External Link: Natural 20 Web Series

Today I'd like to share the excellent web series Natural 20 by Jack Delaney. This is a hilarious show that actually manages to portray a comedic take on tabletop gaming that is accurate and familiar to those who have played games like Dungeons and Dragons. Lots of fun inside jokes and musings on the myriad ways that things can go right and wrong within a eclectic group of players.

The entire first season is currently available to view on Youtube. Enjoy!

The Noises of Imagination

Creating a quality soundscape can be a real boon to your players tabletop experience. The way you describe how something looks is important, but how it sounds can be just as evocative. While there are many sound boards and programs to generate unique and appropriate sound effects, I will save those for a future entry. Today let's talk about a more pragmatic approach.

The simplest way to put audio cues into your game may also seem to be the silliest: Make sounds with your mouth. No, really! As childish as it may seem, it's the simplest way to convey a scene's ambiance in an imaginative manner.

Critical Role's Matt Mercer is one example of a DM who really likes to add noise effects into his performance, from monster roars to exploding fireballs. Think about the impact that sound effects have in movies and video games and do what you can to at least imitate that feeling. The earth-shattering pound of a monster's footsteps, the distinct click and hiss of an activated light saber. Practice your sound effect repertoire at game night. Listen for distinct and iconic sound effects in various media and think about how you can emulate them with your personal noise-making.

A DM shouldn't worry if doing this generates laughter, as long as everyone is having a good time it's all good. Tabletop gaming is a place for child-like wonder and humor, so leave your self-consciousness behind. As you hiss to demonstrate the searing heat of a lava flow, or inflate your cheeks to portray an erupting volcano, enjoy the company of your players and the fun of the unfolding adventure!

Happy ventures!

Keeping It Eclectic: Running Multiple Games

Today I'd like to share the general outline of how I organize different kinds of tabletop RPGS for my home group. You may notice that I try to use advice and examples in my articles that can be applied to a wide range of games and genres. That's because I like to play in a variety of systems and settings whenever I can.

Since I take an approach to storytelling that sometimes emulates serialized television programs, it's only natural that I use that as an outline for how I coordinate various tabletop campaigns. I tend to divide my games into "seasons," consisting of a few sessions each. This way the players have time to get invested in a particular campaign, making some serious progress with the storyline and their characters.

Then I will break things up with what I call a "One Shot Season," in which we play through a series of episodic mini-adventures using a variety of systems. So after a season of Dungeons and Dragons we might play a season of single or two-session one shots like Deadlands, Mutants and Masterminds, or Spirit of the Century.

I'll let the play group vote on what games we play, offering a wide range of choices from month to month. Then we will return to our major on-going campaigns for another season of adventure!

Running games this way allows me to keep things eclectic and diverse, and gives the players the variety and tactical stimulation that makes for a successful gaming group. Hopefully this gives you some ideas on how to handle things if you think your own group could benefit from such variety.

Happy ventures!

Now Playing: '90s Superhero Name Generator

Anybody remember comics of the '90s? The bulging biceps, overpowered weaponry, grim anti-heroes and pouches galore? One of my previous one-shots was a tribute/send-up of those bizarre and gaudy adventures. To this end, I created the '90's superhero name generator. Now I'd like to share it with you. Create your own savage warrior straight from the fever dreams of Rob Liefeld himself! Characters with over-the-top names like Steel Soul or Kill Claw! Excelsior!

ROLL 1D10 ONCE ON EACH TABLE AND COMBINE THE RESULTS TO GENERATE YOUR '90S SUPERHERO NAME:

1. Blood
2. Death
3. Kill
4. Dread
5. Iron
6. Steel
7. Diamond
8. Grim
9. Dark
10. Tek

1. Spike
2. Fist
3. Blade
4. Stone
5. Claw
6. Dragon
7. Tiger
8. Flame
9. Soul
10. Star

Adventuring Gear: Lighting the Way

Proper lighting at your game table is an often neglected consideration when setting up a neat space for game time. In particular, you want three areas of the gamespace to be lit well and highly visible. The map, the character sheets, and the area behind your GM screen. Mood lighting can be a great enhancement to your games, sure, but practicality comes first. If you and your players don't have a clear look at everything, things can be missed and the game gets slowed down.

Imposing edifices like a GM screen can cast long shadows over your notes. I like to have my own lamp positioned behind me to allow me to clearly see the details. If the room you are playing in is particularly dark, or you are deliberately trying to create a shadowy atmosphere, you might want to have desk lamps or clip on lights near the players and their character sheets. Make sure your players don't have to strain their eyes to read things, or they will be discouraged from checking their sheets and participating in the game.

Speaking of mood lighting, another quick trick to set an atmosphere is to use colored tissue paper to change the tint of your light source. Don't put tissue paper directly on the bulb and make sure it isn't so hot to become a fire hazard. A red tissue over a lampshade could create a hellish glow, or a blue tissue becomes a faerie-like twilight.

Keep your gaming area properly illuminated and your players will appreciate the effort you made for their comfort and convenience!

Happy ventures!

Crossovers and Remixes

When devising new concepts and encounters for a game session, it pays to think outside the box. So the next time you wrack your brain for inspiration, don't be afraid to adapt material from sources in all sorts of genres. Rather than limiting yourself to works that bear immediate similarities to the setting of your game, try thinking ways to remix and cross over people, places, and things into your own campaign setting. 

Maybe an Indiana Jones character could be a fitting NPC in your Star Wars game, or a monstrosity from Buffy the Vampire Slayer appears in a Call of Cthulhu nightmare? Don't be afraid to mix things up and think outside the box.

This doesn't mean you should just add something from your favorite book or TV show as-is. Make the necessary modifications so it will fit within the fiction you are creating. Adapt and alter it to make it into something new. I've done this in my own campaigns, bringing mutants from the Half Life games into a Deadlands RPG, or using Breaking Bad characters as antagonists in a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. As long as you can justify it within the setting, you can use that inspiration to fuel your creativity and your campaign!

To think about what kind of stories to draw these ideas from, you should focus the way you think about your campaign. Instead of thinking about it in terms of the game's genre or setting, reduce your scope to a scene-by-scene consideration. Where is the adventure currently taking place, and what is its tone? If you think about the game in terms of individual scenes instead of an entire genre, you can reference a wide number of concepts from various works of fiction. 

A crime-riddled city could be home to Omar from The Wire, whether it is in outer space or a magical realm. Likewise, a spooky crypt could be inhabited by a shape-shifting monster like The Thing, even if it is buried in the desert sands or a haunted swamp. Think about it in terms of what kind of creature, character, or enviromnent you want to portray and then you can reference all sorts of inspirational material that uses those themes. Whether your players recognize the source of your inspiration or not, it can provide a wealth of ideas and creative material that will bring the entertainment and spice up your tabletop experience.

Happy ventures!

Preparing for the Unexpected

As a DM,  I spend a large portion of my prep time in an attempt to plan and prepare for the unexpected.  In any given scenario I can imagine, there also exists a number of alternative conclusions that could  result in things taking a sharp turn. Such is the role of the game runner:  to manage the campaign through any number of surprising twists and keep things moving  toward a satisfying end goal.

Here are a couple of classic surprises to consider when you are planning an adventure...

The case of players failing an encounter entirely is a classic "uh oh"  moment.  That's why it is  the first thing to consider and the simplest to prepare for.  Try to imagine how the story could be progressed if the players don't  succeed in their goal.  Make sure there is an appropriate setback as a consequence of the failure,  but also consider the alternatives that might be available for the game to progress.  Don't make encounters where failure is not an option. If you do,  you will  ever forced to either rig the game in the players' favor or face a cataclysmic game over. Neither of these makes for an entertaining outcome.

The other common twist is when the players don't latch on to a plot hook like you had hoped, and choose to approach their quest from a new tack. You can reduce the severity of this problem simply by being aware of ways it could  happen.  Like the example  above,  think about the possibility that your players might take another path.  Write out a couple of alternate routes or methods your players might use to approach a problem,  and then you can be ready if they try  those.

Ultimately there is no way to be prepared for every contingency,  but if you go in with an open mind and spend a little extra time on prepping a backup plan,  you will feel a lot less pressure when you are thrown a curveball during the game itself.  Keep calm and game on.

Happy ventures!