How we handle RPG character-altering changes, get the players on board with them and make it all balance mechanically with the rest of the game.
Did you ever conceptualize a character who you expected to run like a badass D&D version of Batman, but instead of getting Ben Affleck, you ended up with Adam West? Unfortunately, a lot of things can go south between your imagination and the gaming table. Therefore, I have composed a list of 6 tips to help prevent your next dark and gritty character from unexpectedly ending up as the version of Batman with floppy ears and bat shark repellent (but with much less charm).
Of all the roles the DM takes on, none is more important than bringing new players into the hobby. DM a game, and your player has fun for a night. Teach them to play, and they may have fun for the rest of their lives (or think you’re a gigantic weirdo — it’s a win either way). In this episode, on the eve of DM Dave launching a mostly rookie campaign, the 3 Wise DMs talk about how they handle new players, what they do to try to teach them the game, and how they make it fun without overwhelming the poor newbs.
They say the clothes make the man, but the villain makes the campaign. It has to be something your players love to hate – but also love to learn more about. A good big bad evil guy (BBEG) is a balancing act of depth and destruction. Here are 5 things I make sure to understand about my villain and what it’s going to do before the party confronts it.
How do you make sure your BBEG is epic like Darth Vader and not a sniveling mama’s boy like Joss Whedon’s Steppenwolf? The 3 Wise DMs dig into their process for creating villains that are worthy of the title, from concept to motivation to final confrontation.
If you asked 12 veteran gamers what fantastic roleplay looks like, you would get 12 very diverse answers. That’s exactly how it should be. You can’t nail down precisely what a great character looks like, and if you could, it would be boring. Instead, let’s look at some of the qualities adept gamers exhibit in terms of roleplay, and how they can be added to your gaming toolbox.
“Alignment doesn’t matter!” We’ve heard it all over the place, but alignment has been a part of D&D and other RPGs for decades. Is it worth your time? Does it make things worse instead of better? Does it have any benefits players today are overlooking?
Gaming keeps friendships together. But. what do you do when one or more of your friend’s characters either don’t get along or outright dislike each other? Unfortunately, when this happens, it can kill a game like nothing else. And on this topic, I’m speaking from experience. So, I would like to give some tips to help navigate this situation if you happen to be that unlucky DM whose party members have more hate for each other than the final boss.
For the first time ever, we brought the whole team together to recap DM Tony’s very highly customized version of Storm King’s Thunder. Hear what all 5 players and Tony thought of the game and what they have to say about the CRAZY MAGIC ITEMS in it his changes to the campaign, fitting in their backstories, and more!
You heard about the crazy magic in my custom version of Storm King’s Thunder on the podcast. Now, let’s take a look at this broken mess of magical mysteries my party encountered.
