I know I haven’t been doing much around these parts lately. The number of readers I have is disheartening. Back when RPG Theory Review was a constant source of notoriety, it was much easier to keep up. Lately, in a mixed blessing, I’ve been following the Chatty DM. He has created an enviable presence rather [...]

I haven’t given up on the internet (yet). But something I’ve been working on needed a lot of polish. It’s close to a first draft, so I can show it to you now. This is the ‘how to play’ for Scattershot. There are no rules, no terminology, just pure ‘how to’. I’m not going to [...]

This was originally supposed to be a simple concept I idealized to help people discuss ‘what goes on’ during role-playing game play. Really. I named it to identify it with role-playing gaming and mathematics. (Gaming is shared; gaming is imaginary; what takes place in gaming can be identified as a possibility space.) I did not [...]

Inspire the Unplanned For those of you who think this sounds like ‘plan the unplanned’, have I got a deal for you! If you keep in mind a few basic ingredients, and your games will be smoother, looser and more driven by what the player personae do. It really breaks down to a few elements: [...]

Hi! I thought I’d start off my gamemaster tips with a few simple, but central, ideas. Pacing, Pacing, Pacing I’ve given this advice for years without complaint. This has got to be the most important thing a gamemaster does. In fact, by my experience, if you have players who’ll ‘do their own thing’, this is [...]