GM Craft – Born Again GM

A Lazy GMs Campaign Event Clock

I like to keep the world moving, even when the players aren’t directly observing the NPCs or events that are changing. However, achieving this has often been a challenge for me. Just when should a GM trigger the next step in a sequence of events that should, or could, happen? You might do it based… Continue reading A Lazy GMs Campaign Event Clock

I was wrong about skills in 5th edition

For almost 3 years now I’ve been primarily running and playing the 5th edition of Dungeons and Dragons. During that time I’ve complained about my dislike for the skill system and recently I decided to spend some time thinking it through and write up some thoughts. As is often the case, the act of thinking… Continue reading I was wrong about skills in 5th edition

Some thoughts on ability score generation

I personally find rolling for ability scores very exciting, but my players don’t seem as keen. I think it’s because they tend to have a character concept in mind and random ability scores often won’t support building that character. This is perhaps a by-product of the way we prepare for campaigns, where the players arrive… Continue reading Some thoughts on ability score generation

More musings on OSR style play

Over the past year or so I’ve been doing a lot of reading of OSR modules, OSR rules and articles about OSR style play on the internet. This is the second in what will likely be a series about OSR style games, why I’m interested in them, etc. See also part 1. My first post on the topic… Continue reading More musings on OSR style play

Why I’m fascinated by OSR gaming

Over the past year or so I’ve been doing a lot of reading of OSR modules, OSR rules and articles about OSR style play on the internet. This is the first in what will likely be a series about OSR style games, why I’m interested in them, etc. It’s said that there are three pillars of… Continue reading Why I’m fascinated by OSR gaming

Rulings, not rules

For around a year I ran a very enjoyable 5th edition campaign in our homebrew campaign setting. I struggled a bit at first with the “rulings, not rules” motto of 5e (as hinted in a previous post) but have really come to appreciate how 5e has solid core mechanics with simple rules for common actions… Continue reading Rulings, not rules

Hello, Dungeons & Dragons 5e

After wrapping up our Pathfinder campaign we had a short hiatus before beginning a new campaign with the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve been meaning to review 5e since we picked it up, alas — I’ve been running weekly sessions with it for almost a year now and never managed to get further… Continue reading Hello, Dungeons & Dragons 5e

Auf Wiedersehen, Pathfinder

After 32 sessions (on average one 3+hour evening session a week for around 8 months) I’m saying auf wiedersehen (until we see again) to Pathfinder and switching to the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons for my regular game. In fact, I would have done this some time ago if I had been easily able… Continue reading Auf Wiedersehen, Pathfinder

Learning from low-preparation sessions

Due to a lot of stress and distractions in my work and personal life of late I have run a couple of recent gaming sessions with less preparation than I would normally make. To my great surprise after both of those “low-prep” sessions my players have stated how much they enjoyed that particular adventure. After… Continue reading Learning from low-preparation sessions