Category: GM Tips

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GM Tips

My Favorite House Rules for Dungeons and Dragons

I wanted to talk about my favorite house rules I like to include when I run D&D 5e.

A house rule is a modification to the official rules for whatever system you’re using. Sometimes these rules are just favorite modifications to the official rules that everyone at the table likes, Like the hat trick instant kill that I’ll talk about a little later. Or they’re a collection of rules that make so much sense they eventually make it into the official game like what happened with Pathfinder Unchained.

Some of the rules I love are holdovers from other systems like Pathfinder or older editions of D&D but I like to use them because it allows for players to either get more involved in the game or to feel more comfortable at the table.

House rules are not not official. This means that before you bring any of them into play at your table you need to make sure that the players agree to using them. Use your best judgement about how to ask your players but for the most part you want to check with them before play begins, not right when a house rule would come into effect. Nobody likes the rules changed on them at the last moment.

If everyone is on board with the new rules, then go for it. If someone isn’t on board for your house rules then you probably shouldn’t use them. There are very few exceptions to this, but generally I try to look at house rules as a possibility, not a certainty. If you’re a GM and people have come to you in order to play D&D it makes sense that they would expect D&D and not a modified version of the game.

I made a video about this if you’d like to watch it here:

Critical failures

Even though the rules in 5th edition don’t stipulate critical failures are a thing, unless you count the brief paragraph in the DMG, I still like them. I believe that there is something to be gained from failure, even if the failure is caused by random chance and there isn’t anything to be done.

Small failures help me to appreciate the big successes.

Which is why one of the house rules that players can choose to adopt is the inclusion of critical failures. The point is to emphasize the lack of control. Just like a player can’t control when they roll a natural 20, they cannot control when they roll a 1.

Out of combat a critical failure would sometimes mean getting lost, or breaking a piece of non-magical equipment. It’s kind of tough to navigate in the dark if your oil lantern got stepped on by a horse. The failure should be something that will inconvenience the player but not render their character useless.

In combat it’s very simple:

A natural 1 ends your turn. No broken equipment, no getting knocked prone, nothing that has lasting impact beyond the player’s turn. It can be something as simple as a stumble or a bungle that means the player needs to end their turn as soon as they roll a natural 1.

The important thing I keep in mind about this house rule is that I need to describe what happens to the player and why they need to stop and end their turn. If they roll a 1 on a combat maneuver, maybe they stumble and take the rest of their turn catching their balance, maybe they sneeze, maybe their sleeve gets wrapped around their hand and they have to take a few seconds to untangle it.

Critical Success

So if my party chooses to include a critical failure in their rules then it makes sense that they would also choose to include a critical success. Which would of course come when they roll a natural 20.

Most of the time a critical success can find its way into combat easier than anything else. In the 5th edition player’s handbook a critical hit happens when a player rolls a natural 20. The player doubles up the damage and continues on. However, to me a natural 20 is a rare and beautiful thing. If my party is choosing to be burdened by a critical failure they should be given the opportunity to revel in a critical success.

So here’s my house rule.

A Natural 20 is a critical hit and they will get their damage doubled. However the player gets to roll again. If the second roll also meets or beats their target’s armor class, they get to roll percentile dice then pick a critical hit effect off of any number of critical hit tables available online. Some of you may be saying, “Hey I recognize that from Pathfinder?!” and you’d be right. Pathfinder is awesome and there are many other things that it does very well.

Because if they roll a second natural 20, they get to roll one more time. If they roll anything other than a third natural 20 then nothing happens and they can move along with their critical hit. But, if the player rolls three natural 20’s in a row. It’s an immediate instant kill of whatever the players are fighting. So that would be one natural 20 for the first attack, another natural 20 to confirm the critical hit, and a third natural 20 to bring it home.

Choose your own ability scores.

Lots of players come to the table with ideas for characters already in their minds. Sometimes these characters have been thought up days or even years in advance. So when it comes time to create their character it doesn’t make sense for them to roll up a random set of ability scores and leave their character creation to chance.
You can use a point buy to help players build up their character, but if a player already has an idea for the character they would ideally make, then I let them choose their own numbers. The only thing they need to do is explain to me why they chose those numbers and why they make sense for their character. This expectation of explanation has almost always resulted in very well rounded, thought out characters. Sure sometimes I get a character that is juiced to the gills, but the player is usually doing it as a joke. Almost all the players I’ve worked with have thought about their characters enough to decide what they want their characters to be exceptional with and what they want their characters to be unexceptional with.

Additionally, if a player insists on having massive stats it’s okay. It just means that I get to use more challenging monsters which is more fun for me.

Descriptive Helping

The help action in 5th edition is really nice. It allows for players to give each other advantage in and out of combat. My change to this rule is pretty simple. If a player says,

“Can I help?” I usually respond, “Sure, how are you going to help?”

Because in my house rule, In order to achieve a successful helping action a player must describe how their actions will aid the other player. This can be as simple as the barbarian distracting a noble while the rogue picks their pocket. Or the wizard creating light for the ranger while they track an animal. In my opinion, those types of small descriptions offered by your players can help them to get involved more deeply into the world they’re playing in.

Alternatively, if a player isn’t comfortable describing how they would help I would ask them to think about how they want to assist and choose a skill they would want to use in order to help. If the player isn’t comfortable with picking a skill or is new to the game, I may even suggest that the player they’re helping pick a skill they can roll for them. For example if the bard wants to help the fighter in a pit fight, but the player with the bard doesn’t know what skill they want to use for help, the person playing the fighter may suggest the bard uses performance to toss out an insult or rally the crowd.

No PVP without consent:

Players wanting to fight each other is nothing new. If you have two barbarians in the party they may want to see which one is tougher. However, if only one of them wants to get into combat there can be a conflict.

Sometimes players having some conflict out of game can manifest itself in game. Sometimes it’s a snide comment, sometimes it’s full blown shouting match. Sometimes a player may feel like they are angry and they express that anger in game. Other times a player may feel like their anger towards another character is acceptable in game.

I’m not perfect in this myself, I’ve let combat between players happen and sometimes it can lead to a benefit between players, but most of the time it leads to more conflict between the players and less fun for everyone involved. It’s okay to be angry, but it’s not okay to hurt others. It can also disrupt the game for other players when some people are taking out their frustrations on one another.

So, in order to help minimize this I have a pretty simple house rule. I don’t allow in game PVP between players unless they and I agree that they want to fight. Even then, I don’t allow the combat between the players to extend into deeply aggressive space. Player vs player combat is one of those things that requires a great deal of trust between the entire group, GM included, to be used effectively.

If the combat fits into the narrative and both players are comfortable. There’s no reason for them not to fight. However, if one of the players doesn’t want to fight then it’s my job as the GM not to question or coerce. A player doesn’t need to give a reason why they don’t want to fight. It’s just not going to happen. No judgement and from anyone needs to happen. This also means that if a player wants to fight another player and they’ve agreed to it in the past it also doesn’t mean that they agree to it for all time. Each instance of PVP needs to be completely consensual.

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GM Tips

Last Minute Player Cancelations

We all have issues with our players not showing up. Players cancel at the last minute for lots of reasons. If your players flake it can leave you with questions:

  • SHOULD the game master even feel bad in these types of situations?
  • What should the game master do/how should they react in these situations? Is putting the “big campaign” off the table the right compromise to make?
  • Is there anything that could be done to avoid these situations or do they “just happen” ?

Well the short version is no, the game master shouldn’t feel bad, putting the campaign on hold may be the right call and you may be able to do something to help with this some of the time but things do happen.

I made a video about this and you can watch it at the link below if you like.

Or you can feel free to read along below!

If I know that some of my players aren’t going to attend I have already made a cut off point in my mind and that’s what I call the ⅔ rule.

The “2/3 rule”. If more than 2/3 of the group will not be present then we do not play the main story. I personally don’t think it’s fair to advance a story without more than 2/3 of the players present. So this would mean if I have a group of 6 and 3 or more players are missing I don’t play the “Big Game”. This isn’t meant to be an ultimatum, just a way for my players and I to know what the game night will be like if we don’t have a full group. If you let your players know this at the first session or the next session it helps to establish expectations for the whole group.

Keeping perspective.

As a GM you may want to tell your story on your time and by your schedule but the fact is people are unpredictable. That unpredictability is what makes running RPGs so much fun. So if your players aren’t sticking around or they cancel at the last minute it’s okay. You can still play, it may not be the game you expected to play, but you can still have fun. Just because the schedule has changed it doesn’t mean it will always be a failure. But it can be hard to keep that sense of disappointment at bay. The key is knowing what you may want to do as a back up plan.

Back up plan.

I try to have at least one or two one shot adventures or even “meanwhile” one-shots in my back pocket. “Meanwhiles” are one-shots with pre-built characters that take place in the same universe as the main campaign. Since they are pre-built characters the players don’t need to take time to build anything. The one-shot takes place in the same universe they already are playing in so they can learn more about their environment.

You could also run combat training. This is a situation when you may have players who want to try out fighting a specific monster or may want to get a better understanding of what their spells function like. You can also have some one-shot adventures planned out. These can be single sitting adventures or something that you may have already run before for another group. The key is to find something that you already have familiarity with so you can pick it up and run with little to no notice. If this happens I try to provide pre-built characters or let the players use one of their back up characters. You’re not starting a campaign here, just a small adventure that will probably last for one session.

Planning the WHOLE season

When I’m starting a new campaign I try very hard to tell my players exactly how many sessions I intend for it to take. 4 weeks or 16 weeks, the time frame doesn’t really matter. As long as the players know how many sessions it should roughly take to play this particular adventure they can usually understand a level of commitment. This doesn’t mean the game will end after the proposed amount of time. It just means that it’s the end of a “season”. Organizing my campaigns into seasons that last a certain amount of sessions has been really helpful to me over the last few years.

I use this at the university I work at when I play games with my students. Each semester counts as one season of play and each session is an episode. Given that there will be some inevitable vacations, holidays or just missed sessions I know that I have a maximum of fifteen weeks per season since most semesters are fifteen weeks long. If I can organize my game into a rough timeline that I’m going to try to stick to it takes the load off me to keep creating right before each session.

If my players take their time in one area it’s not a big deal. I know what I want to have happening in the background of the game. So if the players choose to follow the plot hooks or ignore them it’s fine because the world will keep moving no matter what they do. The other nice thing about having a set amount of episodes is re-scheduling. Knowing how long you have to play a season gives you and the players a chance to re-schedule when necessary. People’s lives change around and what worked for everyone a year ago may not work now.

If you used to play on Friday nights during season 1 but that season ended and Friday doesn’t work for the group anymore you can work together to find another time that works, and only for a certain amount of episodes.

Taking it personally

It’s not all on you as a GM. It may feel like the rug is getting pulled out from under you when your players don’t show up, but try to remember that people do have responsibilities outside of the game. While you may have put a ton of effort into the story and world that people are playing in, it doesn’t mean that you have done something wrong when your players don’t show up. Your value as a human is not connected to whether or not people show up to your game.

If players choose to do something else or they cannot attend, that is on them, not you. People can’t be controlled, and while you may have some players show up regularly, the one’s that don’t show up aren’t your fault. It may seem bleak in the moment, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned after running RPGs for 30 years it’s that there will always be another chance to play. So if you feel like you’ve done something wrong, because your players haven’t shown, forgive yourself, it’s a game and you can try again next time.

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GM Tips

Keeping Your Players Interested

Keeping your players focused at the table can be difficult as a new or experienced GM. But with a combination of player involvement and open communication players can be encouraged to stay more focused during the game.

I made a video about this and you can watch it here if you like:

Here are the main points I bring up in the video.

Group expectations

Before the campaign starts, establish a set of expectations.

  • How long will the sessions be?
  • How many sessions will there be?

Try to think of your game as a scheduled meeting. If you were at a meeting at work or a class in school and it was scheduled to last for only two hours, but it ended up going for six hours, what would you do? Players may not feel like they can keep their attention on any one task for longer than a certain period of time. It could be that a session that lasts longer than two hours is going to wear people out. People have a certain amount of capacity to pay attention, this is not a bad thing. Planning your time and doing your best to stick to your time will help players know in advance, consciously or unconsciously, to prepare a certain amount of energy.

Use character names

From the moment the session starts and you’re in GM mode I remind myself that the players at the table need to be addressed by their character names. I’ve found this to be very helpful to keep players focused on the game during the session. Even when it comes to asking players about their characters in game I won’t use the player’s name. If Bruce is playing a paladin named Ruffles I won’t say, “Bruce how are you feeling?” Or “How is Ruffles feeling Bruce?” Instead I’ll say “How is Ruffles feeling?”

Bruce inherently knows that he is playing Ruffles so there’s no need to include his player name. Unless Bruce is on fire or something else is happening that absolutely requires me to use his name, I am referring to him as Ruffles. I think this helps to drive home the idea that he is involved in the game and hearing a characters name helps people to jump into a stay in character.

Describe Describe Describe

Adding detail can be an important part of increasing the involvement of your players into the world but it can also help to keep them focused. Each action the players take is an opportunity for more description. Each attack, each piece of setting, each introduction to a new NPC. Adding even a small amount of description in any of those settings can help to bring life to your setting and help the players to stay engaged. Combat is a great time to practice this skill. If a player hits their target try not to blow past it. With a simple “you hit the ogre”. Try to add just a little flavor. “Ruffles chops his sword down onto the ogre’s arm with a thump.” It’s even great to do this when your players miss!

If you are constantly describing small pieces of the world you can periodically include something important. When you do eventually drop a description of something important your players your players may pick it up or they may miss it. (A distinctive eye patch that a character wears). Later, when that eye patch is found at a strange location your players may not remember it, but you can still give their characters a chance to remember. You can then explain, kindly, that you did mention the shape of the eye patch and utilize that kind of information as incentive to help your players pay a little more attention.

Do something my character would do

I’ve been running RPGs a for a few years and I have had more than a few players with ADHD. Here’s something that one of the players told me about how they stay engaged when the focus isn’t on them. It’s brilliant and I’ve recommended it ever since. They said:

“I try to do something that my character would do.”

The player with ADHD was playing a wizard, so they figured they should be doing something involving magical research. During each session whenever the action was on another player they would transcribe spells they could prepare into a notebook. They were able to stay engaged in the game, but they were also able to exercise their mind enough to not feel pent up. They may doodle in the margins and get fancy with the colors and just go wild.

I’ve since used this idea to great effects with other players with ADHD. If I have a bard I recommend that they could pluck away on a guitar they may own. Or, when we’re playing in person I let the players know if they want to stand up and walk around the room it’s totally fine. The thing about players with ADHD that I try to remember is that they express their energy in different ways.

Move around the space

Moving around the playing space is also one of my favorite things to do. Staying sitting at a table as a GM really feels restrictive to me. Standing up and moving around a table can provide added interaction with your players. Delivering speeches from a sitting position isn’t the only way to engage. When I’m running a game and I’m role playing some characters I will walk around the room, change my gait, my posture, my physical idiosyncrasies.

Sitting at a table only really allows you to engage from the waist up. And with so much of the way humans communicate being non verbal it makes sense that you could express lots of information to your players by alternating your position in the space. If your players have to turn around or even just adjust where they’re looking you can engage them more effectively

Intentional check in

If you are having doubts about your game or you notice that your players are not staying engaged and overall, not staying focused, talk to them. You can ask your players “What can we do to make the game more enjoyable?” Or maybe a simple “What’s going on?”

There are two parts of this conversation that need to be carefully considered.

  • The language you choose.
  • Who you address these questions to

The language you choose to ask these questions can be helpful if you approach your problem solving from a solution focused perspective. This means instead of focusing on the problem you choose to ask for solutions. It’s not “What am I doing wrong?” it’s “What can we change?”

There is a lot to the idea of solution focused questioning but try to keep this basic principle in mind. When you’re asking a player about their level of engagement are you asking about the problem that exists, or are you asking about how the situation could be improved? The other consideration to keep in mind is who do you talk to? Is it one player that’s disengaged or do you feel like the whole group would benefit from a conversation. You need to make that choice. Asking players for input may seem daunting but it can lead to some very valuable information. It can help you understand what your players may want to do differently.

Don’t take it personally.

Having a conversation with your players about what kind of game they are expecting is oftentimes an essential part of the puzzle. If players are checking out it may be because they have a different level of expectation about the game. Not taking it personally when a player checks out can be really hard to do. You may be trying your best but they still seem disinterested. If your players aren’t having a good time and you’re trying to improve your skills as a game master it’s important to listen to what your players have to say. But it’s also important to remember that if you’re making mistakes, you’re not a bad person. If you’re not being bigoted, sexist or abusive to your players and you really are trying to listen to what they have to say, just try to remember, improvement comes with practice. Nobody gets anything right on the first try. Yes there are exceptions to everything but for most of us learning how to do something as complicated as being a GM takes time and practice.

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GM Tips

Know Your Enemy

A story without conflict isn’t much of a story. A quality bad guy/girl is a great way to brew conflict. Villains give heroes something to fight and the more thought you put into your story’s antagonist the better the players feel when (if) they can defeat them. Creating a quality baddie for your party gives depth to your world and story.
I’ve always believed that the best villains are the heroes of their own story. Mustache twirling types that know they are evil can be fun but I’ve never found them compelling. My favorite villains from movies and books are the ones that believe they’re right. They are are so convinced of their own righteousness they either can’t or don’t care about the destruction they cause.

Part 1 of Villainous Theory
Part 2 of Villainous Theory


In an effort to provide some tips to help you create better antagonists for your stories I wanted to break down what I think are some of the key ingredients to making a great bad guy
This list shouldn’t be considered exhaustive by any means. It’s a combination of character development techniques and some storytelling tricks I’ve learned from experience and other storytellers over my years as a Game Master. If you think some of these tips would be helpful for creating other parts of your world feel free to try them out.

So without further delay, here are my top six ways to develop a villain for your story.

6. MAKE THEM SYMPATHETIC


Some of the best villains are fun because they’re so evil. There’s nothing they won’t do to accomplish their evil deed. Blow up a town, kill a school bus full of orphan kittens, whatever. They have an evil plan and no sense of morality is going to stand in their way. Truly memorable villains need something else. The best villains are memorable because their motivations are relatable. Put another way, villains are the heroes of their own story. To a villain the adventuring party aren’t the good guys.
As an example:
Trevor was a beet farmer. Townsburg, Trevor’s homeland, was at war with Shireville. His mother died of disease when he was a child. Several years later his brothers and father were conscripted by the local magistrate. The magistrate of Townsburg pressed Trevor’s family into the local militia to fight Shireville. During a battle Trevor’s family was killed.
The magistrate publicly claims that everyone pressed into service was needed for the battle but Trevor knows the magistrate was really pressing people into service who couldn’t pay taxes. Devastated by the loss of his familyTrevor swears vengeance.

Trevor is a regular person who has been traumatized. The trauma creates his motivation. Trevor’s family was taken away from him and killed in battle between two more powerful groups of people. He and his family had no control and they were taken advantage of. Trevor is furious he has so little control over his life and the lives of his family. The anger created by his sense of powerlessness is focused onto the person he sees as responsible, the magistrate. Trevor has nothing left to lose so he chooses to do something he wouldn’t normally do. Act upon his anger and make the magistrate suffer.

5. MAKE THEM EXCEPTIONAL

Everyone wants to be a gangster until it’s time to do gangster stuff. Put another way most people think they’re pretty tough until they have to prove it. That’s when they discover how much of a coward they actually are. This difference in conviction should separate the villain from other ordinary characters in your story. An antagonist that is not exceptional isn’t a villain.


A villain’s exceptionalism is their belief in their ability to accomplish a goal. Just like the heroes of the story, a villain believes they are doing the correct thing, or the thing that benefits them the most. Whatever that “Thing” turns out to be is the keystone of their motivation. It is where their exceptionalism comes from. In The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes is so heavily invested in his quest for vengeance on the people that wrongfully imprisoned him it’s all that drives him, nearly to his own death. In Mean Girls, Regina George is so motivated by a pursuit of popularity and self image she is willing to cut down and belittle anyone who could take attention away from her.

The face of an evil dictator…

Neither Edmond nor Regina are mages or warriors. They are regular people with strong convictions. Their level of exceptionalism isn’t a magical or skill with a weapon. Martial and magical prowess can lead a regular person to ignore morality but it usually isn’t the motivation behind their villainy.

As an example:
Trevor abandons his family farm and moves into the city of Townsburg. He has nothing so he steals some food and maybe some money. These thefts makes him run afoul of the local thieves guild. Trevor is attacked and beaten by the guild but does not cry or beg for mercy. Impressed by his ability to take a punch Trevor is asked to join the guild. Trevor is able to accomplish truly daring feats of theft and extortion because he has nothing left to lose. He doesn’t care if he dies or hurts anyone else. All he wants is vengeance. During this time he has used his position in the guild to learn about the magistrate that killed his family. Trevor’s criminal exploits frighten Townburg’s citizens and degrade the local economy. After a period of several years Trevor has worked his way up the ranks of the Townsburg thieves guild. Because of his focus on the magistrate and the Townsburg court he even earned a nickname: Lord Trevor.

Lord Trevor’s lack of self preservation makes him dangerous. As he survives more and more near death experiences he begins to learn. Risks that scare normal people or members of the thieves guild aren’t as concerning to Lord Trevor. While he doesn’t want to die his lack of concern for his own mortality is what makes him exceptional. He doesn’t want to die before he can kill the magistrate but his anger causes him to push his own limits. Up to this point, Lord Trevor has the makings of a successful rogue.

A note on lesser baddies:

The difference between a baddie or a less impressive bad guy and a main villain usually comes down to force of personality. A regular baddie isn’t exceptional, they’re probably a follower with very little creativity or drive of their own. A lesser baddie needs a boss to be successful. Figure out who the lesser villains in your story reports to/fears. Because it’s could help you figure out who your main villain is.

4. Make Them Flawed


A villain is a character who doesn’t adhere to the same code of morality as the heroes. This difference in morality sets up the conflict with the party and is what helps the villain justify their actions. The presence of this flaw, whatever it is, creates the conflicting difference between a hero and a villain. Without emphasizing their flaw a villain can become so sympathetic the adventuring party may join them and share their cause. Hiding a villainous flaw from the party can also help set up an eventual double cross from a character the party thought was a friendly.


As an example:
Lord Trevor has become a leader of the thieves guild and now has the resources to enact his plan for revenge upon the magistrate. He begins by destroying the knights who worked for the magistrate and actually took his family. He kills some of them or ruins their lives through blackmail. Then he moves onto the magistrate.
Lord Trevor targets the magistrate’s shipping company by raiding his caravans. He encourages and facilitates corruption from the magistrate’s enemies in court and eventually kidnaps the magistrate’s son and and kills him. The name Lord Trevor becomes spoken in the shadows. People fear him and his wrath. The magistrate’s shipping company closes, people lose their jobs. Nobody wants to join the magistrate’s town guard because they fear they will be killed. Without an effective town guard the city of Townsburg crumbles to Lord Trevor’s villainy.

Lord Trevor’s disregard for the people of Townsburg and the consequences of his actions are key to his villainy. His primary concern is for himself and the pain he can inflict upon the magistrate as vengeance for his family’s death. He could have become a benevolent outlaw like Zorro or Robin Hood. What makes him a Villain is his disregard for everyone but himself. Lord Trevor’s family weren’t the only ones to be killed or pressed into service during the war between the two cities. Every villain doesn’t have the same level of selfishness though. Lord Trevor’s focus on revenge is only one example of a type of Villainous flaw.

3. Know Their Goals


Villains exist for a number of reasons, but most of the time effective villains are motivated by their desire to modify things for their benefit. Antagonist’s goals may be unclear to the players or other NPCs but as the Storyteller you must know what motivates your big bad. If you know what your villain wants you will have a firmer understanding of their decisions. This doesn’t mean all of the villain’s goals should be understood by the party, just the storyteller.
Some villains survive on subterfuge and need to keep their plans completely hidden from the party in order to succeed.

Almost any version of the Joker from the DC’s Batman has no clear goal except to cause mayhem or “Watch the world burn” as Michael Kane said in The Dark Knight. The Joker is effective because nobody has a clue what he actually wants. That unpredictability makes him dangerous. Even though his motives seem unclear the writing team for The Dark Knight knew exactly what the Joker’s motives were.

As an example:
Lord Trevor’s motivation has always been revenge, but now that he is an accomplished criminal he can act upon his goals. When his family was killed Lord Trevor promised himself that he would make the Magistrate suffer just like he had. Young Trevor swore that he would kill the Magistrate’s family one by one. Forcing him to feel powerless as Lord Trevor hunts his family. Trevor’s ultimate goal is to make the magistrate to become so miserable and hopeless that he will eventually take his own life.

That’s pretty grim, but Lord Trevor is the villain. His goals are supposed to be evil. Having a clear understanding of Lord Trevor’s goals help the storyteller to understand the choices he makes. If the adventuring party gets in Lord Trevor’s way the storyteller already knows how he will react. The understanding of a villain’s goals not only helps to flesh out their backstory it also helps when the players ultimately end up confronting the villain. If you, as the storyteller, understand why Lord Trevor acts the way he acts he becomes a more realistic character.

2. Know How They Solve Problems


How your antagonist approaches problem solving determines how they will interact with (try to stop/kill) the adventuring party. Villains can be aggressive and bloodthirsty or cold and calculating. Their problem solving methodology shows how they approach achieving their goals. A solid understanding of their approach to resolving conflict can answer a lot of questions for a storyteller.


As an example:
Despite his lack of self preservation Lord Trevor has been focused on his goal for more than a decade. He has survived and been successful by luck and hard work up to this point. He also relied upon his lack of self preservation. His willingness to take risks catches many of his targets by surprise. Because of his past successes Lord Trevor has been able to develop uncommon skills in intimidation, persuasion and sleight of hand.
Lord Trevor doesn’t create convoluted plans, but he does plan. He makes sure he has the resources to achieve his goals. He finds allies in the Magistrate’s enemies and secures their help and loyalty with money and threats. When the opportunity to complete a goal is in front of him he is decisive and ruthless. Lord Trevor is open about his goals to his fellow thieves guild members because he doesn’t care what people think of him.
After several weeks of planning the opportunity to kidnap another of the magistrate’s children presents itself. The child is under heavy guard but Lord Trevor attacks and successfully kidnaps the child despite sacrificing several of his own raiders and one of his own eyes in the battle.


The Magistrate knows he is under attack and knows who is killing his family. He may even know why Lord Trevor seeks vengeance. Because Lord Trevor is so direct he does not care if the magistrate knows his goals. Lord Trevor reacts quickly and decisively. He gets his hands dirty. Because of his nature the storyteller can see that Lord Trevor uses direct language and isn’t ever coy or shy. Knowing how Lord Trevor problem solves helps develop his voice.

1. Have An Evil Plan


One of the best tips I ever received as a storyteller is to “Know what your villain is going to do this session.” This tip is vital to progressing the narrative for your players. By planning out the actions of the antagonist the story continues to progress. Even if the party skews off and decides to follow some random path they weren’t supposed to, the world can keep moving. This consistent progression of events in your story world can, and usually will, help the party to get pulled back into the action you prepared for.
Because you control the villain you can decide when, and if, they are successful in their agenda. If the players check out and get distracted that’s fine, the big bad gets to carry on unchecked with all their villainous deeds.

As an example:
Finn and the adventuring group have been hired by a local shopkeep in Shireville to protect a caravan full of goods being sent to the Magistrate of Townsburg. During the crossing of the desert Finn and the party decide to hunt for wild game. This takes several days. Finn catches a few small spikewings and Bupkiss, the group’s barbarian, ends up wrestling a giant fire cobra into submission. A fun time is had by all.
By the time the party arrives in Townsburg with the goods they discover that the town magistrate’s child has been kidnapped. The town Magistrate is under lockdown and they have nobody to pay them. Now they have to figure out what happened or not get paid.

In that example several things could have gone very differently but the main takeaway is that the party took too long to arrive at their destination. Finn and the Marauders may never know that if they hadn’t stopped to hunt they may have prevented the kidnapping. Now though, the party is in town and the abduction is all the town can think of or talk about. Lord Trevor has been successful and he can move onto his next goal.

Final Thoughts

Villains are a constant source of fun and intrigue for your players and can be given lots of attention to detail. If you can take the time to consider who the villain is, what their goals are and why they are attempting to complete them. You already have a recipe for a narrative in your story that can lead your players on a whole road of quests and plots until the inevitable confrontation with the big bad.

Categories
GM Tips

Things I wish I knew as a new GM

So you want to run an RPG. Maybe you got a D&D essentials kit as a gift, found a Shadowrun core book at your local library or maybe you just finished playing your first game as a player and you want to take a crack at running your own game. Becoming a Game Master is something that can be enticing but also be truly daunting. It can feel like there’s a lot to do when you decide that you want to run your first RPG, no matter the system.

All the different things that go into running a good RPG game can feel overwhelming. How do I learn all the rules? How can I keep track of the story? How will I remember everything? The short answer to all of those questions is, you won’t. You won’t be able to learn everything before you run your first game and you won’t be totally prepared, but that’s okay.

I first started playing RPG games back when I was a wee lad of six. I knew right away that I wanted to run my own games because the idea of telling the type of story my friends would enjoy sounded like fun. When I look back on those first few games that I ran, I didn’t even use any books! Sure my mother bought me a copy of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, but I may have only read through the book once and I know I didn’t understand most of it (what six year old understands the rules for hirelings?). When I ran my first game I don’t even think I opened the book. I just thought I knew what the rules were and if I was wrong, I just made them up new rules. I was six, I didn’t really care. My friends had fun and so did I, rules be damned!

Since that time I have run more stories than I can count in a multitude of systems. I’ve also actually bothered to read a few rulebooks. As my experience has grown I’ve learned a few basic tips that apply to any game system I run. Since they’re so universal I wanted to share some of these things I wish I knew when I was just starting out as a GM.

Check out the video I made on this over at the Tabletop Theory Youtube Channel.

Notes, Notes, Notes

Get a note pad. Whenever you’re running a game, or playing for that matter, it’s a good idea to have a notebook. Something cheap like spiral notebook will do just fine. I’ve also recently started using google drive for organizing my notes. I like google drive because I can hyperlink between different sections when I’m running a game. If I spend time writing about a city, or an organization, I can put a hyperlink into the notes I’ve written for a particular session I’m running. However, if you don’t have access to a computer when you’re playing or you just prefer to use a pencil and paper a normal blank page will get you the same results.

Names for people, places and things…

For some reason the idea of quickly coming up with names for characters is a huge stumbling block for some GMs. There’s no shame in that, naming things can be hard. How else can you explain the multitude of books written on baby naming? Add to that, a character’s name can really say a lot about them. There’s a reason Lord Voldemort doesn’t call himself Tom. Tom sounds like a guy that bags groceries. Lord Voldemort sounds like a dude that fronts for a thrash metal band.

Opening for Iron Maiden, Tom!

Creating a list of NPC names can help you to get ahead of that unease about naming someone a silly name. Creating those names in advance is something I’ve seen different GM’s use their note pads for over the years. Usually they’ll take three sheets of paper and dive them up by men’s names, women’s names and non-gendered names that can be used for people or places. As their players enter a town or encounter a random NPC they can flip over to their notes section and quickly pick a name from the list. If players ask for the name of an Inn, the GM has it ready. This type of rapid information availability can help GMs feel more confident when their players interact with an NPC they may not have been ready for. By keeping the game flowing a GM can help the players stay engrossed in the world around them.

Flavored Text

Flavor text is any text that is unrelated to rules or gameplay and is included for effect. Examples of flavor text can be a description of a city the players are entering, or a monologue from a villain. If you’re trying to develop a rich world for your players, try and pre-write some description of a new area or character that you read when your players first encounter it. Try to describe the smell and the sounds of the new city or the intricate detail of the coat that the villain is wearing. Writing down flavor text in your notebook allows you to have some dramatic elements pre-prepared for your players. Even if your players don’t enter the new city or meet the new villain right away you can have it tucked away for later.

Rules

Weather it’s D&D or Vampire: The masquerade, the game your playing is bound to have at least some rules. I’ve found my notebook a helpful place to jot down notes on rules that I may want to reference or look back at when the session is over. One example of this is the rule for grappling. I’m not sure if it’s just how I play a lot of my characters but I usually end up trying to grab other characters and throw them around. Making sure I have that rule ready to go in case any questions arise mid game is a great us of my notebook. Additionally, if any other questions come up regarding other rules mid session I like to write down the rule in question so I can go back and clarify it after the game is over.

Write down your evil plan

Write out your evil plan for your villain. This may sound simple, but it makes a huge difference. As a GM you probably want to have a villain in your story, but you don’t want to reveal everything about their plans to your players, at least not right away. I’ll probably go into greater detail about villains in another article but for now I’m going to assume you know who your villain is and what their plans are.

Keeping a list of tasks that your villain will try to accomplish each session can be a great use of your notebook. You know what’s happening with their plan even if the players are nowhere nearby. If you keep track of the progress of their evil plan you know where and when everything is happening. That way if the players are, or even aren’t, seeking out a way to stop your villain you know where things are happening and what the players will find when they arrive.

GET TO KNOW YOUR PLAYERS

Getting to know my players is essential. For most of my life I ran games for my friends. These people were my classmates, co-workers or neighbors. Regardless of how I met them, I already knew something about them before we all agreed to play D&D or some other RPG. I knew what kind of stories they enjoyed, I knew their likes and dislikes and I knew what they would like in an RPG campaign. However, as I’ve gotten older I don’t know many of the people I run games for. As a result of this I’ve become much more intentional about getting to know them.

The things I try to focus on learning about are, what types of characters they like to play, what kinds of adventures they like to be a part of and how they feel about things like combat granularity or how comfortable they are sticking to all the rules. Everyone is different but the more you learn about your group of players the easier it will be to create a game that is appealing to them. Even if you’re running something pre-prepared you can make little tweaks to it for your player’s enjoyment.

It’s not that you will necessarily change the whole story to match what they want to do, but if you learn some things they’ve done in past games that they really like, it can help you to maybe add in new elements into your storytelling. That small change will make the experience more fun for them and you. This can also allow you to challenge your own ability as a storyteller.

Familiarization > Memorization

You will never memorize everything. It’s impossible. You will always need to look stuff up. You don’t need to memorize the whole rulebook. In fact…you don’t even need to read the whole core rulebook. At least not at first. Depending on the game you are running it’s good to focus your energy on a few basic things:

  1. Character creation rules
  2. Basic combat mechanics
  3. Basic Role Playing Mechanics

All the other stuff like spells, setting, monster stats can be filled in later. When you’re running your first game as a GM your priority is to tell the story and have fun. You may try your best to get all the rules right but even if you don’t it’s okay. The whole point of being a GM is to have fun while you’re playing. As long as you’re familiar with the rules of whatever game you’re playing you can develop your descriptive chops over time. After you’ve run your first couple sessions, you will eventually go back and familiarize yourself with it while going through the storytelling process. If you can get through one or two sessions you’ll find out what you need to be more familiar with based on what you may have forgotten or what your players did that you may not have expected. Later, if you’ve enjoyed your first few sessions as a GM FAMILIARIZATION NOT MEMORIZATION, it really does just make things that much easier for yourself from the beginning, and makes it feel that much less intimidating to start the storytelling process.

Mistakes will happen

It’s tough to accept sometimes but you will make mistakes. Learning from the mistakes is important. Without mistakes we cannot evolve. This is true in lots of things. Understand that if you make mistakes, or your players make mistakes, it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. It just means you get the chance to improve next time. There is a really good acronym I’ve heard from a professor of mine, OOPS, which is an acronym for: Other Opportunity For Improvement. Human beings are going to make mistakes, and it’s better to notice when you make a mistake as a storyteller (maybe point it out to your players, maybe don’t), and not to dwell on it, but keep the story moving with that knowledge in place. If you dwell too much on the mistakes you make, it can often stifle your creativity as a storyteller. 

Don’t over prepare

Preparation paralysis is a real thing. I’ve seen so many would be GM’s get hung up on the idea that they don’t have enough prepared to become a GM. They don’t have enough story, or their villain isn’t scary enough, or their town doesn’t have a properly constructed calendar system.

Stop.

You don’t need all of that stuff right away! If I really wanted to make sure I had that kind of stuff prepared, I’d ask my players what kind of information they feel like they would want to know before I created my world or my campaign plots. That way I wouldn’t spend time making an intricately constructed system of planets, stars and celestial movement that my players may not care about at all. If your players eventually do express an interest in things like holidays, or history you can develop that content later. It doesn’t have to all be ready before you play.

Yes it can seem intimidating to start your first game as a GM, but I try to tell new GMs that their fear of unpreparedness isn’t something that should dictate weather or not they take that first step as a GM. Whenever someone asks me, “What’s the one thing I need to prepare to be a good GM?”

The most important thing is: be prepared, to be unprepared.

A GM cannot, ever, know what their players are going to do at all times. That level of precognition doesn’t really exist. I’ve been running games for almost thirty years and I’m still constantly surprised by the choices my players make. If I tried to prepare for every different contingency and choice that my players could make I would spend more time preparing to run my game than actually running my game. This over preparation can lean to an inverse correlation. I believe that the more time a GM spends preparing to run their game, the less likely they are to actually run their game. I’ve seen many would be GM’s get so hung up on getting their world perfect before they run their game, the opportunity to play passes them by.

Don’t get too invested in having a specific way that your plot is going to play out. Having too much of the story already laid out, without room for change, can often stop you from moving to the next plot point. Your players might make a decision that could completely derail your storyline if you’re too overprepared. If you’re going to run a game, it’s a fine thing to get familiarized with what you want to do, and what part of the story you want to tell. However, don’t over prepare.

Helmut von Moltke said that “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” Your players are not the enemy. But the inference is still true. Your players have free will and they may not go exactly where you planned. That free will is a good thing. Be prepared to be unprepared. If you know that you’ll have to think on your feet then you won’t be surprised when it happens. If you are having difficulty with the preparation process, there are a lot of good independent and official pre-planned adventures for games, that can be a good foundation for you to build your story off of. Run the first game, then you will know what you need to prepare for the next game.

Take care of yourself

Know when to say you’re done. GMs can get stuck as the #FOREVERDM, and that’s not a bad thing. I prefer to run games more than play. I also know that puts me in the minority.

If you need a break from running a game that’s fine. Tell your players. You need to have fun too. Nobody can survive on a diet of ice cream no matter how much they like it. The same thing applies to DMing. You will need to stop at some point and that’s okay. It’s a game for everyone at the table. If you’re not having fun, or the players are treating you poorly you don’t owe anyone anything. You have to take care of yourself emotionally and mentally. Playing or running a game requires you to give something of yourself. If you’re tapped out, you have nothing left to give. So, taking a break helps you recover enough to start telling the story again, but only when you’re ready.

You can do this.

A multitude of people, from every walk of life, have started running games before. You don’t need special training. There’s a lyric from the artist Talib Kweli: “if you can walk you can dance, if you can talk you can sing.” I think this spirit is true here too. If you can listen you can tell a story. If you have heard a great story before, and you want to tell your own, you can. You have all the qualifications you need already to tell a story.

Categories
GM Tips

How To Set Your RPG Scenes

A setting for a story should be a wonderful trap. Good setting lures you in with exquisite promises of fascinating lands with details that keep you interested. A good setting sticks in your mind like a song that you can’t shake. A story’s setting is an entire ecosystem of people, dreams and mystery. Middle Earth, The Sprawl, and Hogwarts are just a few of the settings that have stirred my imagination in the past.

Creating a game world is always a fun part of any new campaign for me. Just like the real world, geography of a fantasy world creates conflict. In my campaigns one piece of land may be important for two or more groups of people. How these groups interact can create a great conflict for a story. Creating a new world takes time and I’ve learned several tricks that I think help speed the process up while increasing quality. These tips have helped me build cohesive worlds that are believable for my players and help their characters fit more comfortably into the story.

Setting is more than the NPCs that live in the castles and villages you create. It’s the history, politics and everything in between. In this article I’ll take you through basic world building that I like to do when I’m creating a new environment or tweaking a pre-existing world. I like to have an understanding of these things before the players ever start out in the first episode. These aren’t all necessary but the better you understand your world, the more answers you will have for your players when they inevitably ask questions. 

Check out the video I made on this topic over on my YouTube Channel.

Here are the top five world building tips for creating a new campaign world:

5 Names hold power.

What in the world do you call your world? It seems minor but knowing what the people in your world call their environment is important. The NPCs in your world gained their knowledge of what to name things in the world from somewhere. But do the people in your world even know they live on a planet? Answering that question fills in some gaps about the characters you may be developing. 

 Naming things in my campaigns usually starts with land masses. Your created worlds aren’t Earth, so the easiest place to start would be the name of the continent or land that you will begin play on. This creates a name that can continue to come up during play and remain consistent between the NPCs that your players interact with. Naming the land can help players to feel more involved in the world because it’s a point of common knowledge they share with the NPCs.

As an example, in Game of Thrones most of the action takes place in the land of Westeros. It’s a name that comes up frequently in the story and it’s one way the reader (or viewer), can settle into the narrative. It’s not only referenced in speech but also in maps and histories that the characters read. We know where the story is happening in our mind’s eye and can remember events more easily. Whether you’re creating a city or a whole planet, the same principle applies in any world constructed for roleplaying. If the NPCs use the names you’ve created regularly your players will too. A common naming convention builds player investment.

4 What happened before now?

Trying to recall or create history for a village can be tricky. That creation gets even harder if you have to do it on the fly. There’s a lot to consider when creating a city or village from scratch. Things can get more complicated if your players insist they leave your well prepared town to visit a nearby village that you have mentioned in passing.

 I find it helpful to know what’s been going on in an area leading up to the moment when my players walk in. Nothing too specific, just broad historical strokes. Even if the sleepy little village of Townsburg hasn’t had anything go wrong recently, it still has a history. Think about what you might say to a stranger who comes to you and starts asking about what is going on in your town. What would you tell them? You probably don’t know everything, just some general information about who’s in charge and maybe where the best food in town is. Knowing a general Town history is helpful as a GM but, to me, it’s not necessary that every NPC knows everything. I’ve found that if I operate on the assumption that no NPC will know everything about the history of an area. This feels more realistic to me and also alleviates any need to provide a comprehensive history lesson in game.

When building a new location in your game consider that all places have a local history, some good and some bad. The long term history of a place always affects the people who live there because it helps to establish what is normal. Depending on what normal it is NPCs may or may not care when certain things happen, like a fight between rival gangs or a royal parade. 

Below is a quick table to help spark some inspiration if you find yourself in need of creating a quick backstory for a town. This chart works best when used in a fantasy RPG like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder. It won’t answer all the questions your players could have, but it will help you get the ball rolling in establishing what normal is for that town. You can use percentile dice to help create a random history, or choose a history that fits your cities.

Local History Table

Local History Table(Roll Percentile)Village(30 – 100 people)Coastal Town(100 – 1300 people)Smally City(1300 – 4500 people)Medium City(4500 – 25,000 PeopleBig City (25,000 + people)
1-25
Religion		Religious cult recently founded the villageHoly waters, supposed have healing effectsHome to an ancient religious sight used by the townHoly land. Location of a major religious pilgrimageHome to a major nationwide religion
26-50
Royalty		Isolated community with strong leader. (Chief, sheriff, mayor)Home to the naval fleet of the royal family.The vacation home of a beloved royal familyHome to a minor lordship. Capital city. Home of the area ruling family. Art, fashion, food, and museums. 
51-75
Military		Soldiers  founded the village as a checkpointWas a naval base during a war. The navy is gone now.Home to an ancient gladiator pit and warrior guild.Major military base.Major city fortifications against invasion, Knights, Checkpoints.
76-85MerchantsVillage is a new mining outpost recently opened.A famous shipwright started building ships here.Tourist destination: Town has famous hot springs and gardens.Home to a bardic college and the setting of several famous ballads.Major trade hub between land and rivers. Cultural melting pot.
86-95
Crime		Outpost for trading between several gangs.Pirate town. Fugitives, stolen goods, no real  law.The domain of an oppressive and corrupt merchant company.Crime lords run the city as powerful merchants. Corrupt government. Bribes, blackmail, assassins. 
96-98
Arcane magic		Everyone is a magic user of some kind.A wizard was shipwrecked here years ago and built a port.Home to a strange relic nobody understands.Home to a major school of magic.Magical artifacts power the city. Trams, magic item peddlers.
99
Conflict		Rebuilding after being destroyed by a monster.Home to a sea monster in the cove that eats ships, sometimes.Recovering from a large battle that destroyed the city.Caught between armies fighting for a depleted natural resource.Recovering from the overthrow of a powerful evil dictator.
100
Unique		Town founded by a lovable intelligent monster who died a few years ago.The port was constructed and abandoned by an unknown race of creatures.Isolated city run by blacksmiths crafting items out of a metal only found there.Pollen from the town’s main agricultural product requires people to constantly wear gas masks.City built entirely underground and abandoned. Parts of it are still locked and unknown.

3 Weather & Atmospheric effects 

When crafting your fictional land spare at least a few moments for seasons and weather. I like to consider the weather because it can lend character to the landscape your story takes place in. Weather can be used as a character in your story to help set mood and establish daily routines. As an example, go watch The Crow from 1994 with Brandon Lee. The rain in that film is a central character that adds to the mood of the story and also gets referenced regularly by the characters. 

The rain helps amplify the overall “Hot Topic” feel.

I created a table several years ago that helped me determine weather for the day of the adventure. I would role the table several times at the beginning of each session, Taking notes for each rolled outcome. I would create a ten day forecast of what would be happening during the game. 

You can find the table for temperate environments below. This table is just for temperate environments with four seasons and is supposed to be used with a system like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder of any edition. It can be adapted to fit other hotter or colder environments.

Seasonal Weather Effect Table

Season2-2526-5051-7576-991 or 100
Summer
Rainfall:
Roll 1D6
1-2 Light rain
3-6 No rain

If yes
1D6-3 = Inches of rain per day
Comfortable
75°F-80°F
Cloud cover		Sunny and some clouds
81°F-89°F

Armored PCs make DC 13 con save after physical exertion.
Fail = 1D4 non lethal heat damage (if your system allows)		Hot and few clouds
90°F-99°F
DC 12Con saves every 6 hours outside. 
Fail =1d6 non lethal heat damage)		Danger Hot No cloud cover
100°F+
DC 13 unarmored PCs DC 16 armored PCs, Con saves each hour unless resting.
Fail = 1d8 non lethal heat damage		Flash flood
78℉-82℉
1D6+1 inches of rain in 1D4 hours. Low lying areas will flash flood.
Fall
Rainfall: 
Roll 1D6
1-3 Rain
3-6 No rain

If yes1D4-1 = Inches of rain per day
 		Chilly
48°-40°F		Comfortable
49℉-55℉		Comfortable
56℉-65℉		Comfortable
66℉-75℉		Freezing rain
32°F-30°F
Sudden drop.

1d4 inches of ice accumulation in 1d4 hours.
Winter
Snowfall/ Rainfall:
Roll 1D61-3 Yes rain3-6 No rain

If yes1d8-2 =Rain/Snow per day.		Bone Chilling
25℉-0°F
Rain=
Snow-Water freezes-DC 18 Con save if PCs get wet
Fail = 1d10 cold damage per/30 min until dry.		Frigid
32℉-25℉
Rain=
Snow-Water freezes – DC 15 Con save if a PC gets Wet
Fail = 1d8 Cold damage per/30 min until dry.		Cold
39℉-33℉
DC 13 Con save for Improperly clothed characters 
Fail = 1d4 cold damage per two hours until warm)		Chilly
48℉-40℉		Blizzard
25°F
Spring
Rainfall:Roll 1D6-2 = Inches of rain per day		Comfortable
49℉-56℉		Comfortable
57℉-65℉		Comfortable
66℉-70℉		Comfortable
71℉-75℉		Thunder storms
55℉-65℉
1D6+1 inches of rain in 1D6 hours. Low lying areas will flash flood.

Charting weather creates several outcomes that can help develop your setting even further. If you’re the type of information hoarder and planner like some of the other storytellers I know, you can actually chart things like average rainfall for the area your players are in. Some of my friends actually take the time to record all the rainfall and other weather phenomena in their game worlds to determine things like drought and flooding.

 Another outcome of creating a ten day forecast is to give people something to talk about. No matter who you are or where you’re from people always talk about the weather. Giving your NPCs something to gripe about just adds to their realism. The last outcome of weather charting is also really common in daily life. If the storyteller knows what the weather will do they can let the PCs in on it by having some NPC talk about how her knee always aches right before a big storm. Whether or not the storm is real doesn’t matter, your players will react to new information. Sometimes they need to prepare for a large blizzard before they venture out to find a hidden mine. Sometimes the blizzard never happens and it’s just fun to watch the PCs scramble. The world is full of strange weather and people all over the world have been adapting to it for millenia. By including it in your campaign building strategy your world gains depth. 

2 Landscape 

The land your story takes place on cannot be ignored. Throughout history, wars have been fought over it, rivers divide it, oceans cover it, and disasters reshape it. The story of Robin Hood relies upon the environment he hides in, Sherwood Forest. The land gave Robin a place to hide from the Sheriff. His merry men hid with him and made their homes in and among the trees. Without Sherwood Forest Robin Hood would have just been some guy in a field. 

This doesn’t really scream ADVENTURE!

How do you express a landscape to help your players visualize their environment? As a storyteller you’re using more than just what your players can see. You control all the senses your players have. Since the story takes place completely inside the imagination of the people at the table it’s important to use all the senses that your players have. Consider how you would breakdown the setting of Sherwood Forest for a group of players sense by sense. Take a look at this photo of a forest and consider it through the lens of your player’s different senses.

  1. Sight Think about the obvious things first, things we can see.  The trees and how tall they are create all the shadows that spot the forest floor. The color of the trees and any moss that covers them. See the rocks and tree roots sticking up out of the ground (maybe a tripping hazard during a chase?) 
  2. Sound What can your players hear? The sounds that all the wildlife makes. The sound of any nearby rivers and the wind through the trees. How does it change from day to night? How quiet does it get when the animals are spooked? 
  3. Touch How does the forest feel to your players? Your players are probably wearing different things like armor or robes. Is it hot and muggy? Is there a breeze? Is a knight in full plate more or less comfortable than a shaman dressed in robes?  
  4. Smell Using smell to help set up an environment can draw players even further into the landscape. The smell of blooming plants can create a sense of (false) calm. Has it rained recently? The forest floor may be thick with the smell of loam and mud. If it was hot before the rain what does the steam smell like as the rain evaporates? Smell can also be used as a sense of danger. Can the party smell their enemy? If the enemy is undead or covered in blood and ichor the answer is probably yes. 
  5. Taste using taste can be tricky but it shouldn’t be overlooked. If your ranger tastes the water in a nearby pool and it’s foul how did that happen? Do the berries from this particular part of the forest taste better?

The landscape in your story is the unconscious world the players interact with. It works to pull the story along in the background. The great thing about landscape is it completely changes the way a story gets told. Think about Robin Hood one more time and then change the landscape from the comfort of Sherwood Forest to the ocean. How does that location change the story? Is Robin Hood a pirate now? Change the landscape however you want. Set Robin Hood in a city like ancient Beijing, the arctic wilderness or the middle of a giant desert. The landscape requires the storyteller to fill in gaps to make the story more plausible for the characters. 

1 Who has power and what do they want?

A friend and fellow storyteller once told me that he constructs his worlds based around the politics of the groups in power. I took this to mean as long as he knew what a powerful group’s motivations were, the story was easier to create. Put simply, politics is how groups of people make decisions. On a large scale those decisions have lots of effects in the game world. Groups of people may get power because they take it by force, charm or manipulation. Those groups inevitably want some of the same things like land, wealth or subjects and fight over them. Those conflicts may be open and aggressive like a war or subtle like sending missionaries to the same area to convert the same people. These powerful groups have an agenda or need they are trying to fulfill. 

This idea helped me as a storyteller because it lends directly to the setting. Just like the local history section above, the goals of powerful groups and people help to shape the day to day lives of the NPCs in your story. A local dirt farmer probably doesn’t care about what one king said to the other, but you can bet they will care when there’s an army trampling their crop of dirt. 

Don’t tread on me…

Just like with Villains (make a link here) the knowledge of the local politics also helps develop plot for your story and you should know what the various groups have planned. As different powerful groups progress through their plans it may or may not affect the players. However, the world still changes and reacts to the actions of these groups. These reactions give you great jumping off points for plot and side quests for your players. 

If you really want to tie the political happenings of the land into your campaign try to make one of your player characters a member of one of these organizations. A member of a noble family, a member of a powerful clergy, or an officer in a military. As the local politics shift and move in your story that players priorities may change. The player may ignore their responsibilities and cause consequences for themselves down the line. They may also try to fulfil their obligations and take the party on an interesting quest series that pulls them further into the world you have created.

Final Thought

The setting of a role playing game is an essential part of worldbuilding. It’s impossible to build a world without sparing a few moments to consider the world your story will be taking place in. If these ideas are helpful or you feel like you can incorporate them into your own game please leave a comment here and let me know how it went. If there’s anything I missed or you would like to add, please leave it here in the comments section. I believe that the whole RPG community grows when we all share ideas.