Winging It! Running a Roleplaying Game on the Fly
Nerdarchist Ted here and today I would like to talk about Game Master tips. There are many styles to running a game and each Game Master discovers the style that works best for them. Your GM style might be to over plan a roleplaying game, plotting out the adventure and anything you think the players might do. This is quite exhaustive and time consuming on the GM. Your GM style could be to plan your adventure bare bones and either force your players to work with the material prepared or deal with situations as they come about. The merit of this style is you have some material planned and only if the players go off track do you have to think quickly and come up with something. Then there is a GM style of totally allowing the players to do as they choose and come up with encounters and material completely on the fly. The advantage to this is it’s totally an improv situation and has zero time taken to write material.
Rewarding an RPG Character’s Backstory
Hello and welcome to another article here at Nerdarchy.com. My name is Nerdarchist Dave and I’ll be laying down some Game Master tips for you today. Have you ever struggled with getting your players involved in your game? Maybe they ignore every one of your plot hooks. Perhaps they aren’t willing to interact with your finely crafted NPC’s. Or they don’t care about the living, breathing city you’ve lovingly sculpted from your imagination. Have you asked yourself why this is? Or do you blame the players, because let’s face it you’ve done everything you could to give them an awesome experience. I see a lot of Game Masters in tabletop roleplaying games who struggle with letting go of the reigns a little bit. After all it’s their game right?
Is This You? Common Game Master Mistakes
I’ve been throwing funny-shaped dice with my friends for more years than I care to admit. Most of those games I’ve run the game as the Dungeon Master. Most of those years I spent making things far more difficult for myself than necessary. In this article I’m going to impart to you what I consider to be the most important of all the Game Master tips I have to give. Let’s face it, we play tabletop roleplaying games like fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons for one reason above all other reasons, and that is to be entertained.
Finding Inspiration for 5E D&D Campaigns
Hey friends, Nerdarchist Ted here. Running a campaign in fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder or any other tabletop roleplaying game is hard and writing material for said campaign can be even harder. When doing so you have to predict possible actions your players will make and be prepared for the most obvious options but as as Dungeon Master where do you come up with the ideas?
Willing Suspension of Disbelief Creates an Immersive RPG Experience
Even with the light from your torch the stairwell’s end cannot be seen. As you cautiously make your way down each step, the cracks and crevices on the sides of the wall quiver and writhe in time to the torch’s flickering flame.
Unseen cobwebs flutter against your eyes and face. There is a rushing sound like one unending breath that you hear too close to your ear. You see something move in the shadows just outside the torch’s glow. You hear a scratching, chattering cacopho-
*crackle, crackle*
*crackle, crackle*
” Hey pass over those Cheese Puffs”
Sigh… The dreaded words that quell the willing suspension of disbelief in an immersive RPG.
“Pass me the ______” ( food or beverage )
As a DM, if that blank is not filled by the words “Holy Avenger” or some other fantasy item, it really deconstructs the built up tension.
Thus undermining the work that we, as DMs, put into setting the mood of encounters.
While experienced players can still hack it when it comes to mood disruptions they still lessen the overall experience for everyone.
Why is that the case?
Game Master Tips — How To Start an RPG Campaign
One of the toughest parts about being a GM in any RPG game is “How do you start the campaign?” You will have characters with different backgrounds, professions, motivations, and depending the the kind of game you are playing even different races or species.
For this game master tips article I’ll be referring to the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition campaign I’m about to start running. The tips and advice I’m going to offer up will work in pretty much any setting or game, but I want to give a context in how these tips and tricks work and why I do certain things.
Nerdarchy Lays down some Game Master Tips in this video.
Crafting a Dungeon Crawl for Your RPG
What is a role-playing game without a good dungeon crawl? Now if I’m giving game master tips to a newbie GM or DM I’d say when it comes to planning adventures less is more.
You don’t want to make your players feel like their always entering the “dungeon”. Sure every once and a while throw in the classic “YES” this is absolutely a dungeon crawl style adventure, but mix things up a bit.
What is dungeon-
For all intents and purposes when we are talking about a Dungeons and Dragons style game a dungeon is a confined space with defined boundaries limiting the choices your players have as to where they can go and has an objective for your players.
Planning an RPG Encounter
Hello again my fellow Gamers. Nerdarchist Ted here to bring yousome Game Master tips. When it comes to planning an encounter you need to look beyond the stats on a page .
We look through the monster manual and see all the options there and can be intimidated. We see monsters of all levels and quantities.
Game Master Tips — Covering The Basics For New Game Masters
Before I get into the basics for the new Game Masters out there, let me start off by congratulating you on taking the helm and stepping up as the GM. Of all the players sitting around a tabletop roleplaying game the GM is the most important. Nothing happens without a GM to run the game.
Game Master Tips — Rewarding Player Choices In Your Roleplaying Game
