Decisions, decisions… With some incredible #HauntedWest games already lined up by the Balladeers at #GameHoleCon, I’m tempted to mix things up. Maybe it’s time to unveil something from the #OuroborosSystem —a Darker Hue original. New worlds to explore, new stories to tell. 
#TTRPGs #GMLife
The mini-campaign setting search is down to a three-way tie! 
The finalists? #NightsBlackAgents, #Rifts, & #MechWarrior. I've got just over a month before Session 0, it’s time to roll up my sleeves and get to plotting. Conspiracies, mechs, or dimensional terrors —what’s it gonna be? #GMLife #TTRPGs
Savoring my last #DragonMilk Triple Mash with my snuggly pup by my side while prepping eight #7thSea1E pregens for next week’s one-shot. 
A balanced mix of sword schools, sorcery, and societies for a devious scenario I’ve got brewing! #GMLife #Stout
Looks like I'm running a backup game for our #Masks group. The players are okay with another #MasksANewGeneration game but with a lighter tone. I'm thinking about a mix of #QuantumLeap, #Sliders, and the #CrossTimeCaper run of #Excalibur, one of the series that really got me into collecting comics.
The overall idea will be a team of heroes who are forced to hop through different dimensions, probably heavily influenced by movies, TV shows, or books that I'm into. Everyone seems to want something lighter in tone and I can certainly do that for them!
It's likely our next fantasy campaign will be #13thAge, which I do love. It's a good compromise between high powered and more OSR. There are fewer hard and fast rules and things are much more flexible.
My wife seems to prefer games with more structured powers and skills. She seems more comfortable knowing what her options are and feeling like a badass with more powers available to her. And I'm cool with that. 13th Age is a decent compromise.
My one gripe of that system is that I have to be more careful about picking the right leveled enemy NPCs to keep things challenging. It's much easier to grab any old monster from an #OSR bestiary because the difference in power from level to level isn't as drastic as 13th Age.
I still feel honored that my players, my friends and wife are enjoying the games I run and are excited to come back to the table. I work hard to be the kind of GM I'd want to play with. /3
I'm glad that my players are having fun planning out what feats they want to take next level for their particular *shudder* build. I just don't think about characters that way.
I don't want to play a super juiced up character. If I got to play in a super hero game, I'd probably play Green Arrow.
I don't want to come off as being into One True Way to have fun. I know not everything has to cater to me and my preferences. Hell, the entire reason I'm running #Pathfinder is because it's a Christmas gift for my wife from a few years ago. I know the kind of game she wanted to play, and I wanted to give her a campaign worthy of that.
But if I was lucky enough to play again or run the campaign of my dreams, it'd be something more #OSR. /2
As I run my players through the #Pathfinder adventure path #RiseOfTheRunelords, I've reinforced my dislike of extensive numbers of feats and systems with higher amounts of crunch and my preference towards more #OSR type games.
I've all but gotten rid of battle maps. I largely ignore the lists of feats on enemy NPC entries. Unless they're built-in to the forms, I mostly ignore them. It might be different if the information was listed on the entries, but as it is, I'd have to cross-reference across at least one other book, possibly more. That just slows down the session.
A side effect of getting rid of the battle map, I fudge distances, ignore strict rules about flanking for sneak attacks in favor of a more *shudder* #DND5e approach. If an enemy is engaged, the rogue can sneak attack. It's simple, and I don't have to worry about drawing maps or, now that we have one player remoting in, screw around with a VTT.
If I had my druthers, I'd be running #CastlesAndCrusades or #ADND2e. I really don't care a whit about character optimizing, skill points, or feat chains. Let me describe the action and let the GM adjudicate the results with a roll.
But I'm glad my players are happy and that they're happy to let me drop some annoying rules here and there to streamline the experience. /1
Between a player who has moved, game postponements, and a week of fighting a killer cold, I'm starting to go through serious #TTRPG withdrawal.
Not only do I really enjoy playing and running games (I've more enjoyed running lately), but reading them and discussing ideas and mechanics with others involved with or new to the hobby.
My favorite might be helping new players and GMs find their footing. I love watching the hobby grow and people find a new pastime to explore and enjoy.
I want to see myself as a mentor or guide on the gaming journey, though that feels like a boast or brag. I trained to be a teacher as an undergrad, and that just feels natural to me. Might be why I enjoy GMing so much.
Had a #dnd hiatus over the holidays, but my players did not disappoint when we returned.
When problem solving, their characters are like a pack of lone wolves.
“I call the guards!”
“I scare the children next door!”
“I fly up to the roof!”
“I run into the house!”
“I administer an anti-venom!”
“I break open the back gate!”
“I set off the goblin firework!”
…
“Okay, so the bad guy teleports the fuck out of there.”
This last weekend, I ran for both my #Masks and #Pathfinder groups. These will likely be the last time the entire group meets in person, as one of our players is moving. We'll have her teleconference in. We were all just glad that the weather held out long enough to let us all gather together for the sessions and sendoffs.
#Pathfinder 1e has some interesting challenges for the #GM.
Players can get their stats, skills, and other bonuses so high that it can be difficult to challenge them without making things unnecessarily lethal. I'm having difficulty, at times, making things non-trivial for them.
For example, they come up with some kind of interesting resolution to a problem, so I ask them for a skill roll. After their +20 bonus from accumulated skill ranks, equipment, etc. that they have worked hard for, they get a 30, on average. It's almost not worth asking them to roll, other than giving them the chance to say they got a 38.
Not really asking for help here, it's just an odd problem to wrap my head around.
Also why my next campaign won't be Pathfinder.
I've been looking at different #cyberpunk #TTRPG games. We played #TheSprawl and I'm flipping through #Cyberpunk2020 and #CyberpunkRed. I'm also considering #GURPS Cyberpunk. I have #Shadowrun2e but I'm not sure I want to put that in the running.
Do you have a preferred method for outcome resolution? Do you like rolling a single D20 like D&D, 3 six sided dice and roll under, like GURPS, or one of the many die poll systems like WEG, Shadowrun, or World of Darkness, diceless mechanics, or something else entirely?
What about that system do you like and is there anything you don't like about it?
What kinds of things do you like to see in your sessions, what is your ideal session?
Are you a big fan of intricate puzzles or do you hate puzzles with a passion?
Do you like detailed, crunchy combat, do you prefer light and fast, or do you avoid combat at all costs in favor of other strategies or talking?
Do you like deep dives into characters and lots of role play, or does that stuff just get in the way of throwing dice and slaying monsters?
Is there a setting or settings that really excites you and you'd love to play in or run a game in? What really gets your creative juices flowing?
GMs, do you ever give your players a peek behind the screen, let them know about the mechanics of a scene or explain the motives of an NPC or details they'll never find out otherwise, or do you keep everything secret?
Players, do you like knowing more about the details of the games you play or do you prefer not to know to stay more in the moment?
Players, do you use traditional paper character sheets or do you use digital sheets? Do you use any other digital tools while playing?
GMs, do you allow players to use computers or other devices at the table or do you insist on only analog tools?
Online players, how do you handle dice rolls? Does your VTT handle that for you or do use some kind of dice rolling bot or does your GM allow you to make rolls and trust you to be honest?
For those players out there who have never been a GM, have you ever thought about stepping behind the screen and running your own game?
Is there anything in particular that's stopping you?
Is there anything us GMs could help you with?
Do yoir groups tend to use character names or player names more during sessions?
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When I run, I try to use more character names to help my players stay in character and in the game world. It's not a hard and fast rule, just something I've been doing more lately.
For the GMs out there, are there any campaigns you've wanted to run but haven't because you weren't sure you'd do a setting or genre justice? What would you like to try to run? What would you need to feel comfortable enough to try?
