We’re all at the gaming table for an adventure, right? But what about when your players don’t take the bait? In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about what they’ve seen undercut PC motivation, how they get it back, and motivational tricks to use at lower and higher levels in your game.
Playing D&D is easy, right? Well, maybe that’s the case if you have been playing somewhere between two and twenty years. But try explaining the game and all of its mechanics to someone who has never played an RPG before. To help this, we have composed a list of tips to help new players learn the game in an enjoyable and painless way that will make them want to come back for more.
What do you need to make a town or city for your RPG campaign? A place for your PCs to hang their hats and rest their weary feet? Stores and taverns for them to unload their loot and pick up new quests? We have warned you not to get caught up in building towns and cities before, but this time a listener asked what needs to be in them when you have to do it. The 3 Wise DMs came up with 19 tips to help you do it in pretty much any RPG.
Is the Call of Cthulhu RPG as maddening as its reputation suggests? The system offers a journey into the Lovecraftian world of mystery and macabre. Because who’s not up for an evening filled with suspense and shoggoths? We put together some points to help you determine if the stars are right for you to introduce the Call of Cthulhu to your players.
Now, even old-school RPG players who haven’t played a new edition in decades are wondering what they’d need to know to run 5E. Players like Jeff, who emailed us and said, “After 40-ish years, my daughter and son-in-law got me back into RPGs with 5E and I have been playing for the last 2 years or so. In all this time, I have never been a DM/GM.” And he had a few questions about running 5E that we do our best to answer in the podcast. In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about how DMing 5E is different from older editions of D&D, how the culture around playing it has changed, and what every old-school D&D DM should know about running the system if they haven’t played it yet.
discussion centered around the costume dinner party I threw when the players finally accepted the dinner invitation from the Master of Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich. With all of the players buying in and coming in costume, the table was set for what is, arguably, THE set piece for the entire adventure. What followed was a wonderful session full of tension, dread, laughs and a knock-down, drag-out Round 1 to the epic conclusion of our Curse of Strahd. Here are some points to consider when really playing up the immersion during your horror games.
It’s the scary season around our gaming tables, and that brings up one of the age-old questions about DMing: Can you reasonably expect to scare adult roleplaying gamers? Maybe, maybe not. But what you can definitely do is remove the illusion that they’re in control. Undermine that false comfort that their characters will be OK. Whether you’re threatening their hit points, sanity or character attachments, if you can shake the players’ sense of security, then you can scare them — and that’s what Halloween gaming is all about.
The last decade has seen the rebirth of superheroes, bringing them back into the spotlight. And while that’s changed what’s on tap for Hollywood, many gamers also want to be part of this awesomeness. Case in point, when I had a chance to join a game using the classic TSR Marvel Super Heroes RPG system from the 80s, it was a no-brainer.
Can you teach your wife, girlfriend, best friend, family member or anyone you love to play your favorite RPG? It’s a risky proposition, as listener Dave points out in this week’s listener question: He wants to teach his wife to play D&D, and she’s agreed to give it a try, but he’s afraid that “if she doesn’t enjoy that first session, she will never come back to the table.” In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about their experiences — both successes and failures — in bringing non-gamers into RPGs and what they’ve learned about giving them the best chance to love it.
What happens during every gaming session needs to matter. Perhaps not directly to the main story, but at least to some plot thread. When this doesn’t happen, players can find themselves frustrated or disappointed after a game if it doesn’t feel like they really accomplished anything. This is why we’ve put together some tips to ensure every game feels satisfying. Because no one wants to sit through a session that feels like a double-sized filler episode.
