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Brevity is the soul of wit … and game design. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Brevity Write with brevity. Your readers will thank you for it. By “brevity” I mean in a sense of not wasting words; that is, not using words that are unnecessary. Another way to describe this is being concise, though...

Is there an ideal combat method in an FRPG? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. RPGs in many cases revolve around combat. Yet the player who understands Sun Tzu’s maxim knows that fighting is merely a means to an end, not an end in itself (though, I must admit, that also depends on the experience...

Is there an ideal frequency with which characters or monsters hit one another in an FRPG? Picture courtesy of PIxabay. How Random Is Your Game? I was inspired by a recent discussion of armor in Dungeons & Dragons to expound on a question that is frequently asked by new game designers: how...

The lethality of a RPG's spell system has repercussions beyond combat. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Meet the Spellslingers I recently read the novel Spellslinger (and successors) by Sebastian de Castell. In this story novice spellcasters (adolescents about to take the “tests”) can kill one or...

Why do people buy commercial modules when early RPGs assumed the GM would make up the adventures? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Why Bother? Of course, it’s much easier to use a module than to make up your own adventures. But there’s more to it than that. Simply put, game mastering takes time...

Planning's not for everybody, but strategizing ahead of time can win the day. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Improviser vs. Planner In A Different Look at Player Styles: Planners and Improvisers I described planners and improvisors as two different ends of a spectrum of playing styles. My...

When two groups encounter each other, they may place very different values on the same objects. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Imagine a humanoid tribe that is “beyond the pale” of civilized territories occupied by humanity. They have rarely encountered “civilized” peoples. But those people...

Should monsters behave sensibly in tabletop role-playing games? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. The Sensible Thing to Do? Should monsters behave sensibly (and you might substitute “realistically” if you don’t balk at that term in a fantasy context) in role-playing games? People are all over the...

From a world building perspective, motivation for war can be important. Photo by Gioele Fazzeri on Unsplash What is It Good For? War in a fantasy campaign is rarely a surprise. Long-entrenched issues boil over to the extent that conflict arises. Thinking about how these issues motivate your...

This is about expectations, not for yourself as a GM, but what you expect from players. Picture courtesy of Unsplash. Let's discuss a topic not directly tied to game development that nevertheless affects game design and GMing: expectations. Not expectations for yourself, or what other people...

If you’ve developed nations in your campaign, you will probably have a world that involves colonies. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. World-building offers an opportunity to explore a variety of social, political, and historical concepts, including colonization. While the real-world history of...

Let’s talk about sieges, both how they work in the real world, and something about how they might work in fantasy. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Fortifications, both city defenses and military forts, play a large part in warfare, especially in pre-gunpowder times. Sieges occur when...

“Friendly fire” is not uncommon in real-world warfare. What are some pros and cons of including friendly fire in RPGs? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Oops! “Friendly fire” – when your side accidentally hits/kills its own troops/planes/ships – is not uncommon in real-world warfare. In the poor...

I dislike magic item stores. Here's why. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Magimart: Still a Bad Idea I don't like the idea of "Magimarts" -- something like a bookstore or small department store, often with a public storefront, where adventurers can come and purchase (or sell) magic items. I said...

As GM do you need to worry about originality in your adventures? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. I previously discussed Innovation in game design in 2017. This time I’m talking about making up adventures, “homebrew” as it’s called, to be used with your campaign but unlikely to be published. How...

GMs with more experience can improvise better than those with little experience. That doesn’t help the GM shortage. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. The Virtues of Published Adventures We previously discussed improv as a form of play, which has changed out of necessity from being the only way to...

A French company is interested in reissuing the game, but interest is very far from actuality in this industry. The original publisher of the second edition is no longer interested in publishing board games, wants to concentrate on RPGs.

There’s been a surge of interest in GMing by improvisation rather than preparation, as in the “old days.” What are the ramifications? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. A Different Way to Play I previously discussed improvisation in game mastering; this piece looks at it from a different angle. In a...

What is a player’s motivation when they first play an RPG? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Not Just for Actors This phrase is often associated with an actor in a film or play, but in the context of tabletop role-playing games the questions are: What does a player they think is going to happen...

Is combat an end in itself, or is it a means to an end; and is that a worthy end? Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Why Are We Fighting? Long-term tabletop gamers may often ask themselves: is combat an end in itself, or is it a means to an end; and is that a worthy end? With many rulesets the...