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Most roleplaying games have a very slow start. A game master must do hours of prep work, and players must build complicated characters. That makes it difficult to change plans on the fly, or to add a friend that doesn’t know the rules system. Fortunately, … read more »
People argue that critics shouldn’t complain about the realism of fictional stories, either because it’s hypocritical to critique just one thing, or because fictional stories don’t need to be realistic. It’s not real — so what if it’s technically incorrect? Read more »
Mur Lafferty joins Oren, Mike, and Chris to talk about classic creatures. They revisit the long history of werewolves, vampires and zombies, share their favorite depictions of monsters in stories, and question whether it’s better to use existing creatures or make up new ones. Read more »
What makes a villain truly memorable? Their swirly cape? Their nefarious mustache? Their maniacal laugh? But are any of these details why you remember these characters? Here are some aspects of villains that make them memorable. Read more »
Games of Thrones is dark; Disney’s Cinderella is not. Few would disagree, and many could choose confidently between them without knowing more. That’s why it’s practical to make recommendations based on how dark a story is. It’s easy to gauge, and many people have a … read more »
Oren, Mike and Chris discuss the difficulty in recreating popular storytelling tropes like main characters, mentors, and prophecies in roleplaying. They highlight TV shows with tropes that make them feel like tabletop campaigns, and swap stories about how resourceful and willful players can be. Read more »
Storytellers want to have their cake and eat it too, even if the cake is absolute perfection, and the eating is relatable flaws. The inevitable result of trying to have it both ways is a character that defies human nature. These characters have traits that … read more »
The beginning of your story can do many things, but one is more important than any other: capturing the reader’s interest. If they don’t keep reading, any other purpose – setting the tone, hinting at central themes, or whatever else – becomes pointless. As a … read more »
Your players will spend a great deal of time interacting with the non-player characters. The unpredictable nature of running an adventure means that you will be improvising NPCs as often as not. Fortunately, making them up on the spot becomes easy with practice. Read more »
What if you make up 20 pages of backstory, and your character still doesn’t feel “strong”? How can you even tell? I’m going to turn the subjective quality of “strength” into clear benchmarks by detailing six traits that strong characters have in common. Read more »