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,

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

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

What can we learn? Warhammer Fantasy RPG 1st edition.

Ok, full disclosure. Not only do I have fond nostalgic memories of this game, but I still love it, and I still play it. It takes very little to get me to run or play WHFRPG, especially 1st ed.* No shade on later editions, it’s just that I can run or play this edition in

One of my favorite kinds of games to play. The Overlay.

OK, what does that even mean? It means that you take the characters from a piece of media, and then put their basic ideas and personalities into a different setting or genre and then play that as a ttrpg. You find some kind of media that everyone playing is familiar with, and then you play