This note is a temporary staging area for GM ideas and tips that are currently too short to be split off into their own notes.
General Tips
- Always accept the coolest idea at the table.
- Frequently ask players how they’d like to attempt something rather than a flat “yes” or “no”.
- Always record player ideas & requests for gifts & consequences.
- The BehindTheTables subreddit wiki includes countless roll tables for nearly every situation.
- Randroll has a collection of PDFs specifically tailored to Solo play.
- Advantages of minimalism
- The game remains in the imagination, creating more space for immersion rather than less. Keeps it inside the mind of the players
- Promotes vivid description, keeps the group from leaning on the visual representation of characters and terrain
- The effect on prep. Minimalism saves massive amounts of time. Allowing for abstraction removes the need for tactical detail. More conceptual prep
- Explore options for Collaborative Worldbuilding, especially Worldbuilding Games
Session Preparation
Session Preparation
Remember
The less prep a GM does the better the session typically goes
The Lazy Dungeon Master Approach
Utilize the Eight Steps of the Lazy Dungeon Master. When Running One-shots or working with minimal preparation time focus on steps two, four, and eight for maximum impact for the least effort. 1. Review the Characters 2. Create a Strong Start 3. Outline Potential Scenes 4. Define Secrets and Clues 5. Develop Fantastic Locations 6. Outline Important NPC 7. Choose Relevant Enemies 8. Select Major Rewards
Modular Adventure Preparation
Instead of preparing a railroaded sequence of scenes, instead break those scenes down into modular components. Preparing Fantastic Locations, Enemies & NPCs, Secrets & Clues, Major Rewards, and potential scenes allows for the ideal blend of preparation and improvisation.
Link to original
Running Campaigns
- Consider “Knife Theory” in session zero. Player characters who add more “knives” to their backstory, plot hooks that can be used by the GM to “stab” the player, the easier they are to integrate into the story.
- When worldrunning, make use of “world timers”. Make sure the players understand the presence and impact of passing time.
Running One-shots
- Write your one-shot sessions around a 3-act structure, spanning roughly 1hr-2hr-1hr for ideal pacing.
- Time turns to avoid too much idle time.
- Create backup characters or assign NPCs to players who die during a one-shot so they’re not sitting out the rest of the game.
Adventure Design
- Don’t wait to use your best ideas. Most campaigns have a short run time and often go unfinished, create cool experiences early and often.
- Focus on node-based adventure design. Prepare situations, not plots.
- Situations / nodes can be mapped to a “plot tree”, wherein scene archetypes can be loosely connected together on the fly to imply an overarching plot, even when such a plot doesn’t actually exist
- Create interesting dilemmas and push the players to make meaningful decisions.
Dungeon Design
Dungeon Design
- Consider examining shopping mall layouts when mapping dungeons - their looping design is perfect for creating diverse environments that are interesting to navigate.
- Include social encounters & challenges in a dungeon, especially if inhabited by wandering humanoid creatures.
Dungeon Generators
Link to original
- DNGEN - A one-click dungeon concept generator created by Karl Druid for MorkBorg. It’s system neutral and can be use for grimdark fantasy dungeons in any setting.
- One Page Dungeon - A one-click one-page dungeon map generator. Tends towards a classic fantasy flavor. Includes a dungeon name, description, and rooms. Can be paired with DNGEN for creating dark fantasy dungeons.
Encounter Design
Encounter Design
- Well designed encounters have three definitive qualities:
- Drive - the reason behind the encounter, particularly the player’s motivations.
- Impact - the consequences of the encounter, both in success and failure.
- Do not create soft threats. Always emphasize impact.
- Flavor - every encounter should strive to be thematic and memorable.
- No “empty room” encounters. Make spaces just as engaging and enemies.
Encounter Generators
DNGNSTOCK - A one-click dungeon encounter table generator created by user 1D10+5 on Itch.io for MorkBorg. The generator references creatures and stats for MorkBorg specifically, but can be used to brainstorm for other games. Includes different environment themes.
Creature Generators
Link to original
- The Monster Approaches - A one-click monster generator by Karl Druid for MorkBorg. Tends towards grimdark and horror themes. Includes stats for MorkBorg enemies, but can be used as inspiration for any system.
Running Combat
- When running boss battles in combat-focused games, take inspiration from MMORPGs and include well broadcasted “Legendary Attacks” for players to avoid and exploit.
Rewards
- Loot should be worth more than it useful, that way players won’t be disappointed if they happen to loot something they can’t use or don’t want to use.
Running Downtime
- Campfire Tales
- Great prompt during rests to get the characters to share a bit about their past, where they’ve come from, how they feel about where they’re at, and where they want to go
- Look up “Stars and Wishes”
- Use information from campfire tales to improve a players experiments
Using Random Generation
- Roll twice on random tables and combine or interpolate the result for much more variety.
- Combining multiple prompts from multiple tables can create more unique encounters.
- Reskinning mechanics and stat blocks massively increases the value you get out of existing content
Oracle Dice
- A d20 oracle can be used to generate a random challenge target
- D20 can be used for weather, time of day, and anything else random without needing a chart.
- Can be use as a gauge for anything that can be abstracted into a spectrum, like morale or temperament.
TTRPG Note Taking
- Names of NPCs and information, especially if you roll randomly, is very important
- Context specifically, such as traits or voices is also nice to know
- Notes are specifically for things you wont remember
- The specific ending scene is critical to keep in mind
- Specific character moments are very important to remember too
- Items, backstory, character connections
- Some things don’t need notes to be taken
- You can check off secrets revealed, but aren’t important to track as a history
Running a Hexcrawl
Running a Hexcrawl
Introduction
A “hexcrawl” is a mechanic for abstracting long distance travel and exploration in TTRPGs. In the early days of Dungeons and Dragons, this system was derived from the board game “Outdoor Survival” by Avalon Hill
I’m very interested in exploring ways to convert or abstract boardgames into RPG mechanics, potentially as MOSAIC Strict modules
One of the most popular examples of a Hexcrawl is a campaign known as “The West Marches”, described in this blog post from Ars Ludi, which essentially launched an entire new subgenre of TTRPG campaigns.
Resources
First, here is a long list of Hexcrawl resources from the blog Ars Phantasia to comb through.
Additionally:
Link to original
- Hex Generator for creating blank hex grids.
- How to Hex crawl video with great info