Today’s waiting room reading is work-related: The Good Life. 📚
I’m between campaigns right now, as I’m getting ready to run a Black Company one, but it’s been ages since I’ve run Delta Green.
A couple of my players have been seriously jonesing for it, so the gears are turning (always)… 👀🎲 #GMLife
Sadly no gaming again this weekend. We've really had a hard time at getting sessions to happen regularly lately. It's really hard to keep focus and interest in the #MasksANewGeneration game and I really just want to see the #Pathfinder adventure path to its conclusion so I can move on to something different.
Today should be a fun time in #dnd!
Bringing in a friend of mine to play a guest NPC. Our campaign takes place 25 years after a campaign I ran in 2010, and so he’s revising a character he played then to drop some lore.
There’s also a non-zero chance that they try to kill him so I put together a stat block to hand over to him in case it does. Not sure how a PVP bloodbath could go, but I’m excited to referee it if it happens.
Hmmm… D&D prep is required for Thursday.
The players are in a bit of a sandbox at the moment and I didn’t get a strong sense of next steps. Not sure how I want to set myself up for the plethora of things they could throw my way. 😛
Favourite prep methods, fellow DMs? I could use some inspiration.
I asked my #MasksANewGeneration players if they were okay with me running a holiday-themed session/issue. They said it sounded fun to them.
They came in last night expecting a one shot dealing with Krampus to something like that.
Instead, I ran them through a campaign-related issue that had ties to Home Alone, Die Hard, and A Christmas Carol.
Last night, I ran my #MasksANewGeneration #TTRPG game (yes, I know that comes out to ...game game).
I'm really pushing myself as a GM with this game. The session ("issue" to keep with comic book parlance) had a lot more interpersonal drama moments than I usually include. Between two married characters with major avoidance and communication issues, one character visiting with her mentor about whether her current team is holding her back from being the best she could be, or teammates pulling together when the going gets tough, it was really satisfying.
Plus I'm setting up the main antagonist plot-line in the background. This campaign/trade, I'm trying to emulate a mastermind pulling all kinds of strings, keeping heroes off balance, while the villains steal all kinds of valuable technology. And I have to make it seem plausible.
Yep, I'm definitely testing my limits this time.
Sunday, I got to run another session of my #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords campaign for my party. I got to run a full haunted house section that felt like it had the players really invested in the horror of it all. That was a trick, considering it was a sunny Sunday afternoon when we hit that part of the session and the birds were singing out in the yard.
I really love the haunt rules and mechanics in Pathfinder. I'll look to see if there are ways to integrate something like that into the original #Ravenloft module, when I finally get to run it.
It had a very Evil Dead feel for me. I really enjoy getting to really get into the descriptions of all the creepy things and getting to do some eerie voices.
So far, in my #MasksANewGeneration #TTRPG:
* One player suggested the henchmen form a union, which they did
* I developed a dark web site for criminals called Connie's List that's a combination of Angie's and Craig's lists for the underworld
* Named a dark web black market site called Black Forest, based loosely ob Amazon
I love this genera.
Assuming there are no surprise hiccups tomorrow, I will be starting the last module of my #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords campaign. I have players who are invested in the story and game, which is fantastic.
But...
my players are also DEEPLY focused on all the mechanical bits, baubles, and toys in the system. All the parts I deeply dislike. I really dislike tons of crunch in my #TTRPG experience.
The campaign was a gift for my wife. She likes high skill rogues. And I have enjoyed running for everyone. I never thought I would ever get this far along.
But all the optimization and research my players love so much means that I'm constantly having to recalibrate encounters to keep them from becoming trivial and boring. It's also a pain to have to remember all the new player powers. One character has a permanent 60' Detect Magic ability up. Another senses traps. Another senses undead.
It can kill the surprise and it's a drain on my motivation, even though we're so close.
Next campaign will be a low magic adventure at lower level for my sanity's sake.
Chris Spivey (Author)
Jeff
EmpyClaw
The Eldritch Rain 