Category Archives: DMing

NaNoWriMo

Posted on 25 September, 2015 by MssngrDeath

November is coming, as it does, and that means National Novel Writing Month again. I really like NaNoWriMo for what it is: a measurable, attainable, structured kick in the pants for people who want to be writers but can’t seem … Continue reading →

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Splitting the Party

Posted on 2 August, 2015 by MssngrDeath

I have a guilty pleasure when it comes to DMing. In fact, I probably have several, but one came up recently as I was browsing the Pathfinder Reddit: splitting the party. Splitting the party is generally considered A Bad Thing™. … Continue reading →

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On Unearthed Arcana: Variant Rules

Posted on 16 June, 2015 by MssngrDeath

After I spent all that time gushing about the variant alignment systems for Pathfinder, it’s only fair to point out when Wizards does something similar. The latest Unearthed Arcana (not to be confused with Unearthed Arcana or Unearthed Arcana) dropped, … Continue reading →

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Campaign Report – Zelda Maps

Posted on 10 June, 2015 by MssngrDeath

It occurs to me that I have a blog about DMing and only rarely talk about what’s happening in the campaigns I run. Mostly this is because I think the day-to-day minutia of somebody else’s campaign is somewhat boring; there’s … Continue reading →

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Even More on D&D Stats in Simple Language (or, the Plight of the Huggable Skeleton)

Posted on 8 May, 2015 by MssngrDeath

Apparently I’ve made it to Reddit through no fault of my own, and I’m startled at the response. “The Definition of Charisma” was one of those posts I was really worried about because it’s the only one I can think … Continue reading →

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The Art of the Sidequest, Part 2

Posted on 8 May, 2015 by MssngrDeath

A sidequest isn’t all that different from any other small-scale plot in terms of lifecycle. Where it mostly differs is in its purpose. In D&D a plot’s job is to form the skeleton of a story, letting the DM and … Continue reading →

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The Art of the Sidequest, Part 1

Posted on 2 May, 2015 by MssngrDeath

I’m a busy grown-up with a job and a tie and everything, and so are a lot of the people with whom I game. And one of the problems with being a busy grown-up is that sometimes non-gaming obligations bungle … Continue reading →

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Long-Term Campaigns and DM Interest

Posted on 8 April, 2015 by MssngrDeath

In a long campaign players will spend a ridiculous amount of time in your world. If you meet for four hours a week you’ll rack up a solid real-world day of game time every six sessions, and extrapolated over sixty … Continue reading →

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Long-Term Campaigns and Player Interest

Posted on 18 March, 2015 by MssngrDeath

As I work through the second Zelda campaign (as opposed to the Second Zelda campaign, where the party has to figure out which princess is a robot), I’m finding some of my storytelling challenges are different from my normal campaigns. … Continue reading →

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Cooperative Content Design

Posted on 18 February, 2015 by MssngrDeath

The players in my 4E campaign are currently at L10 and a short side-quest away from L11, which means they’re eying paragon paths. We’ve been flipping through a few books to put together some decent candidates, some obvious (the archer … Continue reading →

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