We interview Duncan Rhodes about his new book, The Creative Game Master’s Guide to Extraordinary Locations. Learn how his background as a travel writer helps him turn generic fantasy maps into versatile, session-sustaining set pieces.
Changing class names until D&D is low-key sinister
Rebranding a class changes how a player interacts with the world. A wizard who is an Academic or a Censor treats reality like a document to be edited. These sinister titles shift the focus from heroic fantasy to a cold and clinical obsession.
Theater of the mind – Inspiration from the golden age of radio drama
Explore how the “theater of the mind” from Old-Time Radio can enhance roleplaying games. Learn five audio techniques to build immersion, from verbal tricks to sound science.
Genre Police: Catch It On A Re-Run
Running the same roleplaying game one-shot for different groups? It’s a masterclass in GMing. Learn how re-running a scenario teaches vital skills in design, pacing, refinement, and adapting to group dynamics.
Genre Police: System Expectations
Feeling bored with your regular roleplaying games? Challenge yourself as a GM. Learn to push systems to their limits, change basic rules, and mash up genres for exciting new play.
Why the scariest D&D monsters only exist in your mind
Learn how to describe D&D monsters to make them truly scary. A guest post by Tom Gilbert of LunaBear Games, creator of the Deck of Holding Kickstarter.
Genre Police: Keeping Our Own Gates
I’m an advocate for pushing RPGS into new places and have written at least one article here over the years that in reflection got a little bit to esoteric. But I think it’s important to occasionally balance the scales. So let’s look at those suppositions.
Genre Police: What did we learn?
Last article, I was fully on the soapbox. I talked about how you can change up your expectations of an existing system if you feel stuck in a rut, but also don’t want to change the system. At the end of the article, I said I’d revisit some of the ideas to shake up the campaigns I’ve had over the years.
Expert advice: How to Make Combat Interesting
What makes combat interesting? A lot of GMs think the answer is giving the monster secret powers, to be revealed at the worst moment. I’ve even seen articles that suggest misleading players about the monster’s abilities. Which is a shame, because that tops my list of what Not to do.
Genre Police: Rule Of Lore
Roleplaying games are an odd beast, aren’t they? Explaining one of them to someone who has no idea what one is is quite complex, because you’re both explaining telling a story & playing a game at the same time.
