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Everyone has to start somewhere, even GMs and even if that start is very embarrassing. This week, Sarah joins us to talk about the very first campaigns we ran, or at least the first campaigns we’ll admit to running. All of us learned important lessons from those games, like how it’s not always necessary to roll dice, not to put in a super powerful GMPC, and to always be prepared for molotov cocktails.
We all know about magic items so powerful they damage the plot. Take time turners and liquid luck potions from Harry Potter. Why not go back in time and stop Tom Riddle from ever becoming the Dark Lord? Why not take some liquid luck and destroy Voldemort … read more »
Running a game is hard. A GM has to not only manage the story but also the game’s participants. GMs are asked to guide everyone to a satisfactory ending while making it look like they are hands off. To keep everyone happy and on track, GMs need to … read more »
This is a whole new Jar Jar of worms right here. Read more »
Hitpoints and wound penalties cover a PC’s physical health, but what about their mental health? That’s what we’re talking about this week, to the cringe worthy “random insanity” of Call of Cthulhu, to the superb therapy rules of Eclipse Phase. We discuss the benefits that … read more »
Nearly everyone knows Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as the author of Sherlock Holmes, but the good detective wasn’t Doyle’s only creation. Doyle was a prolific author, penning many tales outside the Holmes universe, and today we’re looking at one of them: The Disintegration Machine. While … read more »
You have a character that’s made from oozing lava, and another that’s a rolling snowball. They’ll make a great lava-snow duo, but right now they won’t so much as say hi. Don’t worry, storytellers have many tried-and-true plot devices for bringing characters from different walks of life … read more »
Let’s say you want to sneak up on an orc. Do you need to roll Move Silently to avoid stepping on a twig, and then Hide to keep the beast from seeing you, or can you cover both tasks with a single Stealth roll? That’s … read more »
In real life, it’s all too common for unjust acts to go unaddressed. But in fiction, audiences want evildoers to get their comeuppance. If a misdeed goes unpunished, it creates a feeling of dissatisfaction. Plus, if a protagonist doesn’t care about justice, it makes them look like … read more »
Stories about good and evil are classic, but black and white morality can rob a story of complexity and nuance. That’s why a couple of years ago, I provided some alternatives. Since one article can’t cover every source of gray conflict, I’m back at it. Look over these dualities the … read more »
Praise mighty Zeus, it’s time to talk about Greek mythology and its place in speculative fiction. For this task we bring on special guest Jim, who is perhaps the Iliad’s biggest fan. We discuss how accurately modern stories portray Greek mythology,* how the mythology has … read more »
