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,

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,

Three Ways to Surprise Everyone at the Table Including Yourself.

Here are some techniques you can use to make your games more flexible and surprising. These are all things you can use to reinforce the philosophy of “play to find out what happens” or as I described it before that phrase came around, “follow the players around to see what they’ll do.” 1. Have ideas

One Shots As Preludes.

I once ran a series of games. I want to say there were six of them. Each game was a different genre and setting, and each one was a one shot. In each of these games one character died at the end. One character for each member of my group at the time. So, six

Borrowing Ideas About Structure From Other Media.

Judd Karlman has been talking about Using other media as a way to frame our games over at his excellent podcast https://anchor.fm/daydreaming-about-dragons. He’s talked about making book covers for games, using opening theme songs from HBO style tv shows, and framing the game like it’s a stage play. I love this kind of stuff. I

The Puzzling Part About Puzzles.

The party approaches the ancient temple door. sixteen paving stones bear sharp glyphs, and when trodden upon light up. Is there a pattern of steps that opens the massive doors? Within the dank cavern a statue turns, driven by some mechanism, There are words inscribed on the base. Massive stone doors slam shut, trapping the

Thirty Five Ways to Say “You Missed.”

This is a list of things that you can say in place of “I miss” or “they miss” when describing a failed roll in combat. As always, not only am I writing this for all of you, but for myself as well. I want to get into the habit of making descriptions during combat more

Let’s Talk About Secrets

When do you keep a secret a secret? When I first started gaming, secrets were a big part of the game. We passed notes to each other, We had quiet confabs in other rooms. The GM took players aside to tell them things in confidence. Sometimes these secrets enhanced the game, sometimes they caused train