Some players come into any RPG they play with a 4-page character origin and personal history that drives them to adventure — others can barely pick a name. What do you do with player character backgrounds like these? In this week’s episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave dig into what they want and don’t want from character backstories, and how they use them in their games.
Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about 19 of the craziest stunts players have pulled in their games and how they bent the systems to make it happen — or sometimes didn’t. Along the way, hear our best secrets for adlibbing and adjudicating some of the hardest situations DMs face.
One of the most common assumptions in role-playing games is that the DM brings the story and the players play in it. But is that the way it should be? If the players are controlling the main characters in it, isn’t that, by definition, their story?
Introducing new players to the game is one of the best parts of being a DM. But it’s important that you put new players in a position to succeed, and that means making sure they play a character that helps them fly, not drown. Some classes put new players in a much better position to do that than others.
Thorin, Tony and Dave reveal their player-DM relationship struggles, what makes good/problem players, setting your XP pace, and what to do when players turn on each other.
