Common advice out there is for player characters to have backstories to help the GM. But how, exactly, are we to leverage this information? This week, I’ll share a few ways I do this, starting today with…. 1. Free (or Not) Hirelings Rather than whack every capitalized noun over time from PC backgrounds, I instead […] The post Wielding Character Backstories for Epic Campaigns appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

I recently polled several GMs with this question: If you could learn anything about GMing that would significantly improve your gameplay, what would it be? The overwhelming response was the desire to improve improvisation skills. Tonight’s coaching workshop is dedicated to that very topic. It will focus particularly on setting Stakes, an aspect of improvisation […] The post Master Improvisation Using Story Stakes to Amp Up Your Game appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

(Game Master, I shot a short video explaining today’s article. You can watch it on YouTube here.) A GM I’m consulting asked me how I create and use Templates in my campaigns. My answer was “Bingo!” And that made no sense at all. First, what’s a Template? I have also called them Stat Blocks in […] The post Bingo! Prep appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

I was chatting with moderator @ExileInParadise on the Roleplaying Tips Discord about how poison can inspire toxic challenges and venomous adventures. Poison is any substance that causes harm to an organism. It basically attacks a single biological process and takes it out. There’s often a spot in the rule book for how to handle poison […] The post Poisonous Ideas for Plots, Encounters & World-Building appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

A fellow game master asked me what area of the game he should work on that would have the biggest effect on his GMing. Great question. To score a bullseye you at least need to be aiming at the right dart board. The Wide World of GMing Skills We have a long list of GMing […] The post Where to Focus for Greatest GMing Improvement? appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

Something I haven’t done in years is track the PCs’ birthdays. This realization came while I was reading an old Dragon Mag yesterday. We used to roll for character birth dates. When the calendar rolled ’round there was a celebration, even if it was a loaf of bread with torch mashed in to blow out. […] The post Celebrate Character Birthdays (d12 Birthday Events Table) appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

A GM on Reddit the other day was lamenting about a classic villain disaster. They introduced the BBEG at the start of their campaign to sew hints, hooks, hatred, and all that. But then the players unexpectedly attacked. Crits were rolled. The villain died. The GM’s now prepping a new campaign. Before you put villains […] The post An Essential Ingredient for EVERY Villain Encounter appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

Awhile ago, I spoke about how important it is to have urgency in our adventures. We want the party to push themselves and test their limits. To that end, here’s a hot tip from RPT GM Michael Barry in Canberra: Johnn, Your recent posts have been on fire! Which reminds me…flame is my favourite spice […] The post Turning the Heat Up on the PCs appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

Last week, I wondered how you might prove one’s citizenship in a low-tech fantasy setting. Even if this isn’t a factor in your adventures, it’s a cool little detail to help your setting feel real. I received two language-related responses I thought you might find interesting: The first is from RPT GM Maja: Thanks for […] The post Use Secret Language for Clues appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more

RPT GM Patrick writes in response to my tip about playtesting our encounters with mental playthroughs: Good morning my fellow GM! This approach has been truly amazing, as you mentioned, in addressing any peculiarities that might have been overlooked during the initial creation phase. I’ve been employing this method for several months now, and the […] The post We Only Think of the Gold appeared first on Roleplaying Tips ..read more