Tag Archives: GM’ing
Absences Excused: How to Explain Vanishing Characters
Real life is chaos. We fake being organized and we pretend that we’re in control, but no one actually lives that way (do they?). And in spite of all our valiant efforts – sometimes the worst comes to pass. Dread it. Run from it. Sometimes, a player has to skip game night. But how do you explain away the sudden disappearance of Chestgirth, barbarian lord of Clan Bicep? Read on and master the art of vanishing a character who’s player can’t attend.
3D Pen Mini’s
As the world of tabletop roleplaying games evolves into what feels like the future, I discern a desperate, mid-life-crisis-ish urge to stay abreast of the cool new tech that came out several years ago (I’m slow to adapt). 3D printing is one such cutting-edge contrivance… but I’m not willing to risk a large investment (read: I’m cheap) in a desktop 3D printer to make miniatures. Not yet, anyway. Instead, I bought a 3D Pen to see if I could wield divine power upon the (small-scale) realm of plastic!
Low Level Loans: Begin by Borrowing?
Can a player taking a loan at character creation be good for a game? Should the GM even entertain the idea? Yes! (But only with the right player, for the right character, and for the right kind of campaign and setting.) In truth, when carefully managed, a loan can pay out huge gameplay returns.
27 More Mapping Marvels
The World Wide Webosphere contains multitudes of maps for gaming, and is rife with resources like tokens and objects – perfect procurements for your own overhead originals. If you’re looking for fully-finished digital displays for your VTT or inspiration for the blank page sitting in front of you, it is out there. But map-making is much more fun than research, so I did some of the grunt-work for you. Suggested by MapForge’s own Hernan Ruiz Camauer, I’ve assembled a copious cartographic collection, and I hope you find it useful.
40 Magnificent Mapping Resources
The map is often the centerpiece of a game – a visual focal point on which to sketch your story. Players plot their strategies over scrolls depicting the overworld and talk tactics with a dungeon drawing in hand. But good cartography is hard work and we all could use a little help and lot of inspiration.
Action Intro: Explosive Exposition from Scene One
Many games start quietly. A letter summons you to a castle for a civilized meal and a mystery. The train hisses to a halt outside the sleepy, frontier town. And there’s the inescapable, pervasive meeting in a tavern. Sound familiar? Yawn. Skip it! Sidestep the storybook staple and throw your players straight into the fray with an action-packed introduction!
