Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 7th Shelf
This entry is part 8 in the series The Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others) Another monster post (18,400 words), another late posting. I once swore that I would never be involved in...
View ArticleRisk Assessment For GMs
This article was started way back when I was submitting articles to Roleplaying Tips, in fact, more than ten years ago, but it was never finished – until now. So “recently” means “relative to 2006″… I...
View ArticleBasics For Beginners (and the over-experienced) Part 10: Rhythms
This entry is part 10 in the series Basics For Beginners (and the over-experienced)(I’m sure some have been wondering when it would resume – Part 9 was published in September 2016, after all…) I’ve...
View ArticleEssential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others): 14th Shelf
This entry is part 15 in the series The Essential Reference Library for Pulp GMs (and others) The Fourteenth Shelf: Odds & Sods II – Practicalities – Introduction by Mike Practicality can mean many...
View ArticleAsk The GMs: Your Latest Bling – Questions About Equipment
A trio of questions that take me out of my comfort zone, because I don’t know the game system, and they are – to some extent – heavily system-related issues. But I had the advantage of being able to...
View ArticleSix Impossible Things Before Breakfast
This is not the article that most people will have expected to see in this space. It’s supposed to be the fifteenth shelf of the Essential Reference Library, but that’s taking a lot longer to complete...
View ArticleAsk The GMs: When Undead Go Stale, Part 1
There is something about “undead” that tantalize GMs and players. Maybe it’s because their very existence in a game world hints at fundamental questions about what life is. Every GM will, sooner or...
View ArticleNarratives Of Skill: How To ‘Improv’ Outcome Descriptions In Advance
In many RPGs, skill results are a light switch – you either succeed or fail. At best, this is a missed opportunity for the GM; at worst, it can convey a false sense of capability to PCs because they...
View ArticleAn Easter Surprise: Little Bubbles Of Nothing
You can never tell where inspiration is going to come from. The best you can do is remain alert to the world around you and leap in with both feet whenever you find it. That’s what I was thinking while...
View ArticleGoody and Project Roundup April 2017: Ten Goodies To Back or Buy
I always get far more invitations to support and review projects that I can possibly manage to satisfy. Every now and then, I bundle as many of them as I can into a goody roundup to inform those who...
View ArticleCreating New Magic Weapons
Readers may have noticed that the last couple of posts have been unusually short and to the point, instead of the usual depth that is the hallmark here at Campaign Mastery. There’s a couple of reasons...
View ArticleLet’s Talk About Containers: 22 Wondrous Items
I’ve read a lot of RPG content and advice over the years, much of it D&D related. I’ve contributed my fair share to that total, it must be admitted. Every D&D supplement (that’s not explicitly...
View ArticleThe Prohibition Disjunction: When Rules Go Bad
The Story Of Prohibition When Prohibition became law in the US in 1920, it was expected that, albeit reluctantly, the citizenry would simply obey. This was no mere law, after all; it was an Amendment...
View ArticlePrecision Vs Holistic Skill Interpretation
“He skulked down the alleyway, blending into the shadows and taking care to avoid the occasional patche of loose cobblestones…” Sounds good, doesn’t it. Sounds literary, the way you would read – or...
View ArticleDesigning A Game System (for the Zener Gate campaign)
It’s still not certain which game system will be used for the Zener Gate campaign, but discussion with one of the players clarified many of the concepts of the original game system that was forming in...
View ArticleCountering The Rise Of Third-Person Roleplaying
This is a somewhat unusual article for Campaign Mastery in that it is pitched as much, or even more strongly, at players than at GMs… While planning the next adventure in the Adventurer’s Club campaign...
View ArticleProgressive Modifiers In The Zener Gate system
Prelude I: Someone asked why readers might want to read a diary of rules creation. The Answer is simple: it helps you understand rules and rules processes, making it easier for a GM to interpret other...
View ArticleThe Success Of DnD: A guide to the history and incarnations of the most...
This is going to be a really long article* unless I control my enthusiasms really tightly, so expect me to be a little more succinct than usual. Until I get carried away, that is…. * Actually, it was...
View ArticleFractional Pursuits To Focus Attention
For the last few weeks I’ve been (occasionally) reading a board-game development blog/newsletter – Brandon the Game Dev for anyone who might be interested – at the invitation of a relatively new...
View ArticleWe could be Frenemies: Using Good Creatures As Opponents
Sometimes, you want to hit your players with a problem that can be solved only with action of the most violent kind. In D&D, a monster that presents a kill-or-be-killed situation; in a superhero...
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