In this series, I’m going to be showcasing some techniques you can drop into almost any one-shot TTRPG session to improve it – even if the adventure you’re running is already published, these will make it better. Each one is minimum-prep, and guaranteed to be well worth it at the table. Check out the previous posts here (adding sidekicks), here (hexcrawl plots), and here (deadlining fights). Use a Montage Scene A montage is a scene where you zoom out of the action for a bit while the PCs travel somewhere, and let the players narrate some scenery and action. They’ll take on some of the GMing du ..read more

DIE RPG is a bit of an odd beast – this TTRPG from Rowan Rook & Decard, written and developed from Kieron Gillen’s comics, is quite unlike anything else I’ve played on recently. It’s laser-focussed on a very specific play experience, and it’s all the better for it. Like all my reviews, this is play-informed; I ran a one-shot of DIE for a group, and this is based on the play experience, not on reading the book. If you want a read-through, Iain McAllister from The Giant Brain, one of my players for the one-shot, has done one – so you can check that out here. Indeed, I’m going to try and not ..read more

In this series, I’m going to be showcasing some techniques you can drop into almost any one-shot TTRPG session to improve it – even if the adventure you’re running is already published, these will make it better. Each one is minimum-prep, and guaranteed to be well worth it at the table. Check out Part 1! While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, wan ..read more

In this series, I’m going to be showcasing some techniques you can drop into almost any one-shot TTRPG session to improve it – even if the adventure you’re running is already published, these will make it better. Each one is minimum-prep, and guaranteed to be well worth it at the table. While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the b ..read more

At the last minute, last Friday I decided on a one-day trip to UK Games Expo, the biggest tabletop convention in the UK. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with it in the past; its sheer size makes it a bit impersonal, and as someone who’s not a fan of queuing or navigating between thousands of gamers, it’s never been an essential in the gaming calendar for me. But, as the last time I went was pre-pandemic, I decided to head over for a day, mostly in the trade hall, and see what was going down. And I actually had a really good time. Some thoughts. Not a bad haul – credit to Goodman Games for se ..read more

For a media franchise so big in everyone’s minds, it’s no surprise that Star Trek has seen a few TTRPGs through the years. And, as we’re currently in the Neutral Zone between editions of Modiphius’ Star Trek Adventures, I thought I’d explore a few ways to play Starfleet, using this or other systems. For me, Star Trek is a brilliant genre to play in, especially for one shots, and I’d be very happy to see more of it offered at conventions. While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles ..read more

There’s lots of good GMing advice for convention games – lots of it on this blog – but less about being a good player. It’s a team sport, though – and if the players bring the awesome as well it just makes everything sing better. So here are four things players can and should do at conventions to help make their games more awesome for everybody. While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 ..read more

I’ve had a chance recently to run the Daggerheart RPG quickstart a couple of times – the playtest rules are available at the link above, and contain far more than just the quickstart – and I thought I’d pick out a few things from it. For a first impression, to be clear, I think it’s really good – it does some things in a genuinely interesting way, and it’s a really good quickstart in terms of introducing both setting and system in a concentric way. When this first landed, there were plenty of internet commentators giving their opinion of it – but as I’ve repeatedly said, we should judge games ..read more

I’ve started doing this more – sharing prep notes for one-shots. This time it’s for Fari RPGs game of space mining dwarves, Stoneburner – a rules-light solo-friendly game you’ll be seeing on Unconventional GMs soon!  As always, it’s up to you how complete this prep is for you to run the game yourself; a combination of this and watching the Actual Play on youtube should give you a head-start though, and it might be useful for what prep could look like for your game. I started by using Stoneburner’s great random tables, and then filled them out as best I could. The scribbly map and notes ar ..read more

As I write this, I’ve just returned from Kraken, a baroque gaming retreat in the wilds of Brandenburg, and I’m reflecting on the games that I played. One highlight was a game of Hillfolk that I finally got to play in, run by the designer, Robin Laws. I backed Hillfolk when it was on Kickstarter, so it made me think about how long ago it was – 2013, as it turns out. 11 years later I actually get to play it. And then I considered some of the other games I’ve played at the con, and their year of publication. Pendragon (2016, although a new edition is imminent). Feng Shui 2 (2015). Night Witches ..read more