Since the opening days of my RPG life, I’ve created backgrounds for my characters. It’s just how my brain works. I love creating characters and their backstories. Don’t worry, I don’t force my GM (or fellow players) to endure reading the pages and pages of hastily-written...
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https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Gnomecast-190.mp3 Join Ang and Josh, along with guest Carl Lehmann as they talk about finding your sweet spot on what you need to begin a campaign comfortably and confidently. Links: Symphony Entertainment Alien with Carl – Part 1 Alien with...
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Let’s start from the beginning… what is the primary BBEG in all gaming tables? We all know that is scheduling. So the moment one of your players fails to come to one of the games, you know you will have to get the player up to date on what happened and give an explanation to why they weren’t...
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Recently, I had the chance to do something I never thought was possible. After 36 years, I returned to the table with most of my high school gaming group to play a game. I spent a few weeks preparing for it and ran two sessions during the weekend. It went fantastically, and along the way, I...
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How do we craft a good experience for our players when they’re just voices in our ears and videos on our screens? After all, experience is more than the points that gets handed out at the of the session. I want to talk about the charisma-based skill challenges we face when our campaigns are digital—the soft skills, the social stuff.
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This time around, I’m going to talk about the order in which you design your adventures. There are many takes on this, and loads of approaches to use. However, I’m going to focus in on what works for me. If it works for you, great! If you give it a try, and it doesn’t quite jive...
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I love foisting eldritch artifacts or ancient magics onto their shoulders. I take glee in giving them influence within an important organization and seeing what they’ll do. It allows me to ask tough questions about how and when they use their great power responsibly (thanks, Uncle Ben). Plus, it gives my players the power to enact real change in the game – something all of us can sometimes feel powerless to do in our real lives. (My group’s go-to power fantasy is making the world a better place.)
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One of my gaming groups plays a mashed up game with three genres: Highschool, Swashbuckling, and Urban Fantasy. We call it Children of the Shroud. In the game we play high school kids in a hidden magic world. As part of our magical learning we are part of the Junior Guardians club. It’s a club for...
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When starting to design an adventure for your home group, the first things I always consider are the mood, tone, and theme of the adventure. This will dictate all design decisions, descriptions, monsters included, sometimes the treasure gained, and the general aesthetics of everything I create for...
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Face to face, out in the heat, hanging tough, staying hungry… — Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger” In a proud GM Dad moment, my eldest daughter just ran her...
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Calling all Writers! Come write for Gnome Stew!
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