*** Warning: Spoilers Ahead *** The topic for the RPG Blog Carnival December 2014 is ����With A Twist����. The topic includes anything related to surprises, plot twists, the unexpected in any form, and anything else that's relevant to these subjects. I am planning on running a Star Wars campaign in the near future and have sci-fi on my mind. So with that said, here are ten sci-fi plot twists you can use in your campaign. I have provided examples from books, TV shows, and movies that showed examples … [Read more...]
Verisimilitude: Tis the Season
December 29, 2014 By 2 Comments
I'm a big fan of verisimilitude in my campaign, and not just because I love to say the word! A couple of months ago I wrote about the importance of naming things (click here) in your campaign in order to bring them to life and make them feel more "real" to the players. Today I want to talk about using a framing device, specifically using��holidays, festivals, and celebrations in��your setting in order to add a sense of personality and dynamic action to your world's settlements. As gamemasters … [Read more...]
How To Be A Great Part-Time Player
December 24, 2014 By Leave a Comment
What do you do when your gaming group meets weekly, but you can only meet every other week (or less)? Currently, I find myself in this unfortunate situation. My gaming group meets once a week for a brand new D&D 5E campaign, but I am only able to attend once or twice a month. Thankfully, this will change fairly soon. But in the mean time, the game master has to deal with me jumping in and out of the campaign. I have to deal with keeping up with the happenings in a campaign where I don't get … [Read more...]
D&D 5E: Combat Speed
December 22, 2014 By 4 Comments
Our group has been playing 5th edition now for a few months and one of the things I'm most happy about with this version of the game is how fast combat moves. I enjoyed running both 3rd and 4th edition but I was never completely satisfied with how long it took to run a combat encounter. Even after making a few house rules and tweaks combat seemed to take forever, especially at higher levels. I think there are several contributing factors to 5th edition's increased combat speed. Some of these … [Read more...]
101 Star Wars Encounter Ideas (51-101)
December 17, 2014 By Leave a Comment
Star Wars is one of my favorite settings of all times. I enjoying both game mastering and playing in campaigns set in the Star Wars universe. Here are 101 Star Wars encounter ideas that a game master can use in their campaign. Some of these encounters are small encounters, such as passing by a unique individual in a city. Others are big encounters, such as encounters that may evolve into a social interaction or combat. Here is the second half of 101 Star Wars Encounter Ideas (51-101): 51. … [Read more...]