Mysteries of Montreal

RPG a Day 2024, day 24: Acclaimed advice ? Over the years, I have amalgamated a great amount of GM advice, from the books themselves, from playing with others and seeing different styles, from reading books of advice, be it Robin's Laws of Good Games Mastering , the little book of Keeper Tips , or the Ultimate RPG Guide series by James D'Amato. All of which I recommend, and have taken things from. If there is once piece of advice that I can remember clearly when and where It sunk in, it was back with MERP. One thing that the rulebook tries hard to get across was game balance . Now I do not pretend to believe that what I thought of as game balance back then and what I believe now are the same thing at all, but that concept of game balance was required for a game as swingy as MERP, and it meant that even back then, I wasn't throwing things at players that they couldn't handle. This was a game that was really trying to tell the GM that in a case of GM vs Player, the GM ca...

I came across this free pdf pamphlet released by Monte Cook Games  on the Call of Cthulhu players facebook group. Considering the reaction there, there's still a lot of work to be done in this area. So, here's a signal boost of the product. "From fending off an attack by bloodthirsty pirates to delving into dank caverns, roleplaying games allow you to explore and experience things you probably don’t want to face in real life - or to approach topics from the perspective of characters who may be very different than your actual self. This shared experience is intended to be fun for all involved, but RPGs can put characters in life-or-death crises, intense emotional situations, or traumatic environments. Whether it’s body horror in a scary game, violence against children or animals in a fantasy world, flirty, romantic, or sexual relationships in any setting - or numerous other challenging scenarios - the line between fun and awkward, difficult, or downright unpleasant ca...

I just had to go through a very uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. That of uninviting a player from my group. This is an experience I wish on no-one, and mostly because I have experienced in from the other side of the table. Of course I write this from my point of view, but I can imagine how the other party feels. We are social animals, and social exclusion is a very serious weapon if used the wrong way, and not something I would ever, ever do lightly. I did turn to the web for advice on how best to manage this, and there is not much to be found, but I did find this blog entry on the subject . Though there really is no formula to use for this kind of thing, as each individual case is different. Have any of you had experience of this from either side of the GM screen? If so, I'd love to hear about it.