Posts belonging to Category GM Advice
Posted by Ravyn on June 18, 2013
Originally posted August 12, 2010.
One of the biggest problems with having four or five people operating in the same scene, regardless of its type, is the risk that the better-imaged ones will take over and the less-definite ones will get lost in the shuffle. A couple days ago, UZ asked how to [...]
Categories: Concepts, Dialogue, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Technique |
Tags: combat, conversations, group scenes, keeping track of characters, reprise, roleplaying, writing | 
1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on June 17, 2013
Originally posted on August 11, 2010.
What’s the difference between conversation and combat?
I found myself asking that of one of my friends, while thinking about UZ’s recent question on keeping all participants in a conversation involving more than four characters at once. I have difficulty with that sort of thing too, so I didn’t [...]
Categories: Concepts, Cross-discipline, For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Technique |
Tags: combat, comparisons, concepts, conversation, group scenes, reprise, roleplaying, writing | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on June 11, 2013
Yesterday I talked about things a GM can do when running a scene in which it makes sense for the focus to be NPCs talking to each other. Enough positivity; let’s look at what not to do.
Don’t make it an uninterruptable soliloquy. Heck, don’t make it something where it could technically be interrupted, but the [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: conversations between NPCs, GM Advice, roleplaying, tactics | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on June 10, 2013
Running a scene, or even part of a scene, in which the only ones talking are one or more NPCs is a vexed issue among tabletoppers. On the one hand, the PCs are expected to be the focus on the action; if they weren’t, why else would we be playing? The game’s about the PCs. [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: conversations between NPCs, GM Advice, roleplaying, tactics | 2 Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on May 27, 2013
A setting can make or break a story. Sadly, the setting is a lot more rigid than the character; characters are expected to arc on a regular basis, and can usually do so with relatively minimal justification, but for precepts of a world or a culture to change generally requires a bit more of an [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: player frustration, roleplaying, settings | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on May 21, 2013
Yesterday, I talked about situations in which the party hates an NPC you need them not to hate, and how not to make it worse. Today, I’m going to look at the positive side—ways to actively try to get the NPC back into the party’s good graces.
If it was something they did, admit error. Yes, [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice |
Tags: bad first impressions, GM Advice, NPCs, roleplaying | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on May 20, 2013
They tell you in the real world that first impressions are everything. It’s even more the case with RPG characters, particularly the ones you want to keep around—and sometimes it’s just going to go wrong, and for whatever reason the entire party is going to decide that they loathe the character you’d wanted to pin [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice |
Tags: bad first impressions, GM Advice, NPCs, roleplaying | 1 Comment »
Posted by Ravyn on May 6, 2013
I’m not going to try to claim that the power fantasy isn’t an integral part of the RPG experience. The illusion of competence, lots of shiny effects with which one can attempt to butter-knife through one’s foes—that’s always been a part of it. But there are always those who get the shinies on their first [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: beginners, new systems, Player Advice, roleplaying, tactics | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on April 30, 2013
I think this might be the most universal of traits for RPG parties that don’t fall into the Chaotic Klepto mode: they mean well. UZ referenced one a few comments ago. Ursula Vernon’s Livejournal occasionally has the adventures of another. My groups fit as well, usually in a “This wasn’t quite what we intended to [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: good intentions, Player Advice, roleplaying | No Comments »
Posted by Ravyn on April 29, 2013
I’ve been overthinking one of my primary characters for a while now. To be fair, in that game, it sometimes seems like almost any sort of characterization beyond finding a motivation to save the world is overthinking. And the character is more than capable of overanalyzing things herself, and just enough of an outsider to [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Player Advice |
Tags: overthinking, roleplaying, writing | No Comments »