Character Progression – Awarding Experience and Rewarding Players
There are about as many different ways to handle character progression as there are role-playing systems, but most commonly they revolve around one tantalizing resource – experience points. It might go by different names or work differently from system to system, but at the end of a session most players are excited to rack up some XP. Loot and items may come and go, but XP is a permanent reward, one which drives the game forward and works as a proverbial ‘carrot on a stick’ for your players.
So how, as GMs, do we hand out this resource? Some GMs meticulously calculate exactly
how many points each character receives, while others eschew the XP system entirely and
give out levels at narrative milestones. There’s no right or wrong way to handle character
progression, but it is important to make sure that whatever method you’re using is right for
the players in your group, and that everyone’s on board.
Keep track of it all with Digital Character Sheet
Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Nathan Thurston, the creator of Digital Character Sheet, in order to learn about his product. Instead of me telling you about it, I thought I’d let him fill you in. My questions for him are in bold, followed by his answers.
What exactly is Digital Character Sheet?
Digital Character Sheet is software that replaces or supplements a Tabletop RPG player’s character sheet. It was created out of a desire to break away from the sometimes hard to fill, awkward form-fillable PDF character sheets, and provide a more elegant and sensible avenue to store character information.
“Mirrors of The Soul”- Out of The Box D&D Encounters #16
this, it can sometimes be hard to get players to try certain paths, enter portals, or take risks that are new. More experienced players tend to be guilty of this whereas brand new players are not.
Think you’ve got a lot of dice? Think again
[caption id="attachment_12106" align="aligncenter" width="742"] Image courtesy of Kevin Cook/DiceCollector.com[/caption] On September 7, 2004, a new world record was set as certified by the folks at Guinness World Records. Kevin Cook earned his certificate verifying him as having the “Largest collection of dice.” The number of dice...
Getting started with tabletop role-playing games online
If you’re like me, by now you’re familiar with playing tabletop role-playing games online. Gamers have been playing Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs online since the birth of the Internet, though the last few years has seen significant growth in this area. This is...
Torches: Not so Bright an Idea!
Torches were a useful thing to a warrior of the past. They allowed for the easy transport of relatively 
strong flame, which could be useful for several things including the rather deadly and destructive use it had in burning towns and buildings and such. This was especially useful in the past, where fire fighting was a fairly uphill battle (and still is to some degree) and when a single fire could burn entire cities at times. The point of this article is not to say torches are useless but to say instead we’ve all been using them incorrectly, be they in movies, games, or just about anything else. Essentially, torches were many things but they were not especially good at lighting your way.
Torches do not make good light sources nor, more importantly, did people of the past (for our sake lets say medieval people since this site and myself mostly talk about fantasy games) attempt to use them for light very often at all. They last about thirty minutes, create a massive amount of smoke, and there are better options, namely lanterns, lamps, and candles. Torches created so much smoke you would likely soon die if you took it deep underground since you would fill up the entire cavern/dungeon with smoke. Also note though that night blindness is very real, and torches are an undirected bright light that constantly shines in your eyes.
It would be extremely hard to see anything beyond twenty feet or so. One might argue that in a fantasy setting, like the ones many of us play games set in, the components making up torches are made of better and less smokey (and less smelly) materials than the smelly tar that made up a lot of what made historical torches flammable (modern torches are different). To which I say….fair enough and I have no counterpoint except to say games like DnD seem to at least imply their real world items are supposed to be historical and only their magical/fantasy items are intended to be taken as completely made up.
When is it okay to Voice Disagreement with the Game Master?
Arrows are flying. Swords are swinging. Blasters are blasting. And suddenly your character goes down in a fight because of what you perceive to be a stupid ruling from the game master.
Your blood boils and your temperature begins to rise. What you want to do is curse and yell at the game master, informing him or her just how much of an idiot they really are. Or maybe you want to break into the middle of the game and argue about how the game master’s ruling was bad or unfair.
The Mystery Your Missing in D&D 5e…
Hello fellow Nerdarchists, Hope to see you all having awesome game sessions! In this article I wanted to address the common problem that a lot of game masters have trying to keep their players engaged by using the elements that are at the core of the RPG and that is… Mystery!
I have been recently tasked with running a large group of new gamers and teaching them the game of the newer Dungeons & Dragons 5e. So, with more players added I found it hard to keep each player involved on a personal level as well as how to keep the game sessions intriguing. I wanted to share with you a few tricks I learned about how to use Mystery as a tool to keep everyone happy and having a good time. On a side note, I usually don’t feel comfortable running a game for more than five players so with seven players it has become a bit of a challenge. So let’s get started…
First, I in general character backgrounds are normally a great way to engage players, but when you have seven people at the table it can become a bit overwhelming. Luckily for me my custom game world “Dark Myth” had a built-in way for me to deal with this being a Time Line. The time line in a game setting can be an easy way for players and DMs alike to quickly and easily come up with back stories to link things together. Also it can leave quite a bit of room for mystery such as “Why, did the war start in the first place?” or “Who is the spy” and many more. Questions like these can lead to a whole plethora of time-line related mysteries to keep gamers on the edge of their seats!
“It’s a TRAP!”… In Dungeons and Dragons 5e
“The party steps inside the cavern as their rogue gives the “all clear”. Suddenly they realize that the shadows on the edge of the room begin to move and out of the darkness they hear the sounds of blades being drawn! The party’s rogue steps forward and says, “Sorry guys. I’m just in it for the gold!” Outnumbered they are taken prisoner!”
“It’s a TRAP!” The oldest line in the book, and in my opinion one of the best ways to add drama to a story. Today I want to cover a few ways to catch your players off guard and force them to use their wits and skill to solve their conundrum instead of their brute force or magic items.
How Do You Capture Your Players?
In gaming as in literature, the villains make the heroes
Can you name this villain? Here’s a hint: He’s a certain Canadian mounty’s worst nightmare.
What is a hero without a villain? Not much, I’d say. Oh, a character can still be the main actor of a tale, the protagonist of a story, but without that villain, the hero can’t really be heroic.
Some might argue there are tales of heroes without a villain, such as survival stories in which the hero bests the elements to save the day, or maybe a romantic tale in which there is only a misunderstanding between love interests though eventually one or both of them proves their heroism by overcoming that misunderstanding. To that I say the villain is still there, but is not so readily seen. In the survival story, the elements themselves can be the villain. In the love story, if there is not an out-and-out villain, the misunderstanding that brings about conflict can be the villain. Sometimes the villain is the hero’s own inner struggle.
Ecology of the Abizder – Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Monster Mash Up
Hello out there in Nerdarchy Land. Last week Dave talked you about Rest and random encounters. You can check that out here. Today I am going to get down and dirty, with our fast and dirty monsters.
Let me present the ecology of the Abizder.
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Monster Mash Up
Player Tips – Ways to get More Immersed in Your RPG – Part 3
Many of you are looking to get more immersed in your table top RPG and you are not sure what is the best way. Today I continue my series of player tips. Last week I talked about using a character voice. You can read about that here
What do You do to get more Immersed in your RPG?
Player Tips – Ways to get More Immersed in Your RPG – Part 2
Last week I talked about a player tip about using a description of your character. You can read about it here. I am going to continue this discussion with another way to be more immersed in your character.
And that is Player Tips: CHARACTER VOICE.
Every day we speak. We use inflection, volume and other characteristics to send a message. Many actors are given over to their characters and develop a voice that makes sense to all aspects of the character. Even if you are not playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition all characters have a race, a background and some sort of profession.
Does the character voice make sense for all of those pieces. If not is there something cool or interesting about that character that makes them speak in an unusual voice?
Multiclass Character builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e (The Ranger)
Hello fellow Nerdarchests, Art here. I’m back with the next installment of my series Multi-Class Character Builds in Dungeons & Dragons 5e. If you missed my previous article on the Warlock just click HERE.
I’m going to take up some space and talk a bit about the Ranger in general (Yes, I know I made a booboo and missed the class entirely before). However, there was a reason I missed the anger from before as I have had quite an issue finding good builds that work well thematically with the class. As most people know the basic Ranger as listed in the Player’s Guide is quite laughable and weak, when compared to other classes. The reason for this is the lack of any real meaning behind their main class feature the “Favored Enemy”. By this I mean it does nothing to enhance the Ranger’s combat potential against said enemies like it used to in previous editions of D&D. I have found uses for multi classing with the Ranger but only as a secondary class (listed in my previous articles), but the Ranger as a primary class has been quite difficult to say the least. So, let’s get started…
How do you Class up Your Ranger?
Player Tips – Ways to get More Immersed in Your RPG – Part 1
Ok tabletop lovers. We all know that there are all types of players. Some of you care more about just killing monsters and getting the treasure, but others care about exploration not only of the world in which you are playing but within the character themselves.
There are many ways as a player or a Game Master to get fully immersed in the game you are playing. As a Game Master being descriptive, but not overly so, helps paint the picture of what is around. This can be very different for each group make sure you are not over or under doing it. Have talks with your players to make sure you are giving them what level they desire.
