I’m an unashamed fan of the idea of clocks within RPGs, if you’re not familiar with this concept the clock (a concept I encountered first in Apocalypse World) is simply a method of tracking how many intervals of time have to pass before an event occurs. Clocks tend to be represented in Apocalypse World and other such games as a circle divided into segments.
Category: GM Tips
Gaming Prep – Part 1
In this episode we’re joined by Johannes Paavola to talk about all things gaming prep.
Continue reading “Gaming Prep – Part 1”Multiple Plotlines
Spurred on by an idea from Hannah and the discovery of a cache of old Dragon magazines in our garage, this episode we’re talking about running games with multiple plotlines.
Continue reading “Multiple Plotlines”5 Tips for Staying In-Character
In our first episode of 2021 myself and Hannah are looking at five simple tips you can use to encourage people to stay in-character during your games.
Continue reading “5 Tips for Staying In-Character”Wishes
In this episode we discuss how you can use that most powerful of all magics, wishes, in your D&D game.
Continue reading “Wishes”5 Tips for Running NPC Heavy Scenes
Running NPC heavy scenes can be very challenging for both GMs and players, in this episode we’re offering some tips to help lighten the load a little.
Continue reading “5 Tips for Running NPC Heavy Scenes”Sequence of Play
In this episode we’re talking about the benefits of having a clearly defined sequence of play in your games, we’re referencing Old School Essentials by Necrotic Gnome.
- Title Music: Fireworks by Alexander Nakarada (Public Domain)
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If you want to check out Old School Essentials you can find their website here:
The basic rules for OSE are also available as a free PDF from DrivethruRPG:
Podcast Episode 48 – Hannah talks about Star Trek & Behind the Walls
In this podcast episode my wife Hannah and I talk about my upcoming adventure Behind the Walls
Title Music
Shinigami by XTaKeRuX:
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/XTaKeRuX/Empty_Grave/Shinigami
Used under creative commons licence:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Podcast Episode 18 – Countdowns & Consequences
In episode 18 of the podcast I talk about one of the tools I use to keep track of plots in my games:
Tip Tuesday: Sketch Big then Zoom In
It’s Tip Tuesday here on the Red Dice Diaries blog, and for this post I thought that I’d give you a tip for campaign creation.
A lot of GMs make the mistake of trying to detail out their entire campaign world to the nth degree. What tends to happen with this approach is that it takes a lot of time and can be very frustrating as a lot of the information doesn’t get used or is ignored.
Sketch Big
In order to keep a sense of logic and verisimilitude to your campaign world I wouldn’t recommend just making everything up as you go along, this can lead to contradictions and a patchwork feel. I stead, sketch out the very broad strokes of your setting.
For example: You might decide that there are two kingdoms in your world, in the north and south separated by a mountain range. One is a theocracy lead by a Priest King the other s feudal kingdom ruled by a hereditary monarch.
In this example we’ve got enough detail to give the players the broad strokes of our setting and can expand parts of the setting as needed. But crucially we’ve not exhausted ourselves nor have we boxed ourselves in, there’s plenty of room to incorporate new ideas.
Zoom In
Once you’ve decided where your player party is going to begin the campaign (normally a small settlement or something similar), zoom in and detail that place more thoroughly. The PCs are going to spend their first few session there between dungeons, buying provisions, drinking in taverns, etc it’s worth having a few NPCs, some encounters and other bits and pieces prepared in advance.
You can use this time to determine what you’re going to need to detail out in future, bait your hook with hints about the wider world (using your sketched out world outline) and see which ones the players bite.
Make Notes
When your players bite into one of your baited hooks, use your world outline to improvise more world details, make sure to take notes so that you can portray the world (and any NPCs, locations, etc) consistently.