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That's a solid set-up, but I think its effectiveness will vary by group. If you've got the kind of players that constantly demand, "If this mission is so critical, why can't we borrow a little man-power from the organization?" then you've got to come up with reasons. That can strain credulity...

For myself, I sometimes wonder if we could borrow a solution from the MMO world and introduce a mechanically supported transmog system. http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Transmogrification Maybe even allow minor skill bonuses for having a matched "diplomat's outfit" or a "warlord's panolpy." It...

Do you guys ever deal with this problem? I love me some magic items, but by the time I'm carrying around a golf bag full of weapons and wearing a hat over helm over a headband over a pair of night vision goggles, I begin to feel a bit silly. Is there an aesthetically pleasing solution to the...

Have you ever noticed how some players expect good-aligned NPCs to help them for free? "Alright Mr. Priest man. We're both holy guys. My cause is just. Now give me unlimited free heals." I write about this issue a little bit over here, but I'm curious about your experience. Have you ever...

A buddy of mine ran a Firefly game in Savage Worlds. He wound up recreating the riverboat scene from Maverick verbatim, "Turn in your guns" and all. He'd never seen the movie either. Dude still gets red-faced whenever we mention it.

For me it's all about making the wrong assumptions, usually involving statuary (as pictured here). What about the rest of you guys? When did you accidentally kill the king / destroy the maguffin / word the wish poorly? Let's hear your tales of d'oh!

Hey, I was just talking to that guy the other day! Seriously need to read more of him. GJ on bringing this quote into play, because I think it's at the heart of the problem here. It's one of the points of tension between game and story: how do we represent interesting characters when their...

I think my problem was the opposite. The situation I had in mind when I wrote the comic involved a werewolf and a "redeem the wicked" paladin. Dude just talked the werewolf to death, but he never asked to make a check. As the GM, I was into RPing the scene and never thought to say, "Go ahead and...

When you find that diplomacy doesn't seem to be working, how do you move the scene along? When do you know it's time to ditch the talky bits and move on to violence? Is it the player's job to try a different tactic or the GM's to say "you get the sense that these NPCs won't change their minds?"...

I've been thinking about running a game where the PCs play as familiars or animal companions. If you guys have ever read Roger Zelazny's "A Night in the Lonesome October," I'm drawing a lot of inspiration from there. Power levels are going to be tricky to manage though, not to mention the...

My pet peeve is pictured right here. How about the rest of you guys?

I think my solution for carrying capacity is a common one. I like to tell my players, "Don't worry about carrying capacity. I won't enforce it unless it gets silly." However, I recently got curious and looked at my 7 Str gnome's character sheet. He's staggering around with over 200 lbs worth of...

When the PCs refuse to pick up the quest hook, what do you do? Forcing it seems like a bad idea, but do you abandon your prepared storyline entirely? Do you circle back to it a few sessions later? And if you do decide to abandon the quest, when do the consequences for doing so start to feel...

It's not rocket science. You go over to somebody's house every week, you bring a six pack and chip in for the occasional pizza. However, as my favorite Munchkin card implies, there's also a strange Bribe the GM With Food factor. How does your group handle GM contribution to the collective...

So I was flipping through the monster manual, thinking to myself that there are some pretty cool good-aligned monsters out there.... Comic for illustrative purposes. But how the crap do you ever use them? Assuming you aren't running an evil campaign and that your PCs are the typical bunch of...

So like... How do you prep your players for that kind of campaign? I'm just imagining, "OK. War is finally over. The long rivalry between the kingdoms of Blah and Blahh has ended in a wedding. Now that all that lore is out of the way, Tony the Tiger appears from a planar rift..." I guess I'm...

Huzzah! May your beard grow ever-longer, friend!

Do you let the players fill in the blanks, or do you like to start with a theme? I'm thinking things like "you're all in a military unit" or "you're all apprenticed to the same wizard."

First of all, relevant comic. So how do you guys do it? Do you rely on the tried and true "you all meet in a tavern," or do you try for more inventive means of getting the band together? What's your go-to campaign opener?

That's the thing. This makes sense in my head as a player. But when it comes time to inspire my companions in battle, how do I describe the action? You can't begin reading fiction at the enemy.