Author Archives: Law

Confessions of a DM

I usually have something to say about the articles I mention here, but as soon as I saw “Confessions of a DM” on Table Titans I knew I had to just link to it and throw up my hands. I … Continue reading

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60-Minute Session Design

I think a person can judge their proficiency in some area by determining the relative complication of the things in that area that frustrate them. For example, I cook fairly frequently. I’m no executive chef, but I can turn ingredients … Continue reading

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Haste Podcasting with Charisma

For anybody who’s been listening to me during Story Time with Blake and Highcove on I Podcast Magic Missile and thinking “Golly, this guy sounds knowledgeable and handsome; where can I hear more?”, I have good news for you! I’ve … Continue reading

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Masks/Eureka

This blog is pretty unapologetically about D&D (which, for the purposes of this article, is synonymous with Pathfinder). There’s a reason it’s called “DMing with Charisma” and not “GMing with Rapport” or “Storytelling with Manipulation”. That’s not necessarily because it’s … Continue reading

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Cooperative Session Design (or, Everybody Has a Plan Until Players Show up)

Preparing for a session is hard, not least because it’s rarely clear what a DM needs to prepare. If you spend hours mapping out the sewers where bandits are hiding, you can be sure that the players will instead look … Continue reading

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Character Creation

Little-known fact: there’s nothing that gets me quite as excited as this: I’m the sort of person who watches video game rosters very closely during production. I watched every reveal trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 the day it was … Continue reading

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I Podcast Magic Missile

I just noticed that I haven’t back to I Podcast Magic Missile since July, which was before any of the podcasts with me went up: Story Time with Blake and Highcove 1 Story Time with Blake and Highcove 2 We’re … Continue reading

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Mythic Adventures

Lest my previous post come down too hard on one side of the axis, I generally don’t have a problem with powerful, even startlingly so, characters. My concern is with situation where a player’s style is so focused on powergaming … Continue reading

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“Rules as Written” (or, Hate the Playa, not the Game)

I was loitering at my friendly local gaming store (patronize it with money!) lately, and a conversation sprouted about play styles. Specifically, we discussed a particular style of play formed around building powerful characters and having them do powerful things. … Continue reading

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DM Mentors

Gnome Stew had an article recently on the concept of the GM Confidant, which is a GM that assists another GM with the campaign without actually participating. A confidant is there to discuss ideas, add to existing concepts or create … Continue reading

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