When I first began tabletopping, it really was rather like playing in one of those linear-plot video games. It was high school, I was trying D&D for the first time, and what we were doing was pretty much a string of battles with an Excuse Plot. I gleefully toyed with the personalities of my characters, [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, The Real World |
Tags: illusion of control, real world, roleplaying | 
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Into every plot, a few regrettable–sometimes even downright stupid–actions tend to fall. Let’s face it, they make for better conflict, and sometimes half the fun is watching the character or characters pick up their own messes. On the other hand, GMs run the risk of players just not taking the bait, and writers run the [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, For Writers, GM Advice, Plot, Tactics, Technique |
Tags: foolhardy choices, plot, roleplaying, tactics, writing | 1 Comment »
I’ve spent this week talking about the reasons why a GM might be prone to combat evasion, as a continuation of RPG Blog Carnival. No amount of knowledge, however, does any good without putting it to use. So what can you do if you’re looking for action but your GM isn’t enthused?
First, see if you [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, Player Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, player tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | No Comments »
Yesterday, I continued my stream of RPG Blog Carnival posts by talking about about why many of the player rewards for participating in a fight didn’t apply quite as well when on the GM’s side of the screen. But what other sorts of rewards can a GM whose thing just isn’t combat look for or [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Player Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, player tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | No Comments »
“As a GM I often feel too much like I’m trying not to win, but to fail with style.” –my regular GM, during a discussion of his tendency to flit between systems.
In yesterday’s RPG Blog Carnival post, one of the problems I noted for GMs going into combat was that many of the rewards that [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, Player Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, player tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | No Comments »
In the spirit of RPG Blog Carnival, I spent the last week suggesting ways for GMs whose players are averse to combat to address the problems that cause that aversion and mitigate them. This week, though, I’m going to hit the converse of that topic: what happens if you’re itching for a fight, but the [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, Player Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, player tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | 1 Comment »
When I posted to RPG Blog Carnival about reasons why a player might avoid combat, one of the possibilities I’ve covered is that of the newbie intimidated by the combat mechanics. This is, I think, one of the most straightforward of the potential player obstacles to work around, being a matter of inexperience rather than [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, GM tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | No Comments »
During Monday’s RPG Blog Carnival post about reasons why players might be avoiding a fight, I started with the most simple of all: it’s a character thing. People do play characters who aren’t interested in fighting in general, or for whatever reason aren’t interested in this fight in particular, and those characters are going to [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, GM tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | 2 Comments »
Oh, come on, am I the only one participating in RPG Blog Carnival this month?
When I talked yesterday about reasons why a player might be avoiding combat, one of the points I mentioned was the possibility that the player just plain isn’t getting anything out of the fight itself. Regardless of how much we as [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, GM tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | 3 Comments »
As I admitted in the opening post for this month’s RPG Blog Carnival (still open; post away!), I’m notorious for my combat avoidance; if there’s a way to get out of a fight, I will find it, and I’m likely to take it. But I know how important it can be to just run a [...]
Categories: For Roleplayers, GM Advice, Tactics |
Tags: Combat Avoidance, GM tips, roleplaying, RPG Blog Carnival | 7 Comments »