of Dice and Dragons

In issue #372 of Role-playing Tips, 5 Room Dungeons + Contest Johnn introduces us to his concept of laying out a dungeon with just five rooms. Even for those of you who do not play in a system that uses dungeons the concept is valid, just replace dungeon with building, spacecraft or your venue of choice.

Also be sure to check out the contest he’s running for those that would like to come up with five room dungeon ideas and share them with the readership.

There’s also a couple of reader tips, in particular I would recommend checking out the second one Easy Method For Creating Objectives.

Enjoy.

Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. Why Do I Like 5 Room Dungeons?
2. Room One: Entrance and Guardian
3. Room Two: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge
4. Room Three: Trick or Setback
5. Room Four: Climax, Big Battle, or Conflict
6. Room Five: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
7. Example 5 Room Dungeon – Library of the Ancients

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Cyberpunk Resources
2. Easy Method For Creating Objectives

You can read Issue #372 online here.

If you don’t already subscribe I would recommend it, you can do that at http://www.roleplayingtips.com/subscribe.php.

May your dice roll well.

In issue #370, Random Encounter Tables, Johnn treats us to a guest article by Charles Ciaffone who offers a different spin on random encounters. He leaves the party level out of the equation and instead focuses on using the encounter to further develop the region which then gives more depth to the gaming experience.

For those that are big into browsing gaming information online (like me) check out the reader submitted tip using Stumble Upon more effectively – you might even find of Dice and Dragons on it!

In issue #371, Alternative Dungeon Environments, Johnn gives us another guest article, this time by Garrison Sutton. This article takes the idea of a dungeon and turns it on its end and asks the question, “what could be run like a dungeon but isn’t a dungeon?” There are a lot of ideas tossed out in the article and well worth the read, especially to help get the creative juices flowing.

Enjoy.

Issue #370 – Random Encounter Tables
Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. Pre-Roll Encounters
2. Define the Region
3. Craft Side Adventures From Too-Powerful Encounters
4. Character Development
5. Add In Random Plot Devices
6. Encounter Table Generation
7. Regional Tables
8. Political Tables
9. Sample Random Encounter Tables

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Rumours…Or Are They?
2. That’ll Be Cash, Thank You
3. Map-up World Creation
4. Using StumbleUpon Effectively

–> Interesting Game Master Links
1. D&D Villains
2. Free Diagramming Tool
3. Fractal World Map Generator

Read Issue #370, Random Encounter Tables online.

Issue #371 Alternative Dungeon Environments
Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. Example Alternative Dungeon – The Swamp
2. Apply The Dungeon Format To Alternative Settings
3. Pick A Location-Based Theme
4. Offer Clear Connectors
5. Other Example Alternative Dungeon Ideas

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Three Levels of NPC Creation
2. Let PCs Set Their Own Traps
3. How To Make Your Players Paranoic
4. Let Rumours Get Misinterpreted
5. World Idea: Spontaneous Genesis
6. Keep Things Interesting: Try Higher Power Levels

Read Issue #371, Alternative Dungeon Environments online.

If you don’t already subscribe I would recommend it, you can do that here.

May your dice roll well.

The latest issue of Role-playing Tips, #369 features a guest article from Kit Reshawn,Four Common Pitfalls for New GMs

In the feature Kit goes over four common issues that we as GMs frequently run up against, the first on in particular I’ve been guilty of – I had an NPC save the party on a couple of occasions and the group began to feel cheated so I faded the NPC into the background over a couple of sessions. I would also suggest taking a good look at Pitfall #4, PC Death, figure it out ahead of time how you’re going to handle it so that everyone is on the same page at the beginning and you’ll save yourself a lot of grief should it happen.

Also take a couple of minutes and check out the reader tips. I found the tip call “Stranger Than Fiction” of particular interest as it show how you can use your day to day life as source material for events in your campaigns. There are also some pictures associated with the 3D props tip which are worth a look to get some ideas on what you can do to pull your game out of the 2D world of “just maps.”

Enjoy.

Contents:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
Pitfall 1: Cooler Than Thou Syndrome
Pitfall 2: Let Each Player Shine
Pitfall 3: The Clue Bat
Pitfall 4: Player Character Death

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Stranger Than Fiction
2. Reminder – Give PCs Meaningful Choices
3. Borrow Ideas From Movies
4. Use 3D Props

You can read Issue #369 online here.

If you don’t already subscribe I would recommend it, you can do that here.

May your dice roll well.