Game Master's Journey

Kevin and Evan from the Loaded Dice podcast network join me to continue our discussion of Star Wars Edge of the Empire. This is part two of a three part interview.

Kevin and Evan from the Loaded Dice podcast network join me to discuss their Star Wars Edge of the Empire campaign, The Whiskey Rebellion. We have a lot of laughs, with some insights into the system and gaming in general along the way.

One of the most important tools in the GM’s toolbox is improvisation. Scott Kellogg returns to the show today to discuss how to use improvisation skills to improve the RPG experience for your entire group.

One of the most important tools in the GM’s toolbox is improvisation. Scott Kellogg joins me on the show today to discuss improvisation in roleplaying games.

I've gotten a lot of great listener feedback on recent topics, including the Star Wars RPG dice system, running political games, running sandbox games, and more. Tonight I'll go through the feedback on these topics and hit some of the highlights. I'll also tell you a little bit about the Edge of the Empire campaign I'm planning, and how I'm preparing for it very differently from other campaigns I've run in the past.

Today I’ll reopen some discussion on episodes 40 and 41 with some enlightening comments from listeners of the show. I'll share what listeners think about elegance in RPGs and the new Fantasy AGE RPG.

We talk a lot about being a Game Master on this show, appropriately enough. But how can we be better players? Look on any online gaming community and you’ll see there are far more players looking for a GM than the other way around. How can you be the kind of player GMs want at their tables?

Welcome to Game Master’s Journey Unplugged. Sit with me around the fire, as I discuss what I recently learned watching another GM run a game.

The more experience I gain with RPGs, the more I appreciate elegance in RPG systems. Not only do elegant mechanics make a game easy to learn, teach and grok, but it also helps everyone at the table keep their focus where it belongs—character and story. Today I look at a few systems, some more elegant than others, and try to tease out what works and why.

Running a published adventure that will span the majority of the careers of your PCs presents unique challenges. Will Johnson returns to the show today to discuss those challenges.

Running a published adventure that will span the majority of the careers of your PCs presents unique challenges. Will Johnson returns to the show today to discuss those challenges.

Running a published adventure that will span the majority of the careers of your PCs presents unique challenges. Will Johnson joins me on the show today to discuss these challenges, and we have some tips for running adventure paths.

One of the most rewarding parts of being a game master is creating your own world. Today I will give a brief overview of the ancient history of my world and talk about the races available as PCs.

Welcome to Game Master’s Journey Unplugged. Sit with me around the fire, as I discuss the Errata to the Player’s Handbook for D&D released by Wizards of the Coast.

Will Johnson joins me on the show today to discuss organized play. Not only is organized play a great way to find new gamers in your area for your home game, but it’s also a great way to try GMing for the first time. 

Joshua Brown is back to continue our discussion of the Star Wars RPGs. This week we talk about experience and character advancement in the game. We also discuss high level play. Does the system bog down like in so many other games? Our other topics include running the game when you’re not an expert on Star Wars lore, dealing with players who know the lore better than you, and the Force and Destiny beta. Finally we answer the question, "Are Force users overpowered and unbalanced compared with other characters, as they have been in previous systems?"

Joshua Brown joins me on the show today to discuss the Star Wars RPGs by Fantasy Flight games. We talk about running Star Wars as a new GM and playing it as a new player. This is a really great game for players new to RPGs. Finally we talk a bit about lightsaber colors.

One of the most rewarding parts of being a game master is creating your own world. A very important big-picture aspect of fantasy worlds is the gods. Today I continue my discussion of the gods of my world.

One of the most rewarding parts of being a game master is creating your own world. A very important big-picture aspect of fantasy worlds is the gods. Today I start thinking about the deities in my world.

Welcome to Game Master’s Journey Unplugged. Sit with me around the fire as I discuss magic items in the Tyranny of Dragons campaign for Dungeons & Dragons.