of the Instant Campaign Builder Project.Impress your players Your players don’t need to know that you only spend 1 hour or less preparing for each game. They just want to be entertained. They want something different.
I like to keep my NPC descriptions simple. I think that less is more when it comes to introducing an NPC in a campaign. Whether the character will never be seen again or is the uber-villain you should settle for one – only one – role-playable characteristic. Nothing else matters. The NPC’s motivations or stats…
I can already picture my players as they’re reading this! Relax, I don’t intend to wipe out my party and I don’t suggest that anyone should plan to kill all the PCs in their game. But…
This article is part 1 of the “Start A Campaign… Now!“ series. Start A Campaign – Part 1: The first game Start A Campaign – Part 2: Before the second game Start A Campaign – Part 3: The second game Start A Campaign – Part 4: How to prepare a great game in 30 minutes…
I was browsing the D&D forums recently and someone was looking for hints on how to start a horror campaign. How I would plan for the first game of a horror campaign
You need to read Better NPCs: 5 questions, 50 answers (Part I) before you read this post. All right. I was about halfway through my last post when real life interrupted my blogging. Let’s keep asking questions about our retired rogue Diedric Flagstone.
NPCs can be fascinating -yes, to your players too. But how are great NPCs created and introduced in a game? To make my non-player characters more lively, real, and unique I steal a page from the fiction author know-how. Novelists write hundreds of pages for their stories. These novels are often based solely on characters….
This article is part 1 of the “Start A Campaign… Now!“ series. Start A Campaign – Part 1: The first game Start A Campaign – Part 2: Before the second game Start A Campaign – Part 3: The second game Start A Campaign – Part 4: How to prepare a great game in 30 minutes…