The Douchey DM » Entries tagged with "rpg"
JiB on GM’ing : An Option to Black and White Resolutions
Tweet Valen’s eyes narrowed, matching his movements with his opponent. Circling left as the dark cloaked highwayman moved to his left. With every step of the dance they moved warily closer together until one or the other would decide they would move. The glittering rapier in his opponent’s hand dipped a bit weaving out to the side, a small mistake but a mistake none the less and with the speed of a striking viper Valen’s own rapier darted forward propelled by the powerful lunge that began with the ground upon which he stood. Too late Valen realized his own error in allowing himself to be baited by his enemy. Now though he stood at a forking in a road, either he would take the inevitable hit or he would roll … Read entire article »
Filed under: Advice, Alternate Views, General Gaming, Inspiration
Episode Preview: Keeping Role-playing in Combat
Tweet It’s a common lament: Once the minis come out, the role-playing stops And it’s very often true. Many games — GURPS, HERO, Savage Worlds, DnD4e — start life as any other role-playing game, but once combat starts, in-game time slows to a crawl and what we do looks more like a tactical board game. Is there a way to keep on role-playing during combat? I think there is, but often it’s an uphill battle, and success needs to be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Adventure Design, Alternate Views, General Gaming
I’m Mad as Hell, and I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore!
Tweet Editor’s note: While I seemingly rail against Kickstarter creators in this post, I am well aware that many good people are conducting good business on Kickstarter. I also acknowledge that many projects by first-time creators get funded and made because of Kickstarter, and I know these projects might not otherwise see the light of day. Kickstarter is a valuable service to our community and many others. This article is not to attack the concept or all creators, but to shine a light on those who seemingly abuse it. I recently ranted on and on about a very late projects on Kickstarter on the most recent episode of Happy Jacks RPG Podcast. The rant began when I heard a recent episode of the Bear Swarm podcast, where a listener mentioned in an … Read entire article »
Filed under: Alternate Views, General Gaming, Opinion, RPG Industry BS
Creating a Scene in an RPG
Tweet Scenes are the building blocks of an adventure. They are those moments when the player characters interact with the setting, be it NPCs, searching a site for clues, etc. Organizing your adventure in scenes is, to my mind, the most flexible way to craft an adventure, but there are several questions the GM must ask himself in order to keep that flexibility and have a satisfying session. What Is the Purpose of the Scene? First and foremost, you need to know what your’e trying to accomplish with the scene. Does the scene exist to: Bring about combat or possibly bring it about? Provide the PCs with information? Allow the PCs to gather information? Give time to develop the PCs? Make time for PC-to-PC interaction? Introduce or develop an NPC? Introduce a MacGuffin? There are countess other possible reasons, I just listed … Read entire article »
Filed under: Adventure Design, Advice
What RPGs are NOT
Tweet We have a tendency in this hobby to borrow a lot of terms from other creative endeavors. We borrow terms from creative writing, film, television, The problem is, sometimes we start equating our hobby with those other creative outlets from which we borrowed the terms, when ofttimes our hobby is very different. RPGs are not Novels I’ve talked a lot about GMs who mistake table-top RPGs for novel writing, with GMs constantly trying to manipulate the game to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Alternate Views, General Gaming, Opinion
