of Dice and Dragons

The latest issue of Role-playing Tips in now online -
How To Get More From Your Monsters - Part 1.

This is the first of a series of newsletters dedicated to ways of improving how you handle monsters in your campaign. This week’s offereing includes a four-pack of tips that not just suggest methods but the author also includes samples and examples from his own game - most cool.

The reader tip section also includes a couple of interesting items including GMing at a gaming convention and how one reader organizes his gaming music.

Contents:

–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. It’s Never An Orc
2. It Never Looks Like An Orc
3. It’s Never The Same As Before
4. It’s Never Just Another Fight

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. GMing Convention Games
From: Jeff Wilder
2. Organizing Game Music
From: Loz Newman
3. Being A Kinder, More Gentle Sci-Fi GM
From: Jochen Linneman
4. Dramatica: Excellent Though Expensive Story Software
From: Johan Adetorp
5. Tweaking Yahoo For Roleplaying Tips Delivery
From: Kate Manchester
6. Free Games at pbemnews.org
From: Brandon Blackmoor

You can read it online here.

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

May your dice roll well.

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I think just about anyone who can remember their own childhood or have kids of their own know a few tales concerning wolves (The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood). Of course most of us are also familiar with the stories of werewolves whether it’s been from a book or a movie they are used frequently and as both the bad guy and good guy not too mention the occasional tortured soul.

The nice thing is that you can use a wolf as an encounter in just about any role-playing setting and can be used for both good or evil so take advantage of this when laying out the encounter. Most players make assumptions as to what they are going up against and if you’ve been playing with your group for a while you’ll know their tendencies, of course if you create a lot of paranoia at the table it helps too. (See Paranoia Is a Good Thing for a suggestion on how to do that.)

Here’s a few ideas to use when your group encounters a wolf:

1. Have it just watch the group. Unless you have a nature lover in your group (such as a druid) this will no doubt end up leading to combat as the party will start to think they’re the next meal.
2. Have the wolf arrive after a major combat session and take to caring for and protecting one of the characters.
3. The wolf is a familiar or pet for some individual who lives in the area. Killing this wolf would most like bring the master out to punish those responsible.

Ok, what if it isn’t a wolf?

1. It’s an individual who willing changed their shape. Maybe they’re hiding and don’t want to be found? Maybe they’ve traveling as a wolf quicker/easier?
2. It’s a werewolf. This will usually end in combat but it could be interesting for the werewolf to be shifting back and forth between its forms and the charcters have to determine if a killing stroke is the only recourse. “Maybe we can cure this poor soul?”

Have some ideas to share? Please post away.

May your dice roll well.

Be sure to check out these additional encounter ideas

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The latest issue of Role-playing Tips in now online - Making Magic Items Interesting, Part 3.

This is the final of the three part series dedicated to adding some creativity to the usual magical items that groups find - being vague, creating an item history and even adding a drawback are all discussed.

In the reader submissions there are two tips that drew my interest, one being related to using fewer dice rolls to resolve large scale battles and the other dealt with communication within a campaign world.

CONTENTS:
–> A Brief Word From Johnn

–> This Week’s Tips:
1. Vague Powers
2. Fewer Items
3. Progressive Power
4. History
5. Drawbacks
6. Household Items
7. Transforming Items
8. Be Descriptive
9. Give It More Properties
10. Curse It, But Be Creative
11. Be Consistent

–> Readers’ Tips Of The Week:
1. Large Battles With Fewer Rolls
From: Paul Wilson
2. Gaming Communications Accuracy
From: Mike Bourke
3. Gaming Consistently
From: Greg Stockton
4. Paralleling Real-World Events
From: John Pete D.

You can read it online here.

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

May your dice roll well.

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