GM Advice
Learn tricks to help make your game easier to run, more entertaining for your players, or both.
Alternatives To Meeting In A Tavern  Are your players too used to the standard campaign opening, "You all meet in a tavern"? Try spicing up your next campaign with some new ideas. Campaigns In Your Home Town  Setting an RPG campaign in your home town is a great way to leverage the local knowledge you have about where you live. Worried that your town isn�t interesting enough for a campaign? Never fear, every town has adventure hooks. Coping With Dungeon Master Burnout  Surely every DM has felt game-haltingly bored at some time or other. When this happens it is like a big warning sign to your group saying "this is a chore." How do you manage it? Will it always be like this? Here's some advice on how to bring fun back to your games. Creative Use Of RPG Treasure  Any role playing game might become little more than a quest for treasure, depending on the players, but this article has tips for avoiding that fate for your lovingly crafted campaign. D&D Encounters  D&D Encounters is an ideal way for new players and new GMs to experience D&D 4.0 in a relaxed, no-fuss, no-muss atmosphere. Dungeon Master Preparation Pitfalls  You're a dungeon master. The next session is very soon but you're too busy to prepare it. Maybe this is you or maybe you just prep a lot of tabletop role-playing games. Here's a small list of things to keep in mind that will save you time and effort while enhancing your game. Grains of Sandbox Plot  Adventure plot and sandbox games might seem contradictory. These two things can actually be reconciled, if you're mindful about it. Generalization, improvisation and more are important when giving your sandbox RPG flavorful plot. Here are some short-and-sweet tips for how to pull that off. Handling Failure In RPGs  Handling failure is a way for GMs to ease the sting for a player of a failed roll, or a series of failed rolls. Handling Player Character Conflict  Having trouble with your player characters fighting amongst each other? Here are some tips on handling those situations. How Many Players Is Just Right?  How many players should you try to get for a game? The right answer depends a lot on the game you're playing and your players. Read more for a discussion of some of the factors that go into picking the number of players for your group. How To Create An RPG Campaign Web Site  Have a great campaign you're running that you want to share with the world? Creating a web site for it is a great way to do that. We'll look at free tools you can use without being a techie. Monster Vault Review  A review of the Monster Vault boxed set, part of the D&D Essentials line: is it different from 4th edition Monster Manuals 1 and 2? Role Playing Scenarios With A Twist  Are you tired of your players predicting all your plot twists? Here's how to catch them unprepared and truly surprise them. RPG Campaign Software  Thinking of bringing your RPG campaign into the 21st century? With a laptop and campaign software, you can have everything you need to run your campaign at the table.
Running One-Shot Adventures  Not quite ready to run your next big campaign yet? Try giving a one-shot adventure a try. We'll talk about how to tailor an adventure to be completed in a single session. Running Witch Girls Adventures  Running a Witch Girls Adventures scenario can be challenging, depending on your RPG background. Here are some tips. Should Dungeon Masters be Player Killers?  Many players have heard rumors or even played with vicious DMs, but is that really how the hobby is meant to be played? Simple Riddle Composition for DMs  Have you designed the perfect dungeon but lack a puzzling riddle? Do your players love intellectual challenges but you can't just put in a riddle you find on the internet? This guide will show you a quick and simple way of making your own riddles to perplex your players! Splitting the Party, Tips for GMs  The time comes in any adventure where the PCs are divided on what to do next. And rather than hash it out between them and come up with a consensus, inevitably they'll decide to do their own things. Here's how to handle it. Tactfully Running an RPG  Game mastering has a few tricky points regarding etiquette that differ from many other activities. Some game masters even go to auto-pilot and throw politeness out the window. Don't let that happen to you! Here's some tips on how to stay tactful and run a game at the same time. Time Management Tips For Busy GMs  Love GMing, but having trouble finding enough time in the day for everything you need to do? Here are tips that might help those of you who can�t devote 100% of your time to gaming. Time Travel Rules For RPGs  Want to run a time travel game? The time travel rules you pick can make or break your game. We'll look at some decisions you'll have to make.
Tips for Call of Cthulhu Campaigns  Call of Cthulhu lends itself more to horrific one-shots, yet a campaign can be fun, too. Here are some tips on running a great campaign. Tips for GMing Historical Scenarios  Have a great idea for a scenario in some historical period? These tips can help you to make the scenario that much more authentic for your players. Transitioning from Player to Game Master  What are some common fears that prevent players from becoming Game Masters? Here are some tips on how to make the transition successful! Using Traps Effectively  The use of traps in role playing games is a tradition as old as Dungeons & Dragons. As a GM, you must use traps effectively to avoid frustrating your players. Read this article for tips.
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