The End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse is the first book in the End of the World line (Wrath of the Gods, Alien Invasion, and Revolt of the Machines are still to come) from Fantasy Flight Games. The game offers you the chance to play yourself during the ultimate zombie apocalypse. Your physical, mental, and social abilities and skills are what you get to use to survive! There are many zombie apocalypse games on the market right now, but what really caught my attention with The End of the … [Read more...]
Preventing GM Burnout
January 19, 2015 By 4 Comments
The other day I was reading an interesting survey/questionnaire over at Venger's Old School Gaming Blog. The questions were all directed at gamemasters and basically our level of satisfaction with the GM experience. The last question on the survey really got me thinking; "How long, generally, before you start to feel GM burnout?" I know we've all been there. There are plenty of times in the past in which I could feel it coming on.��A lot of gamemasters recommend switching games or letting someone … [Read more...]
Players: Trust Your Gamemaster
January 14, 2015 By 2 Comments
I recently read an article by Andy Click at The Illuminerdy that really struck a chord with me. The article was called, Behind the Screen: In GM We Trust. His article was actually inspired by a musing from another website called The Wenglish Warlock. The overall theme of both articles were simple: ����Want to make your DM's day? Drink the unidentified potion.���� The core of having a great roleplaying game really does come down to trust. You have to trust your gamemaster and the other players that … [Read more...]
Managing the Spotlight
January 12, 2015 By 9 Comments
Players enjoy spotlight time during a game, some more than others, but as a rule the opportunity to let your character shine is one of the key elements in having fun at the table. How you as the gamemaster manage the spotlight can be critical to creating a fun, rewarding experience for everyone playing. The players at my table are really good at sharing spotlight time but every now and then things tend to linger a little too long on one character or another character sort of fades into the … [Read more...]
Let the Fun Happen
January 5, 2015 By 9 Comments
Rarely do I have the opportunity to play a character, 99.99% of my gaming time is spent as a GM, but I do manage to play a couple of times a year when I go to conventions. I always have fun when I go��but you never really know about what kind of game you're going to get when playing with a GM you've never met. Last time I went I was fortunate enough to play in one great game, but I also played in a horrible one. On the surface the bad game should have been better; the GM seemed well-prepared and … [Read more...]