Tag Archives: tabletop
Tabletop Tidbits: The Ballad of the ‘Live Free or Die Bard’ Party
As a GameMaster, you never quite know what sorts of difficulties or issues are going to crop up during the course of your campaign – particularly at the outset. There are simply too many variables to factor into the calculus. Things could be going swimmingly for months of sessions, when suddenly an aspect of the game system’s physics drives one player to argue about movement rules for an hour; or maybe that ancestral sword you approved at character creation comes back to haunt you; perhaps a player is forced to depart the game and leaves the Party missing a crucial element. Situations like these, and a million other possibilities mean you must always be on guard. It can be quite the challenge…
Tabletop Tidbits: Dirty Cop – A Case Study of the Narrative Danger of a Hasty “Yes”
One of the classic lessons taught to new GameMasters early on by various guide books and resources is what I refer to as the Benevolency Rule. The basic premise goes like this: As the GM, it’s your game, and you have the right to say no when your players make requests for things relating to the campaign; However, in the spirit of being a fair referee (not to mention a good friend), you should try to say yes unless you have a specific reason not to. It’s generally a solid rule of thumb, but what it doesn’t state is that utilizing that “try to say yes” attitude without proper care can produce circumstances that could adversely affect the game.
Tabletop Tidbits: The Measure of Success in Relation to the Mental Movie
One of the things people often say about success is that it’s a state of mind. The basic idea being that if you think of yourself as a success, or in terms of success, then that positive outlook will assist you in overcoming obstacles and you’ll start being more successful. With respects to GameMastering, I always sort of translated this premise as the mood I was in when writing. If I was “in the zone” while working on my game, then surely that would find its way into the material, and eventually into the presentation of the campaign itself.
Haste! Kobold Worldbuilding Guide, Roll20 Acquires Tabletop Forge, Dragon Age on Wil Wheaton’s “Tabletop”
[powerpress] | Episode 70 |
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