What Do Factions Do?

Factions, more than any other background element, should create story. When it comes to worldbuilding elements like places, NPCs, cultures, and objects, there are going to be some that just inhabit a space in between stories and are there mainly to reinforce the overall feel and texture of the game world. Not every peasant laboring

The Interaction Between Rolling and the Narrative

For the sake of brevity here, we’re going to call it rolling, or rolling the dice. There are systems that use randomizers other than dice, and there are systems that don’t have traditional task resolution mechanics, but in the case of the first, just assume I mean “do the random” and for the second, well,

What are your White Whales?

In short, what are the games you’ve always been interested in playing, but, for whatever reason, you’ve never managed to run or play? Back in the days when roleplaying games were pressed into clay tablets* and dice were made of mammoth bone, one of the major hurdles to playing certain games was availability. If your

You’ve Heard of Roleplaying with Miniatures, but How About Narrative Wargaming?

One of several reasons I stopped wargaming* was that it was basically the same story over and over. Force A and Force B for some reason want to fight each other, and they do that until one side is beaten. Maybe there were some little objectives to think about like a marker on the board,

A Representation of Your Character.

I’m a fan of repping your character through various means, from the simplistic to the downright artistic. I think it’s helpful to both yourself and your fellow characters to have something in front of you, or in your window during an online game. It shows everyone else at the game who your character is somehow.

If There’s No Risk, Why Are We Doing this?

Have you ever come up against this kind of situation in a game, the characters are attacked, but because of some quirk of the rules, one or more of the party are immune to anything the bad guys can do to them? I find this particularly annoying both as a player and a GM when

Combat That Isn’t a Slog.

I was asked for an article about this by my friend Malcolm and boy do I feel this. I’ve never been a fan of super long form combat that basically turns into a bunch of people waiting for a chance to do something that’s hopefully cool. So, how do we make combat dynamic and engaging,

My Tumultuous Relationship with Shadowrun.

Ok, look, I’ll admit it. I have a chip on my shoulder about this game; one outside of all its other flaws. From my very first look at it my first thought was “I’m not entirely sold on this genre mix stew of a game.” I was the only one in my gaming group that

Our First Session of Forbidden Lands: Review/Analysis.

I’m taking a break from GMing. I’ve been running at least one thing every week for… years, so it’s time for a break. I’m taking this as an opportunity to watch, learn, analyze, and to just play. Last night we played the first session of Marc’s Forbidden Lands game, and I found it really fun.

Planning Ahead: NPCs and Baddies.

Whether you run a game off the cuff, or plan things out, having your NPCs and various adversaries at hand when the play goes down is always a good idea.* So, here are some ideas on how organize your NPCs for the best use during game. Find a way to keep them in front of