Back to Basics: Pacing – Dice Agency and Framing the Narrative
As a GM or Player, what do you think of the activity of Framing the Narrative? Is Framing the Narrative part of Managing Tension and Conflict? If it is, how…
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Back to Basics: Pacing and Tension, Pacing Tool
Two wonderful videos below on Pacing but I’m here to talk about some ways to apply it immediately. Pacing Grid I have my players/PCs names in the left most column…
Read more →Back to Basics: Organizing your session by Challenges, and a reminder on Pacing
Keeping things simple, my players will notice I will be using these mnemonics: Minor and Significant Challenges. Minor Problems/Challenges was covered in Non-Binary Consequences. Basically it is resolved quickly. What…
Read more →Back to Basics: Non-Binary Consequences
Here are tools to use non-binary consequences to further the game. If you’re worried about gamist choices is being encouraged this should muddy up the the matter nice and messy. Continued…
Read more →Back to Basics: My Game Itinerary
Why it takes me roughly 4 hours to run a game. Part of the Back to Basics because I’ve tried to make my style system agnostic and dependent on Active…
Read more →How to GM Abstract Combat Part 3 – Initiative, Combat for the Non-Combat GM
Part 2 can be found here. This is Back to Basics. Initiative is a simple matter, it is for the Player (not the PC), to act or re-act. The matter…
Read more →A Call for better definition of Skills, and more
If you agree with these assertions, then I want to point you towards Agency and Skills. Particularly how people feel a greater sense of Agency when they acquire skills, and…
Read more →Back to Basics – Empathy as the Goal
This is related to my post on the thesis that GMing is very much like Active Listening. Related to my Back to Basics line of articles. I’ve been following Extra…
Read more →How to GM Abstract Combat Part 2 – Economies of Attention
This is Part 2 of How to GM Abstract Combat. Here is part 1. Back to Basics. Economies of Attention is as simple as it sounds. People can only give…
Read more →What Milsim has Taught me about Describing Combat and GMing
Airsoft and RPGs always keep being a source of contemplation. RPGs and behavior economics give me the words to describe most of what is happening in the game (while philosophy…
Read more →GMing Back to Basics: Gming with very Basic Mnemonics – Active Listening GMing
The most basic mnemonic of GMing is being a good listener. Effective and Scientific Communication Skills are easy to take for granted – but there is a Science and Study on…
Read more →Running GURPS like Fate, and a conundrum
So I’ve been running GURPS like Fate… this would tear the hair out of any GURPS GM. But then I go back to the detail of GURPS when ever it…
Read more →Gravity in everything the PCs do. Some mnemonic tools for your consideration
Things in a game goes along faster when we deal with what is important. We do this in summaries and bullet points, and in other matters. The thing is, what…
Read more →Committed Phase, Game Theory-ish
I talked about schelling point before and I learned to put to words something recently: Committed Phase. Basically its a chemistry term but recently I learned it is a business…
Read more →Anygame System – Gamer Guide to Small Wars Manual part 1
Any Game System or GM will benefit from this Free Public Domain Book! It will highlight Tasks any Adventure (aka Operations) the PCs will engage. Note that this book has…
Read more →Weight of a Roll or Opportunity in a Game
Edited for Clarity: Here is a funny thing about most of the systems I’ve read, no one gives guidelines as to how many rolls matter. I learned this from some…
Read more →Entrepreneurship of Adventuring, GMing Flowchart
Some Family History – my father came from a Roast Pig and a grocery store business (Lechon is common in all spanish cultures, despite how ignorant most filipinos that there is lechon…
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2014-07-28
GMing
When PCs are Leaders and they deal with Kings, Armies, Bureaucracies and States
TL:DR – you still have to do important stuff yourself – you cannot delegate the most important jobs. This becomes more narrative and requires a basic concept. Work inspires me…
Read more →Roll20 Optimized Combat Mapping
First you have to Roll20 Best Practices Gif is the Smallest, and has some lost detail. Comparing the same file from PNG to Gif at the same px the Gif is…
Read more →Work and Writing for 2014
Work is really what determines how much I can blog and the quality of my writing and material. It’s really a part time thing like everyone else who has a…
Read more →GURPS Magic Notes 24: Side Effects that Affects Time Stream
I want side-effects that can make the story interesting. One such side-effect is changing the character a tiny bit in the form of Quirks in his Time Stream. The Character…
Read more →Less Posts; Longer running campaign
Since I’ve got so many projects at work and for personal, I will have to trim down my posts by 33%. So I’ll be posting on Tuesday and Thursday. Hopefully…
Read more →Cost of Living in Haven 2
Haven is supposed to be based an amalgamation of 3rd worlds. Such that the cost of living defaults 20% to purely housing (no utilities), but in a wealthier country CoL…
Read more →Long Running game
I guess TL:DR No more short arc games, just long game and experimenting and trying out new things within that game. I realized I should tell my players that I…
Read more →Supernatural Tansparency
I’m running a Kitchen Sink Setting and magic and psionics are usually very hard to balance. One thing that makes it a BIT easier is Supernatural Transparency. I’m taking a…
Read more →Open Table; 5 or more Players in Roll20
I have an open invite to my GURPS Modern Fantasy Game. I tend an interested person every other week. So far out of the 4 people who asked (which i…
Read more →Recent Roll20 Learnings
Speed for me is being able to focus on drama instead of just the rolls. I want the narration and the emotion substantive with the rolls getting a little out…
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2013-10-04
GMing
Incentive balance, but streamline rolls
edited for clarity Situational Heuristics This is the ability to judge situation. I can speak mostly for myself and what I’ve observed, so here goes. One of the first things…
Read more →The valuable chance to try new things
I value trying to improve the experience constantly, but I don’t want to inconvenience my players, but I need their input. So what I need to do is set expectations,…
Read more →GURPS Modern Fantasy Session 06 Gungeon Combat
This Combat Filled Session went well. I think we got to cycle through about 20 seconds. Realistically thats not how long scenes take to happen. Players were mostly confused what…
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