Bringing on the next generation, Part One: Player Peers

December 17, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: At the table, Player Advice, RPG Hub, advice 
I’d like to start this blog with a shout-out to an old buddy of mine named Chris Mount, for reasons that will become obvious as it proceeds. When I first discovered roleplaying, Chris was the guy who taught me how [...]
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Create the Perfect Turn and Results Will Take Care of Themselves

November 23, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: At the table, Encounter Design, Game Mastering, RPG Hub 
I like games and I enjoy competing. Years ago, after getting riled up during one too many board games, I realized my competitive emotions were ruining the fun for me and others at the game table. I reflected for quite aw[...]
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An Unneccessary Evil? – Focussing On Alignment, Part 3 of 5

November 12, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: 3.x, 4e, At the table, D&D 4e, Game Mastering, Inspiration, RPG Hub 
In part one of this 5-part examination, we presented a guest article by Garry Stahl, The Conundrum Of Alignment. In Part two, “A Neccessary Evil?”, I discussed the justification for alignment being part of th[...]
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Ask The GMs: PC Choices and Consequences

October 29, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: Adventure Prep, At the table, Campaigns, DM Advice, Game Mastering, Game Mastery, Play, RPG Hub, behind the screen, campaign setting 
How can you make the players feel like their actions have an impact on the world? Sometimes, the simplest questions have the most complicated or profound answers. So it was with some trepidation that we’ve ap[...]
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Ask The GMs: Giving Players The Power To Choose Their Own Adventures

October 12, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: Adventure Prep, At the table, DM Advice, Game Mastering, Play, RPG Hub, behind the screen, campaign setting 
How do you create a campaign that gives the players absolute freedom but still leaves the GM in control? Recently, Campaign Mastery was asked, Is it possible to create a truly player-choice driven campaign (within [...]
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My Biggest Mistakes: Magneto’s Maze – My B.A. Felton Moment

September 28, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: At the table, DM Advice, Encounter Design, Game Mastering, Hero system, Play, RPG Hub, Running Encounters, behind the screen 
There came a time when I had to move out of the city (where my players were), and back to the small town in which I had grown up, for financial reasons. That would spell the end of most campaigns, but I had willing play[...]
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The Nimble Mind: Making Skills Matter in RPGs

July 30, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: 3.x, 4e, Adventure Prep, At the table, DM Advice, Encounter Design, Game Mastering, Game Mastery, Player Advice, RPG Hub, Running Encounters, behind the screen 
Someone once asked me why D&D bothers to include skills at all. After all, the GM generally tells the players anything they really need to know (rather than seeing all his hard work in preparing the game crash and b[...]
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The Top Shelf: Hand-Painted Monster Tokens

July 30, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
Not only Etsy an excellent time-suck, it's an awesome place to buy gifts... and - as I've discovered lately - to find unique gaming tools. [...]
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Plot Hooks in the News: Prisoners Escape by Hijacking Helicopter

July 29, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
Three prisoners escaped from a Belgium prison by hijacking a helicopter recently and, while I've had this particular game opening bouncing around in my head for a while, reading the article made me REALLY want to run it.[...]
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Dino-Pirates of Ninja Island

July 27, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
This week, he's featuring my favorite Dino-Pirate, Victoria. She's like my fantasy alter ego. Except she has red hair.[...]
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Campaign Update: Fumanor: Seeds Of Empire

July 4, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: 3.x, At the table, Campaigns, Inspiration, RPG Hub 
I have received a number of questions about my Fumanor campaign, especially following the posting of the Microplane Of Earth adventure location and encounter (parts one, two, and three). Several people have expressed in[...]
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Plot Hooks in the News: Ooze in the Raleigh, NC Sewers!

July 2, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
There are colonies of "sludge worms" living in the sewers beneath Raleigh, NC. Video of the pulsating masses has made its way across the internet and, while authorities are claiming they're totally harmless, in an RPG, t[...]
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Played Basic D&D for the First Time!

July 1, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: 4e, At the table, RPG Hub 
Because I've only been gaming for 10 years or so, my experiences with D&D started with 3e.[...]
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Feedback Required: Mini M&M Campaign

June 22, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, Mutants and Masterminds, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
Would you want super-Supers? Like, powerful enough to fly so fast that you can cause the Earth to spin BACK IN TIME?[...]
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Meta Gaming at its Finest

June 19, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
Crap! It's almost 9! SPEND THOSE STYLE POINTS WHILE YOU CAN![...]
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So, I Can’t Feed the Nazis to Dinosaurs, But…

June 18, 2009 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub 
... we all know what happens when you fall into lava ...[...]
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Ask The GMs: The right to be heard

May 16, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: 3.x, 4e, Adventure Prep, At the table, DM Advice, Encounter Design, Game Mastering, Game Mastery, Play, RPG Hub, advice, behind the screen 
How do you ensure that every player gets a fair share of the attention when one of them has a dominant personality? Sometimes it can be hard to determine exactly what the problem is when someone asks for advice. Whe[...]
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When Is A Good Time To Hand Out Experience Points?

May 1, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: Advice/Tools, At the table, Game Mastering, RPG Hub, Running Encounters 
Many games use experience points, and if you game master such a game, you might wonder when the best time is to handout XP - before, during, or after? I’ve done all three, and there are pros and cons to each approa[...]
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Ask The GMs: Networks Of NPCs

March 21, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: Adventure Prep, At the table, DM Advice, Game Mastery, Play, RPG Hub, advice, behind the screen 
What do you do when the PCs start recruiting people as information sources? A game master writes: Hi Mike and Johnn, I’m running a 3.5 D&D campaign, where the player characters are largely based in a majo[...]
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Pile On This: Undead are Taking Over. What happens?

January 28, 2009 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: 4e, At the table, Campaigns, D&D 4e, Encounter Design, RPG Hub, campaign setting 
Help! In my Carnus D&D 4E campaign the PCs failed to stop a permanent rift to the Shadowfell opening. Now undead are pouring out like hallelujahs at a Pelor rave. So, what are the consequences? Got any ideas? Here ar[...]
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Nerding it up at Disney World!

December 17, 2008 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, Mutants and Masterminds, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
Not only was the trip romantic, it inspired a ton of awesome plot hooks (this from the chick that runs M&M games featuring the Danger Girls at Disney, of course).[...]
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My HEX-y Love Affair

November 17, 2008 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: 4e, At the table, RPG Hub, Reviews 
So, we discussed... and decided we'd give HEX (Hollow Earth Expedition) a whirl. [...]
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Blogging is Hard

November 6, 2008 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, Dread, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
... as I get back into the swing of blogging, I'd appreciate if you'd let know if there's something you'd like me to ramble about. :) [...]
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DC Gameday in Review

October 20, 2008 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: At the table, RPG Hub, Reviews, behind the screen 
I'm going to spew out some thoughts on the DC Gameday very quickly while I wait for my night time cold medicine to kick in and teleport me to sweet sleepy time. :) It was spectacular fun. Good friends and good games -[...]
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No-Game Supplement

October 16, 2008 from d20 Blonde
Filed under: 4e, At the table, RPG Hub, behind the screen 
We're in a bit of a drought. Our normally enormous 4e group was unable to meet at all yesterday and my favorite M&M game has been on hold for what seems like EONS...[...]
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