Archive for the ‘GM tools’ Category »

Want to be a Better GM? Ask Your Pla...

Posted on Mar 25 2010 | 5 Comments
Want to be a Better GM? Ask Your Players How do you know how good a GM you are? You’ll need to ask your players. Below is a questionnaire I hand out to my players from time to time to find out what’s good about my game and what needs to be improved.... Read More »

Check Out Protodimension Magazine

Posted on Nov 10 2009 | 2 Comments
I stumbled across this ‘zine while checking out my stats. They did a very nice write-up of my adventure creation with the 6 W’s post (Thanks!). If you’re looking for all things conspiracy-related, this ‘zine is a must. I love playing with conspiracies (probably too much for my players’ own good ) and I’ll definitely be using... Read More »

Your Teacher Was Right … Creat...

Posted on Oct 14 2009 | No Comments
Your Teacher Was Right … Creating Adventures with the 6 W’s The six “W’s”. You know — the questions your teacher talked about over and over. The ones that every book on how to write covers: who, what, when, where, why, how. These questions are good for more... Read More »

Beg, Borrow, and Steal

Posted on Sep 28 2009 | 2 Comments
Evil Machinations is branching out. Starting 6 October 2009, I’ll be publishing a free weekly newsletter called “Beg, Borrow, and Steal”. Not a repeat of my blog posts, BB&S will contain: Small locations you can drop into any game — a tavern, an inn, a spaceport, etc. NPCs — people you can add to your game How to’s for... Read More »

Missing You: When the GM Can’t...

Posted on Sep 10 2009 | 1 Comment
Missing You: When the GM Can’t Be There Players aren’t the only ones who miss the occasional game session. Every once in a while the GM gets called into work at the last moment, or his wife (or the GM herself!) goes into labor early… there are numerous... Read More »

City Creation: The Town Guard

Posted on Jun 22 2009 | No Comments
Town Guard are not employees of Meadowbrook. A guild in their own right, they’re employed by the town council. Each guild tithes a small percentage of their annual income directly to the Town Guard, in return the Guard protects the other guilds from dangers local and foreign. But how many town guard members are there? The 3.5 Dungeon Master’s Guide... Read More »

City Creation: Mood, Theme

Posted on Jun 03 2009 | No Comments
Mood and theme may seem like something that should’ve been left behind in English Lit. 101. Yet, I’ve found them very useful for  game development; they give me a jumping-off point, particularly when I need to make things up on the fly. Mood Many cities and towns seem to have an overall “feel” about them. Think about it — how often... Read More »

Location Worksheet

Posted on Jun 01 2009 | No Comments
Note: all references in this article to World of Darkness games are to these game’s Second Edition, because that’s what I’m currently running . All but the most causual “beer-and-pretzels” games need locations — cities, kingdome, what have you. Another tool White Wolf included in their first edition Storyteller’s Handbook... Read More »

Campaign Worksheet

Posted on May 29 2009 | No Comments
Yesterday, I talked about the adventure / story worksheet. Today, I’m covering the campaign / chronicle / saga worksheet. The campaign worksheet is very similar to the adventure sheet, but expanded to cover the entire arc of the campaign. For my campaign sheets, I use basically the same questions and topics, but answer them from the perspective of the entire... Read More »

GM Tools: Story Worksheet

Posted on May 28 2009 | No Comments
White wolf publishing introduced the idea of a story worksheet in their Vampire Storyteller’s Companion (first edition) . Basically, it’s a “quick reference” sheet that covers key details of the adventure at a glance, such as a plot summary, key NPCs and situations, any rewards for the characters should receive and the conditions for success... Read More »


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