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Author Archives: Law
Dealing with Character Death
The death of a character is rarely a happy event. Sometimes it’s a well-deserved comeuppance for terrible play (he said, glaring knowingly at the mirror-man sorcerer), but usually it’s a series of unplanned circumstances that leave the player and the … Continue reading
Advanced Racism Race Guide
Considering how little I like racism, I’m shocked at how much I’m loving the Pathfinder Advanced Race Guide. It’s a lot thicker than I thought it would be, has a good balance of crunch and fluff, and provides new rules … Continue reading
Thirteen-Week Campaigns (or, How to Write a TV Season)
I like to think that after this long, I have some idea about how to build a 13-session campaign. I ran three campaigns over five semesters in college, and the winter and summer breaks framed 13-session arcs well. Since then, … Continue reading
Posted in DMing
3 Comments
This Story Is Happy End
I really don’t like endings. I don’t like it when a book ends, or a TV shows hits a season finale, or I have to say good-bye to a longtime friend. Little endings, like the end of an episode or … Continue reading
When a Player Misses a Session
Meteors. Zombie swarms. Conventions for Japanese cartoons. Jesus. There are probably a thousand things that can prevent a player from attending the session, and I’ve heard two-hundred thirty-eight of them. So when something explodes and a player can’t attend a … Continue reading
Designing for Parties Missing a Role (3rd Edition)
I’ve talked a few times about designing sessions for balanced parties and how hard it is. But some parties don’t have the luxury of being balanced. Sometimes, nobody wants to fill a certain role, or there just aren’t enough people … Continue reading
Designing for Parties Missing a Role (4th Edition)
I’ve talked a few times about designing sessions for balanced parties and how hard it is. But some parties don’t have the luxury of being balanced. Sometimes, nobody wants to fill a certain role, or there just aren’t enough people … Continue reading
4th Edition Themes (the Mechanic That Should Have Always Been)
Recently, I said this: The items are also neat, though I’m starting to be bothered by 4th Edition’s insistence on adding more and more item slots. First it was tattoos, then divine gifts, and now primordial shards and elemental gifts. … Continue reading
Posted in Game Design
Tagged D&D 4E
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Denialist DMs
There’s another article that popped up on the Google Spotlight last week, How to completely, utterly destroy an employee’s work life. Again, it’s not a great article, but it reminded me to talk about denialist DMing. It’s hard to design … Continue reading
Posted in DMing
2 Comments
A Rant on “Good” Role-Playing
I’m starting to think that I don’t understand what makes a good role-player. I was pretty sure I did, but the more I watch other people and see what they think is “good” versus “bad” role-playing, the more I think … Continue reading →