I’ve gone through periods of going very hard and very dark in some games, not always to the games favour.
About Ben Jackson-Ellery
Genre Police: Warning, Content
Think of the worst thing and make it happen. Puncture arteries, shred flesh, go for the damn jugular.
Genre Police: Playing The Player
Running an RPG is a kind of arcane act, weaving an illusionary spell of storytelling for a group to devour. But when we think about spellcasting, it’s often easy to forget the material component of such a conjuring.
Genre Police: The Cameo
You might be tempted to bring that player in to do a ‘guest slot’ in a game for a few sessions. Well, I think that’s a great idea! However, I’ve been both a GM and a player when this has and hasn’t worked as well as intended.
Genre Police: The Adventure Is Butchered
I’ve watched those long-form adventures slowly destroy their desire to use written adventures of playing D&D ever again.
Genre Police: The Adventure Continues
So let’s examine some of the ways we can process an adventure and prep it for a specific group.
Genre Police: The Adventure Begins
Since I went full professional as a GM in 2020, not including any planning time, I’ve been at actual tables running games with players for a rough total of 2,544 hours.
Genre Police: If It Bleeds, We Can Play It
Have you ever experienced a situation where you can’t shake an RPG session?
Genre Police: Looking For Augusta
So, I had a long discussion about chickens. This isn’t actually weird in our house given that we have chickens as pets, but this was especially odd because this particular chicken wasn’t real.
Genre Police: Rules Of Conduct
While some RPG sessions may thrive on unstructured character interactions, social skill dice help balance the expression of a player’s character, especially when personal attributes differ from those of their in-game persona. Games like D&D simplify this with one roll, while World of Darkness offers a layered approach. However, over-mechanizing social actions can restrict the narrative, calling for periodic evaluation and ensuring that mechanics serve the game’s intended exploration while allowing for character growth and varied interactions.
