Archive for Jim

The Fell Court, by Howard Lyon

Two Birds, One Stone

Posted on June 18, 2013 by

Wiki Update

Writing this late at night while I’m editing videos and escaping my Feed the Beast addiction. There’s a post coming about that at some point, I’m sure. Just got back from Ryan’s D&D game where we saved a city from a conspiracy of devil-worshippers. I need to write a character reflection, and I need a wiki update for today, because I was without internet all weekend. Exciting pieces of life. So two birds, one stone, and my first character reflection. I’m going to update HIS wiki. Here we go.

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David Tennant, the real Doctor

On Creativity

Posted on June 17, 2013 by

The worry I hear most often about GMing is “I can’t make things up when I need to.” It’s right there ahead of “Doesn’t GMing make me some kind of super-nerd?” (Yes it does). When someone blindsides you with a question or no one’s picking up any hooks, it can get tough. Players interest can start to fade, or more likely, they take an interest in something that you never in a million years thought they would, so you didn’t prepare for that. There’s a fear of choking in those moments that seems to inhabit our skin, cold and wet under the muscles, a fear that saps our confidence and can make us rethink our decision to step behind the screen. Fear not. Through creativity and determination you will conquer it. Today I want to share three ways that I conquer this, make a thing up, and keep the game moving.

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Ban-Uldud Fortress

Border Forts

Posted on June 4, 2013 by

Wiki Update

Both Ryan and I use wikis to keep track of details about our settings, and it is awesome. Players get instant access, they can add and create their own content. But it can take a lot of maintenance, requiring both an immediate push and the incremental addition of wiki content. It can be tough to keep on top of that, so we did what we do when faced with that kind of challenge. Make it a job. From now until the end of ever you can come back here on Tuesdays to find new updates either to my wiki Ilderan Tales, or to Ryan’s over at Vale Tales. Both of them are hosted on Obsidian Portal, which is an amazing resource for this. They’re going to get even better after their rebuild in the summer thanks to their recently completed Kickstarter. Anyway, update!

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I do love it when a plan comes together.

On Consistency

Posted on June 3, 2013 by

Later post today on account of work-related busyness and my growing addiction to Doctor Who. David Tennant is the real Doctor, and while I love Matt Smith, I do not care that he is leaving. Okay, I care a little bit. This is not about Doctor Who.

Today’s post is about how to keep your improvisation consistent. I love improvising at the table, but it can be a challenge when players rely on your to provide accurate and complete information to them. Whatever you say about the world has to be believable, which means it has to fit with all of the other things they know about the world. If Steve is the King of Baltimore, then Jack cannot also be the King of Baltimore. If the treasure of the Unhallowed Hall lies in the swamp to the east, then it shouldn’t also be a dungeon in the north. These kinds of inconsistencies will crop up, and your players will notice some of them. Today I’m going to talk about how to keep them to a minimum and what to do when you get caught (and you will sometimes).

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Run That Town

Split Parties and Playing Games

Posted on June 1, 2013 by

Just a short roundup this week as we wrap up some new things. June is improv month, ad we’ll be talking about techniques and challenges to flying by the seat of your pants.

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Coach's Whistle

GM as Coach

Posted on May 27, 2013 by

Despite our focus suffering a bit, with Ryan finishing his thesis and me wrapping up Headshots from the Heart, we’re still alive. On life support, but still breathing. And it’s time to get moving.

The GM can be a lot of things: storyteller, adversary, creator, judge, but I think the most important role is that of coach. They work with players to help them succeed, and make sure they face the right challenges to do so. I work with my players from character creation to retirement, advising them on the best ways to get what they want out of the game. Today I’m going to detail some of the ways I do that, and how it’s been helpful.

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headshots150x125

Call Me Mayline

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Adventure Log

It is late Sunday night, and I just got back from a five day conference. Also, Headshots from the Heart is this week. Oh my. So here’s a post from Legends of Madjan’s adventure log. Look for more wiki updates in the coming months, both from Ilderan Tales, and Ryan’s game Vale Tales. Exciting!

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CC Jackson

Old Hickory and the Silver Screen

Posted on May 12, 2013 by

TPK Talk

List is both late this week due to yours truly being buried in thesis work but lets take a look at what the internet had to offer while I was analyzing the buying habits of 1st century tribal chiefs of southern France.

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Dragon Age map

Building a Setting

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

Setting Specifics

Last week Ryan wrote about using a published setting which, I’ll be honest, is something I haven’t really done. World-building and myth-making is one of my favourite parts of roleplaying games, so even when I GMed World of Darkness, I made a bunch of changes to the setting. There’s a lot of work involved in it, and my D&D world has changed a lot over the years, usually from me inventing things from whole cloth and then making them fit after the fact. I’m not going to say that’s a best practice, but it’s also not necessary to invent all of the nitty-gritty of everywhere in a setting for one campaign. If the players aren’t going to go there, it’s a place of rumour and wonder, and doesn’t really need to be filled in. All that said, these are the three things I do when I’m sitting down to create a setting, even for a pickup game.
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Knights of the Dinner Table issue 194

Happy Birthday!

Posted on April 29, 2013 by

 

Not to TPK, that’s in August. To me. Today is my birthday, so of course I’m updating the blog. I’m officially thirty years old, and I’ve spent almost two thirds of that playing roleplaying games, and loving it. Today I just want to mess around a bit, and do a short post on some of my biggest gaming influences over the past twenty years. Here’s a short rundown.

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