Tag Archives: gm advice

Ability Lists as an Improv Checklist

When running a most improvised scenario (either something as ambitious as the Dracula Dossier or just riffing off a paragraph or two of notes), One Useful Trick is to have a copy of the investigative ability list for your game to hand, and check off abilities as you call for them or the players use […]

See Page XX: The Trouble with Tasers

The following article originally appeared in an earlier iteration of See Page XX in June 2008. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws The Trouble With Tasers Technology is ruining the storytelling business. Lately it seems like every new innovation of communications technology renders another classic plot device moot. GPS tracking, widespread closed circuit […]

See Page XX: Consensus: Like A Fiat, But With More Passenger Room

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws In Make It A Gimme I talked about looking for instances where the resolution system offered by the rules should be jettisoned in favor of an automatic result—in this case, a success for the player. This time […]

See Page XX: Fakebooking It

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws Like most creative endeavors, the GMing craft comes with its share of eternal conundrums. One classic example is the question of whether you carefully prepare adventures, or improvise them in response to player choices. Carefully prepared adventures […]

See Page XX: Red Herrings and Ticking Clocks

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws For the past couple of installments we’ve been examining investigative scenario construction from a macro perspective, mostly looking at the way scenes interact with one another. This time let’s zoom in a bit and talk about a […]

See Page XX: Fear of Structure II: Exploratory Surgery

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws Click here for part I of the “Fear of Structure” Last time we looked at the paradox inherent in running investigative scenarios, whether in GUMSHOE games like The Esoterrorists, or with other systems: structure is essential to […]

See Page XX: The Internet is Your Cheat Sheet

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws I’m still not sure where I come down on the whole laptop at the gaming table issue. Maybe my mind would be definitively made up if I were to see a GM make brilliant use of one. […]

See Page XX: Points of Distinction

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws If you really want to understand the culture we live in, read a few introductory books on marketing. I can already hear some of you screaming in desperate agony at this suggestion. And believe me, I feel […]

See Page XX: When Planning Turns to Wrangling

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws Whenever I serve as a guest at a gaming convention, I make it a policy to ask the seminar organizer to set up a panel on Game Mastering Troubleshooting. On a minute by minute basis, I’ve learned […]

See Page XX: Kill Me and Take My Stuff If You Insist But At Least Let Me Tell You My Backstory First

This post originally appeared on DyingEarth.com between 2004 and 2007. A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws One of the big differences between roleplaying sessions and the adventure stories from which they derive their inspiration is found in the degree of interaction between hero and villain before their conflict devolves into violence. In a […]

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