Dave

RPG Session Prep Tips: 3 Ways to Set the Right Scene for Your Game

by

So, you’re looking to set the right tone, the one that will begin your epic, world-shaking, heartbreaking, history-making, legendary campaign? To introduce the people seated around your dining room table to the fantastical world that they are about to enter? To begin, as our own Universe did, with a Big Bang? In our most recent episode, we delved into the tips and tricks we use to bring our campaigns to life: setting, descriptions, mechanics, etc. However, I thought it would be very helpful to revisit some of the nuts and bolts to my evolving method of Session Prep.

The Cannonball Run: 3 Ways to Handle Players Missing Sessions

by

In our latest episode, we answered a listener’s question regarding how to handle players missing sessions. This led to a brainstorm about how to build a campaign that turns this apparent weakness into a strength. Starting from the basic idea of a West Marches-style campaign, I offer you “The Cannonball Run.”

Schrodinger’s DM Prep: Every Encounter Is a Quantum Encounter Until Your Players ‘Open the Box’

by

Is the key encounter/NPC/Lost Tower of Super Badness this way or that way? Maybe it’s both and neither? Everything in your world can be simultaneously alive and dead until the players open that box and find out what’s inside. Here’s how to use that to your advantage and save time on DM prep.

Why We Play: 3 Ways RPGs Can Teach Us

by

Our discussion around inclusivity, sensitivity and awareness of other-abled people at the game table, as well as using D&D in therapy, got me thinking about why we play TTRPG’s and what they teach us about ourselves and each other.

Something Old, Something New: Tips for Reskinning Existing Characters

by

How do we feel about playing characters from popular fiction? Well, here’s how I did it with a 5E modern setting and Aeron Pendragon … King Arthur’s long lost descendant in Philadelphia, PA.

A Halloween Adventure in Weird NJ – Part Two: The Pain Witch

by

When we left our heroes, they had found their party member to be missing, possibly kidnapped, by the group known only as “The 13.” Hot on the trail of their compatriot, with the help of the mysterious Visitor, our brave adventurers found themselves transported into a modern-day fairy-tale in Harbor City and their strange City Hall, a former amusement park known as “Storybook Land.” Prepare yourselves for the conclusion of this 2-night Halloween adventure as we travel into the weird, terrifying and true tales of The Black Pines!

A Halloween Adventure in Weird NJ – Part One

by

In our most recent episode, we discussed crazy stunts that our players have pulled on us – things above and beyond what I call “just D&D.” And I talked in-depth about the short, multi-night adventure that I took a group through years ago. An adventure that took our heroes to the terrifying wilds of “Weird New Jersey.”

What Makes a Good TTRPG System?

by

Playing a TTRPG is an incredibly subjective experience, almost like a Rorschach test. With this in mind, I wanted to shift our perspective from the system and edition wars that populate so many social media feeds to something much more basic: What makes a TTRPG in the first place and what could we learn from that to improve our enjoyment of all our games (instead of firing shots at someone else’s fun)?

Stealing Smart: 5 Tips For Any New DM

by

Because of the breadth of skills required to do it well, running a TTRPG is one of the most fun, exhilarating, demanding and creative hobbies a person can pursue. So how does one begin on this journey? I would recommend you take a look at these 5 handy tips!

Stealing Smart: 10 Easy Steps to Prep Any D&D Session

by

I’ve learned over the years from running multiple games in multiple systems for multiple groups of players that the old adage of “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” is all too true. In this vein, I’d like to detail how I prepare for a session that leaves all the room for the organic decision-making that the players are going to bring.