Category: Gamemastering
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Minis vs. Theater of the Mind
RPGs have their origin in tabletop wargames. There’s no getting around that history, and the fact that, as a result, miniatures have been a feature of RPGs pretty much from day one. The question, of course, is whether to use them or not, and if so, when. I’ve mostly been running theater of the mind…
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Advice for the New GM
My sister just messaged me to let me know that my tween nephew has ambitions of becoming a Dungeon Master. You know, the kind who runs that other role playing game. While the rule system is different, I think the essential skillset of the gamemaster translates pretty well across to Savage Worlds, so here’s some of the…
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Is There a Plot in a Plot Point Campaign?
Plot point campaigns are one of Savage Worlds’ key innovation. The idea is to provide a campaign framework that doesn’t mandate railroading the players while simultaneously providing enough story to keep the characters interested. Plot Point Campaigns, on the other hand, have some form of beginning, middle and end. Often, they require just as much sequential…
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Social Conflict in Savage Worlds vs. Real Life
Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the US, a traditional day for overeating, misremembering history, getting stuck at airports, and, of course, family arguments. Fortunately, Savage Worlds has a rule for social conflicts – how would this apply to a tense Thanksgiving dinner? Let’s say that Aunt Thelyria is a staunch supporter of Ugnar the Ruthless, while…
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Sentient Turkeys!
Happy Thanksgiving, residents of the USA! In honor of Thanksgiving, I give you the custom Savage Worlds race, the Sentient Turkey! Small: Turkeys only stand about 4′ tall (-1 Toughness)Ugly: Turkeys are really unattractive until cooked (-2 Charisma)Flight: Despite appearances, sentient turkeys can, in fact, fly (Pace 6, Climb 0)No Vital Organs: Sentient turkeys have…
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Memorable Villains
Nothing makes a campaign more memorable for players than a really good villain. When building a world for adventurers, building a good villain gives the players something to react to, and gives their actions real weight. Here are a few of my thoughts on great villains: Savage Worlds Happens – Don’t Let it Happen to…
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Running Savage Worlds on Roll20
Roll20 has come a long way since I first started using it, and it is absolutely suitable for use with Savage Worlds with most settings. To make best use of it, however, there are a few tricks of the trade that can be helpful. Make a Benny Deck: There’s no built-in mechanism for bennies in Roll20.…
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Eclipse Phase and Adaptations
Before embarking on my Savage Rifts campaign (my most recent in-person game), I ran a Savage Worlds conversion of Eclipse Phase. I fell in love with the world of Eclipse Phase, but the game system was a bit much for me – too much crunch and detail for my players to learn or for me to enjoy running.…
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Why Savage Worlds? The Lazy GM
I’ve been playing RPGs on and off for almost 40 years now, and I tend to end up as the gamemaster more often than not. Usually, that results from the fact that I’m willing and able to run games, and most of my players aren’t. No disrespect to the players – you need both to…
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Improvisational Gamemastering
A recent discussion on Google+ got me thinking about improvisation as a gamemaster. Some of my favorite experiences running Savage Worlds have come directly from a player haring off in a random direction that I didn’t plan, and needing to adapt on the fly to what they wanted to do. As an example, here’s the…