Game Masters Aren't Gods... They're Genies

The common refrain we've seen about Game Masters is that they are the god of the game. This is both in the sense that they are the arbiters of the rules, but they are also the force that animates the game world the players are having their adventure in. However, there are a lot of us who allow this turn of phrase to go to our heads, and it often makes our games worse. Which is why this week I wanted to suggest a pivot, and an alternative way of thinking about things.

Because we aren't gods... we are genies. And at the end of the day, the players are the ones we're here to serve.

Phenomenal cosmic power... itty bitty gaming space...

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Our Purpose Is To Facilitate

Another phrase that's come into circulation over the past several years is, "The Game Master is a player at the table, too." And I agree with this. However, we have a very different role when it comes to our purpose in the game and story. Our job is to create challenges, and to facilitate our players doing cool things. This doesn't mean that we handle them with kid gloves, or that we refuse to let consequences happen in the game. At the same time, we shouldn't be trying to "win" the game by making sure the players fail in their goals.

In short, we need to be genies.

Because it's true that the Game Master has a great deal of power at the table. They aren't bound to the rules of character generation; they have access to armies. They are the ones who decide what treasure the players find, what allies they make, and what their enemies are doing. They are the ones who puppet the gods, and who set the gears in motion... but a Game Master should do all these things in service to the players.

Entire worlds move at their behest... worlds for the players to explore.

Consider for a moment what happens if the enemy wins. The player characters are dead, and the villains continue on with their villainy... what now? Because unless you're using a supplement like The Black Ballad that gives players a way to side-quest their way out of the underworld, then that's typically where things end. All those notes you took for the story going forward, all the encounters you had prepared, and all the monologues from the villains... all of those things fall into darkness.

That shouldn't be your goal. Because even if you find a way to bring the player characters back, or you convince your players to bring in their back-up characters, losing on that scale tends to be a serious blow to morale, and it can leave the game feeling fragile even if it doesn't break completely.

Instead, your goal should be to endeavor on behalf of your players... not their characters, but your players. You want them to have fun, to explore the world, tell their stories, and to want to come back. Like a favored book they want to consume just another chapter of, you are the one making their enjoyment possible in the first place. And that requires taking your ego out of things as a Game Master. To be able to listen to what your players want, to talk things out with them, and to understand their wants and expectations... and then to deliver on them.

Put another way, imagine you were being served by a world-class chef. But when you ordered what you wanted he just snorted, shook his head, and brought you a completely different dish. Perhaps it's something you don't actually like, or worse, something that you have allergies to. All the skill and experience in the world does you no good if you aren't bending it to the goal of giving your players what they're actually asking you for... because if you deliver what's asked for with skill and style, then you are going to wind up with an extremely loyal table who will talk about your games for years.

Also, for more useful tips on being a Game Master, make sure you grab a copy of my supplement 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better Game Master, which has some of the best strategies I've shared on this very blog. Additionally, consider picking up the sequel 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better RPG Player as well!

A Note On Tricksy Genies

Because I'm sure some folks thought of this as soon as they saw the title, I want to address the idea of the "tricksy" genie. You know the ones I mean. The genies who pervert the intention of someone's wish, or who play word games with the meaning. Like if someone said they wanted a lifetime supply of raspberry crowns, which is a well-known dessert, but it also happens to be a slang term for a particularly deadly hornet, so the genie has them attacked by swarms of dangerous insects instead of granting them a sweet treat.

Don't be that kind of genie. I touched on this in Nobody Likes A "Gotcha" Game Master a while ago, but it's worth reiterating. Because if you are constantly trying to toe the line, act against the spirit of what your players have expressed while sticking to the letter of an agreement, all it's going to do is undermine trust, and make people less likely to want to play with you.

Again, for clarity. NPCs like fey lords, devils, and even genies and djinn, can (and in some cases should) act in just this way... but you as the Game Master should be open, up-front, and honest with your players when you are trying to run a game for them. You may not want them to trust the characters they meet in the game, but they should always be able to trust you. Because if they can't, then the ship is sinking... it's just a matter of when.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Dungeon Design Tips: You Need To Make Social Skills Viable If You Want Players To Use Them

(Apologies on the formatting, but I originally wrote this in my word processor, as my Internet service was down for a week. I don't know why it has chosen to appear this way, and I'm trying to fix it.)

One of the biggest complaints a lot of Game Masters have is that players will always try to solve problems with spells or steel, rather than using their wits or their words. However, while that is a valid complaint to have, it is important to first look in the mirror before assigning all the blame to the players sitting around the table.

In short, did you give them a reason to believe that rolling for diplomacy or persuasion would actually work? Or has that always led to the enemy getting the first shot in, putting the party at a disadvantage for the coming combat?

Now, stick with me here, I want you to NOT roll initiative just yet...

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

If Words Don’t Work, Players Won’t Use Them

Generally speaking, players understand there are non-combat options to solve issues… but that understanding seems to only exist when their characters are in locations where combat is frowned upon. If they’re in a town, for example, they’ll try to barter for goods, sweet talk their way out of trouble, or threaten their way past a couple of street toughs… but as soon as the PCs step outside of the designated “friendly” zone, it’s like all their non-combat options get grayed out.

Your job, as the Game Master, is to show that just because the party is venturing through the depths of a forest, or they’re entering a dungeon, that doesn’t mean their social skills are no longer viable. And to do that, it pays to sprinkle in some encounters where players can see this in action.

Let's have a conversation, shall we sweet ones?

For example, say your players encounter a flitting fey creature (like one of the ones you might find in 100 Encounters in a Fey Forest, for instance) while they’re moving through the woods. They could attack it and drive it off, yes, but does doing so mean they find the forest ahead of them is now filled with traps? If they speak cordially with the creature, will it offer them guidance through the woods? Or perhaps tell them the location of a buried treasure, in exchange for a promise to take on a small task for it? If they’re merely pleasant, and offer it some of their rations, will the creature watch over them while they’re in its part of the forest, looking for some way to pay back the “gift” it was given?

Expand this idea out in other ways. Do the ogres guarding the wicked sorcerer’s fortress actually dislike the role they’ve been forced into, and they would love to see the spellcaster killed, as long as they get the gold they were promised? Do the rank-and-file members of the Mistwood Raiders think their war leader has gone too far in kidnapping people for ransom, and killing people who weren’t even resisting? If so, could they be persuaded to offer the party information, or even help, if they promise to end the bandit king who wears the bone crown taken from the forgotten tomb of the Mad King? Could they go so far as to open talks with a vampire who seems to be attacking a nearby town, or to engage with a dragon to establish an agreement between it and the terrified people who have lived in its shadow?

Parley? Well, I suppose...

Now, obviously, social skills won’t solve every situation. Clockwork automatons, mindless undead, and territorial magical beasts don’t respond to social overtures, and they will do what their programming, orders, or instincts urge them to do. There will always be antagonists whose goals are directly counter to what the PCs want, and so reaching any kind of agreement will be impossible. And there will always be enemies who think themselves too powerful to bend even an inch to the demands of others, no matter how soft the silk those demands are wrapped in. However, if you want your players to embrace a variety of tactics to solve problems, then it’s important to show them that there are reasonable creatures in the setting who will at least hear them out when they try to be diplomatic.

Lastly, it’s important to consider how this can affect the reputation of the party. If the sorcerer is known for an uncanny ability to bargain with fey creatures, does he earn the name Silvertongue among them (or Ironjaw for those who end up on the worse end of the agreements)? If the dwarven fighter sealed a pact with an orc clan, and upheld his end of that bargain, does that earn him respect among other members of that clan or nation? Perhaps opening doors that would have remained shut to him if he and his allies had merely slaughtered those who got in their way? And if the party takes prisoners, accepts surrender, and treats those who opposed them with honor, that’s something that should also be known to others after a time. On the other hand, if the party breaks promises, lies, cheats, and steals, then they’re going to find those bad decisions catching up with them, and their reputations are more of a weight around their necks than anything else.

For more on this, check out the article Character Reputation in Fantasy RPGs: The Small Legend.

And if you’re looking for more ways to incorporate social encounters into your next campaign, consider checking out some of the following supplements:

- 100 Random Encounters For On The Road Or In The Wilderness (general fantasy RPG)

- Social Encounters For Old School Revival (OSR system)

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

How To Avoid Decision Paralysis Among Your Players (The 3 Choices Method)

Generally speaking, as a Game Master, you want your players to have a good experience playing with you. And it's not really controversial to say that most players want to feel like they have input in how a game is run, and that the decisions their characters make really matter. However, it's one thing to say that you want freedom, and to do whatever you want in a game... but it's another matter entirely to actually exercise that freedom in a way that helps build a story.

And while you don't want to impose your will on the table as a Game Master, sometimes you have to facilitate swifter decision making, and you have to support your players. Which is why I'd suggest taking the following tips to heart!

All right, so, let's work on a combined vision, shall we?

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

The 3 Choices Method

Too often we end up with either a completely scripted plot that the Game Master wants the players to follow, or the Game Master spreads the world out at the players' feet and waits for them to choose the direction they want to head off in. This puts the onus entirely on the Game Master, or on the players, when the game should be a collaboration between both sides of the screen.

Which is why I recommend what I call the 3 Choices Method.

This inspiration partially came from my 3 Solutions Strategy which I recommend for the World and Chronicles of Darkness. That strategy, for those who didn't watch the video, boils down to making sure there's a Physical, Social, and Mental way to solve most situations that players are faced with. The idea is that everyone at the table should have something they can do to help advance the plot with the options in front of them.

The 3 Choices Method is meant to provide enough options that players feel like they have real choices, but to stop them from overanalyzing and second guessing themselves as they're overwhelmed by being able to choose anything.

For example, you know what game system you want to run, and the table is all in agreement. You know what world you want to run your campaign in. But where in the setting should you explore? While you could leave this decision up to the players to figure out, it's often faster to provide 3 choices for the players to pick from. Those choices should be different enough that the distinction feels meaningful, but they should all be options that you are willing to follow through with as the Game Master. The same is true when it comes to the genre of plot you offer your players (say a Dungeon Crawl, Political Intrigue, or Kingdom Building plot); they should be distinct enough to be different, but you need to be willing to follow through on whatever the table picks.

This isn't just for the foundational stages of making your new campaign, either; it can be used for major decisions throughout the game as well. For example, if there are large organizations or patrons vying for the characters' services, it's a good idea to give your players 3 viable options to choose from. This makes it feel like they have more than just a binary choice, but it stops them from being paralyzed by too many paths to pick from. If they finish one arc of a campaign, and they're deciding where to go next, providing 3 choices can cut down on deliberation so that decisions can be made relatively quickly. Even if you're snatching rumors and plot hooks out of a supplement like 100 Ads and Announcements To Find on a Village Noticeboard, giving 3 to follow up on gives your players choices, without giving them room to spiral.

Now, the key here is to think of this method in terms of a road trip. There are several different routes that will get your party to their destination... but you're letting them choose the forks in the road. They choose where they're going, who's going to sit where, and who's going to be in charge of what responsibilities, but after that they can only exercise their choices when there's a turn to be made. If you got on the freeway, you need to see that choice through until to find a turnoff to a different path if you want to change. If you opted for the back roads, you've got to keep following them until you intersect with a highway, and you can make a choice to take an alternate route. And so on, and so forth.

There are many roads in your campaign, and your players should have a lot of say in which route they take to get where they're going, and how they deal with the hazards or threats in their way. This takes a little more prep on your part as a Storyteller, but it can be really worth it in the end!

Lastly, don't forget to check out some of my other advice in my Electrum bestseller 100 Tips And Tricks For Being a Better Game Master, as well as the Silver-selling sequel 100 Tips And Tricks For Being a Better RPG Player... both of them are jammed full of all kinds of things that will make your games go more smoothly from both ends of the screen!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Resource Management and Tracking (Additional Challenge or Needless Frustration?)

There are a lot of contentious discussions when it comes to roleplaying games. Everything from the age-old debate of casters versus martials, to whether alignment implies a game setting is deterministic in its morality, to whether clerics and paladins require divine patrons to empower them, it seems these topics crop up again every handful of years, and a whole new generation of players and Game Masters grapple with these issues.

One topic that is often overlooked, though, is the proper place of resource management as it applies to your game's challenge. Because while all games have this aspect to some degree, the question is how in-depth do you want to go with it in your campaign, and at what point does it become more of a frustration than a way to add challenge to your game?

Wait... how many rounds have you fired?

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

Tools and Limitations

When we strip back all the upper layers and look at the mechanics of how RPGs work, resource management is one of the most basic concepts that goes into creating a game's challenge. How many spells a character can cast before they need to rest, how many hit points they have before they die, how many times they can use certain class features before they need to be refreshed, all of these things fall into the "resource management" category. And, generally speaking, the broad categories I just mentioned are things that we accept as necessary as both players and Game Masters.

However, like a lot of mechanical aspects of a game, resource management can very quickly become micro-management if one isn't careful.

Okay, so, exactly HOW are you carrying all of that?

For example, a system to make the use of magic finite is generally thought of as a good use of a resource management mechanic. Whether it's a pool of spell points that the character uses to fuel their powers (each use of which costs a certain number of points), or a Vancian magic system where they can cast a certain number of specific spells per day, the idea is that they have to figure out when a situation is serious enough for them to dip into their magic since they only have so much gas in the tank before they're going to be tapped out. There are other situations, though, where managing particular resources is seen as more of a pain in the ass than it's really worth. Whether it's keeping track of a character's carrying capacity (including the weight of their clothes and their armor), tracking how many arrows or crossbow bolts they're carrying, or asking how much food they have in their packs for their journeys, a lot of Game Masters and players just don't want to deal with these things.

And, to be clear, that's fine if you don't want to deal with those aspects at your table. However, too often we just toss tools aside without really examining them... which is why this week I'd like to propose something I don't see show up very often in this conversation.

Instead of just universally writing off a resource management mechanic because you don't care for it, or don't want to use it, take a moment to really look at it. And while you're examining it, ask what kind of game it would be good for, and how it could act to create serious challenge in that game.

Using The Right Tool For The Right Job

Resource management is deeply tied in to the challenge of a game, and often the players' access to resources is what shapes their strategy and their decisions. For example, if your party of adventurers heads out into the forests for weeks on-end, but your ranger only brought a dozen arrows for their longbow, what is going to happen when they've fired every shaft? Will they attempt to recover the spent ammunition from the undergrowth? Will they pull their arrows out of the corpses of the creatures they shot in order to reuse them? Will they craft fresh arrows around the fireside, or while they're sitting on watch, to be sure they have enough ammunition to see them through to their destination?

For the purposes of an example, you can swap out any other item. What if the wizard runs out of material components for their spells? What if the fighter's sword breaks, and they need a backup weapon? What if your party has a two week trek through the forest, but they only brought enough food for 4 days? Or, and this is the big one, what if they only have enough silver to buy a certain number of items, but not everything they feel they're going to need?

Now, if you're a Game Master who prefers to travel by map in between towns, cities, and dungeons, then none of that is likely going to make a difference in your game. Because if surviving out in the wilderness and having to deal with random encounters (or even planned encounters) isn't something you're going to worry about, then none of the things mentioned above are going to be a big deal.

But if that's the case, these tools aren't made for the game you're running.

On the other hand, games that do focus on scarcity of resources, on environmental dangers, or just on survival often do lean heavily on these exact mechanics. Whether your party is lost in deep caverns of the World Beneath, whether you're all escaping from slavery and have to use whatever you can get your hands on to survive in the wilds away from civilization, or whether you're on an expedition to lost ruins to see what lies deep within, part of the inherent challenges of these scenarios is that you don't have endless resources... whether those resources happen to be ammunition, spells, healing, food, or even the amount of time it takes to complete your mission.

Now, pointing out that some players legitimately enjoy games that utilize these tools doesn't mean you have to play games centered around resource management. It doesn't mean you need to incorporate them into your game, and subject your players to these things if they aren't really interested in these mechanics. However, if you're one of the folks out there who have been wondering why these "relics of an older gaming age" as they're so often thought of still exist... well, I just wanted to provide some food for thought on the matter.

Lastly, if this is a topic you're interested in that you want to include more of in your games, might I recommend checking out some of the following:

- How Does Your Character Stay Fed? What Does It Take?: A recent post talking about food and eating while characters are out on the campaign trail.

- 100 Random Encounters For On The Road Or In The Wilderness: If you want to throw some unexpected surprises into your party's travel time... for good or ill!

- 100 NPCs To Meet On The Road Or In The Wilderness: A companion supplement to the above piece, just because the road is long or the wildlands dense, that doesn't mean there aren't people to meet.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Dungeon Design Tips: Ticking Time Clocks, And Wizard Bullets

There is a common complaint among many Game Masters that players ride roughshod over their dungeons and encounters without any serious challenge. Things are just too easy, and there's rarely any real risk to them. However, once Game Masters start pulling back the curtain, it becomes clear they're leaving out an important aspect of the game... namely, that sometimes things need to be done quickly.

For more installments of this series, check out:

- Consider Removing Doors From Your Dungeon

- Combine Combat With Traps

- Cover, Firing Lines, and Dynamic Arenas

- Antagonist Action Economy (Never Fight Just One BBEG)

- Pay Attention To The Environment

Seriously, it makes a difference...

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

A Timer Makes A Big Difference!

Now, before we get going on this, it's important to remember that not all events should have a ticking time clock on them. Sometimes the party should be allowed to take their time, explore, and go at their own pace. However, time should be treated as a resource in an RPG, and like any resource it should be finite. Not only that, it should be more finite in particular instances than others as a way of creating additional challenge.

For some examples, consider the following situations:

- The party must reach the heart of the Shrine of Eternal Storms... but it is only ever accessible for 3 days out of a year. If they fail in their quest, they will either need to escape and wait another year, or they will be trapped inside!

- A jailbreak is happening tonight! They need to get themselves, and a specific fellow prisoner, out... preferably before the guards realize what's happening!

- A force of the dread warlock Al-Kazir is approaching the ruins with the intent to seize the Bloodstone. They need to get it first, otherwise it will fall into his hands... then there may be no way to stop him and his legions if that happens!

While there are just a few broad strokes, you get the idea. It's not just that the party has to fight their way through a dungeon, or explore a dangerous crypt, or acquire a certain relic... it's that they don't have the luxury of time. This means that they will have to make choices based on the sand falling through the hourglass as much as anything else, and it will likely lead to some hard decisions.

We don't have time for this...

As an example, the smart thing to do in a dungeon is to carefully check every inch of the floor for traps... but if you have enemy forces closing on your position, you don't have the luxury of crawling along the floor and fiddling with every door. So now the rogue is rushing the job, or alternatives methods are used. Does the barbarian or the fighter bulldoze their way down a hallway, counting on toughness or armor to save them from the worst of the trap's damage? Or does the necromancer take one of her least-robust servants, walking the undead down the hall to trigger any tripwires or slicing blades, sacrificing the zombie in order to gain a few precious minutes of efficiency?

The same is true of combat situations in the dungeon. While a party might normally decide to clear a dungeon room by room, fighting anything that resists them, that can turn into a slog, and use a lot of resources that requires members to rest, recuperate, and replenish themselves. Alternatively, the party might like to try diplomacy and negotiation, but such tactics can be unreliable at best, and they often eat into the amount of time one has allotted. Does the press of minutes mean that the characters embrace stealth or guile instead? Perhaps attempting to sneak in without being seen, getting close to their goal and rushing out before they can get caught? Or do they attempt to blend in, don the uniforms and forms of creatures or warriors who should be present in this place, avoiding battle as much as possible in order to get what they came for and get out?

These are the kinds of pivots and changes that can be made when players don't have time to rush in, face first, sword swinging, before retreating half a dozen times to try again the next day once they've had 8 hours of rest, a Gatorade, and a chance to replenish all their spells and class features.

This is Where The Wizard Bullets Come In

Vancian magic is the dominant form of magic in Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and similar games. Characters start the day with a certain amount of spells, and even if you aren't a spellcaster per-se, you often have a class feature or power that has a pool of points or resources (a cleric's channel energy, an alchemist's bombs and extracts, a monk's ki pool, a swashbuckler's panache, and so on) that runs out as you use them. This acts kind of like the bullets in a gun, which means that spellcasters and similar characters are extremely dangerous as long as they still have ammunition, but once they run out of their resources, they have a serious problem.

The problem arises when players have no time limit on their activities, and there's no penalties for rushing in, empting their magazines (so to speak), and then retreating to rest and recharge before coming in fresh. Because the challenge of these games is set up in such a way that a party should go through between 3 and 5 encounters between when they first loaded up to fight, and when they are supposed to be drained of their abilities.

By putting a time constraint on your players, you eliminate them retreating and "reloading" after every single encounter (or only a small handful of them), thus forcing them to conserve their resources and make tougher decisions about where they're going to use their powers, and how they're going to handle things going forward.

Oh balls... Guys, I think I'm tapped out!

For example, does the sorcerer really want to cast a spell just because it's their turn? Or will they use a wand or a scroll that will still be a helpful contrinbution to the battle while keeping their own powers in reserve? Does this battle really warrant the barbarian using their Rage, or can they handle this with their raw, brute strength and clever maneuverability? Does the ranger want to use their special arrows on this fight, or should they save those for the upcoming boss fight, knowing they only have a handful of them?

Because if players know, academically, they're on a time crunch they are going to get a lot more creative with their resources. Not only that, but they're going to really ask whether it's worth pulling the trigger when they only have so many rounds in the magazine... or should they just let the fighter with the greatsword handle it, even if it means the spellcaster has to wait a round or two while the martials mop up the rest of the battle?

If your players can just go in, guns blazing with no repercussions for walking back out and taking 24 hours to rest and recuperate to get themselves fully locked and loaded before wading back in... well, that's certainly going to undermine your threat and danger. But if they know they have to do all of this in one go, and the only resources they have are the ones they bring in the door with them, that's going to be a very different (and usually much more tense) adventure.

Additional Recommended Reading

If you enjoyed this piece, then I would recommend checking out 100 Tips And Tricks For Being A Better Game Master, along with the companion piece 100 Tips For Being A Better RPG Player. Both of these supplements have been quite popular, and they collect some of the best field-tested tips that have been covered on this blog over the years!

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Dungeon Design Tips: Pay Attention To The Environment

Our adventures are supposed to take place in dangerous, terrifying places. From lost ruins, to dense forests, to haunted castles, our parties go to places where most normal people would never go. However, as Game Masters, we always seem to forget that the environment they're in isn't just limited to the box text we read at the beginning of the scene... it should show up on the mat as well!

Because environmental factors can be a huge component of any encounter.

Previous entries in this series (for those who haven't seen them) include:

- Consider Removing Doors From Your Dungeon

- Combine Combat With Traps

- Cover, Firing Lines, and Dynamic Arenas

- Antagonist Action Economy (Never Fight Just One BBEG)

Initiative? Ah hell... I can't see a damn thing!

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

It's About More Than Light And Darkness

When it comes to environmental factors, the most common aspect Game Masters remember to use is light levels. If the party is sleeping around a campfire, and they're ambushed by orcs in the dead of night, then the firelight only goes so far, and beyond that there's darkness. This situation obviously benefits creatures with darkvision (such as the attacking orcs), and penalizes those who don't have the ability to see in the dark.

And while that is an important consideration for your combats, it is far from the only environmental condition one might have to overcome.

All right... let's get this fire going.

For example, consider some of the following environmental effects your party might have to deal with, and how they could drastically tilt the challenge level of a quest, and the encounters in it.

- Temperature: If the temperature is too cold, or too hot, it can require very specific gear, spells, and potions to combat it. This can also greatly reduce viable armor choices, or favor the natural abilities of certain species over others.

- Visibility: Whether it's from mist and fog, dense trees, or even rain, visibility is a huge deal when it comes to encounters. This is particularly true when it comes to enemy movements, and the difficulty this can inflict on those who focus on ranged weapons and spells during combat.

- Wind and Storms: There are half a dozen spells for dealing with wind, and we rarely end up using any of them. Whether it's affecting those trying to track by scent, interfering with arrows and bolts, or it's significant enough that it poses a real hazard to Small-sized creatures, this doesn't factor into nearly as many campaigns as you'd think it would. And when you add in lightning strikes, deafening thunder, and other aspects, it can be a real issue to overcome!

- Miasma: Whether it's the rotting stench of a swamp, or the bad air deep in a dungeon, breathing in the wrong thing can be unpleasant at best, or dangerous at worst. Add in the fact that it can hide the stench of dangerous enemies, or render the ability to track by scent impossible, and you have a serious obstacle.

- Water: The existence of water and water hazards changes things up entirely. Whether it's ankle-deep water that hinders movement, waist-deep water that can be a serious hazard for Small-sized characters, or deeper bodies that are a risk for anyone who can't breathe under the waves, water comes in many shapes, sizes, and choices.

These are just a few of the options when it comes to the enviornment that we often overlook as a Game Master. Because as I've mentioned in previous installments of this little series, putting your party in a plain, white room or an open field with perfect lighting, clear sight lines, and no cover on concealment means that you've handed your players a straight-up fight.

Why would your monsters ever do that?

While you don't have to stack the deck against your players like a death run by Tucker's Kobolds, consider the environmental effects that should be an issue for them, and possibly for their enemies. If the dungeon is underground, or it's night time, what source of light is the party making use of? Do their enemies also need a light source, or can they see using other means? Is the air laced with spores of poisonous mold that don't bother the necromancer's undead minions, but which can be a serious problem for the party? Is the exposed side of the Dragon Mountain a place of cutting winds and potential avalanches, both of which might be used by yeti and ice dragons to wear down and kill their enemies?

So before you decide to just add more hit points to your enemies, or to slap another dozen monsters onto an encounter, ask yourself whether you've considered possible environmental effects. Because they might not be a make-or-break part of an encounter, but they can be that little extra bit of challenge that can put an edge on your game.

Lastly, if you're looking for some extra things to throw into your games regarding weather and strange conditions, consider these classic encounter lists:

- 100 Random Encounters For On The Road Or In The Wilderness

- 100 Encounters In A Fey Forest

- 100 Pieces of Floatsam and Jetsom to Find on a Beach

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Game Masters, Take Some Lessons From Video Game RPGs When It Comes To Memorable NPCs

Most of us who enjoy rolling funny-shaped dice and talking in outrageous accents have (usually) also spent at least some time playing RPGs on a console or computer over the years. And whether you prefer something that's hack-and-slash like Diablo, or you're more of an action-RPG fan who prefers some of the offerings in Bethesda's stable, these games are a great way to play when we don't have time, energy, etc. to get a crew together for an adventure around the table.

And while criticizing Game Masters (as well as players) for being too "video gamey" in their approaches is a common thing in the hobby, I feel like there is value in looking at what these games do right. And while we can argue about which games have good narrative design, and which ones give you freedom of choice, I feel there is a particular aspect a lot of GMs might overlook... namely the merging of function and form that typically happens with important NPCs.

Stay a while, and listen.

But before I get into the meat of today's post, remember, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

A Merging of Function and Form

Any time you have a recurring NPC in a video game, they tend to serve some, mechanical function in your game. It might be a character like Blacksmith Andre in Dark Souls, who repairs and upgrades your gear, or it might be someone like Wirt in Diablo who gives you rare and unusual items if you're willing to gamble on them, but the idea was that if you were going to have an NPC who got animations, art, and voice lines, then they needed to be a functional part of the game as well as a part of the story in order to justify the time, work, and expense of rendering and including them.

Now, as a Game Master, you can spin up NPCs from out of thin air, and use them to plug in whatever need you have... however, doing that can eat up a lot of time, energy, and effort, and it can leave you with an ever-growing roster of characters you have to keep track of that can make your story feel a bit bloated as you try to keep track of who is who, while not losing your grip on the story you're telling. So, to keep your list somewhat streamlined, it's a good idea to make sure that particular NPCs you want to keep around serve a specific role in the game, as well as occupying a particular place in the story you're telling.

Hello there! How can I be of service today?

There is, however, an additional factor you need to balance, here. Because regular, recurring NPCs should serve some mechanical purpose, but at the same time you don't want them to be more powerful than your player characters. You can end up walking a very fine line when it comes to what an NPC can do... but sometimes that can be a fulfilling part of the challenge that can also add to the flavor and lore of the character in question!

For example, let's say you have a shady NPC who hangs out on the rough side of town. Maybe his original purpose was to get rumors to the party, and to act as a way for them to gain access to black market goods like poison if they stay on his good side. That function doesn't require him to be a powerful character in his own right; he could be a level 1 thug who just happens to have a network of contacts that lets him act as a dispensary for the party. But what if you wanted a character to act as a source of lore, or to help identify magical items, spells, etc. that the party can't figure out for themselves?

This is where that creativity comes in.

For example, does your party form a relationship with an acolyte who lives in the large, arcane college's library who does all the research, devoting their time and energy to giving the PCs answers because they know how to comb through the collected knowledge of the institution rather than because they themselves are a master of the magic arts? Do they instead talk to a local hermit who was once a cleric, but who has since turned his back on his faith, meaning that he still has all his knowledge (and maybe a few spells kept in reserve), but he is only a shadow of his former self? Or is there an eccentric noblewoman who has devoted her life to the study of magic, fascinated by everything it offers even if she has no skill beyond theory and history?

The key here is to walk that fine line. Because if the PCs interact with a particular NPC for long enough, then they will often end up becoming their go-to ally or source. This will help you keep interactions going, deepen relationships with these characters (hopefully), and allow you to toss out some pieces of their lore as time goes on.

It can also be a particularly good method for making sure that you don't have to make up a new roster of NPCs every time your players want to go shopping for new gear, replenish their spell components, or commission a new weapon or armor set. Which will save you a lot of time and energy by the end of your campaign... even if you just establish a fresh set of useful NPCs in every new location when you get to a fresh arc of your story.

Looking For Some NPCs To Fill In Your Gaps?

You should definitely check these out if you haven't yet!

If you're a Game Master who wants a little help with the heavy lifting of NPC creation, I've been putting together a lot of supplements on this subject. And while a lot of these NPCs are just scene fillers like the drinkers at the end of the bar, or the merchant dealing in leathers, all of these supplements are interspersed with NPCs who have the kind of mechanical roles I've mentioned above. So whether you're looking for curators of alchemical goods, underworld figures who know how to get you illegal goods, weapon smiths of extraordinary skill, or curious scholars who can find the lore your characters need to advance the plot, consider picking up some of the following supplements:

- 100 NPCs You Might Meet At The Tavern: The flagship product of my blue-book covers, this one is a bestseller for a reason, in my opinion, and it has a little bit of everything in it.

- 100 Helpful Hirelings: A collection of folks who are more than happy to help out the party, this collection has everything from laborers and squires, to locksmiths, arcane scholars, and more!

- 100 Merchants To Encounter: From traveling magic item dealers and fey marketeers, to ironmongers, tanners, and booksellers, this collection has a long list of folks who can be ideal for getting the right items into the party's hands... and many of them also provide secondary services that can be quite useful!

- 100 Nobles To Encounter: Whether they're meant to act as paymasters, as someone who can open doors for the party, or just someone who is willing to help whenever possible, it's a good idea to know what nobles one can find in the area.

- 100 Town Guards: A collection of the town's investigators and enforcers, these NPCs are often good for getting information into your party's hands, for giving them some leeway with their methods, or even providing them with some unusual tools, if they play their cards (dice?) right.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Blue Sky, Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!

Consider Removing Doors From Your Dungeons (Dungeon Design Tips)

We've all had that moment in a dungeon crawl where we find ourselves at a door, asking whether or not to open it. After all, doors represent the possibility of risk. It might be trapped. There might be an ambush on the other side of it. There might be a hoard of treasure. Or it might just be an empty bunkhouse, a derelict kitchen, or a broom closet.

However, doors also serve another purpose we don't often think about as Game Masters... they segregate the arenas where things take place. After all, ask yourself when was the last time a monster opened the door instead of the player characters? When was the last time something occurred  that drew enemies, curses, or even allies from beyond this current room/location when there were doors present?

While doors have their uses, this week I want us all to consider what might happen if we take a few of them off their hinges, and ask how that would change things in the games we run.

This entry was inspired by the post Doors Are Terrible by Manowaffle.

Consider, for example, the archway and its implications.

As always, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron! Also, be sure you're following all of my followables, check out my LinkTree.

Lastly, for hundreds of extra articles on gaming, weird history, and for more free fiction, check out my Vocal archive, too!

What Happens If You Remove The Doors?

Consider, for a moment, the humble door. At its most basic, this door represents an action sink; it typically takes some kind of resource for someone to open the door, leaving them unable to use more of their turn (especially if an ambush occurs or a trap goes off once the door is open). It also, as has been mentioned, functions as a kind of boundary (in our minds, if not on the board). Because yes, we might be academically aware that the thin, wooden door isn't going to stifle the sound of a barbarian's roar of bloodlust, or the blast of the gunslinger's weapon, but nine times out of ten it doesn't matter how raucous the combat is. As long as no one opens the next door, nothing is going to come to where the party is because it's out-of-bounds in our minds. Sure, monsters might hear a commotion, but they'll just set up an ambush behind the door, and wait for the party to come to them.

Who knows what the hell is behind these doors?

Now take a moment, and ask yourself what would happen if you put your players in a dungeon that didn't have doors in it... or at least had significantly fewer doors. Perhaps there were once doors, and they've rotted out in the dank. Maybe the doors were smashed out during a previous siege, or maybe the location merely has grand archways that never had doors in them at all. You might have hanging curtains for privacy, or even chains and beads, but nothing really separating one room from another.

Do you have that image clearly in your head? Good. Now ask yourself what kind of dynamic movements this lack of doors offers for your game.

Take your traditional setup for a dungeon, where the party comes in from the south to a big, square room that has additional doors to the north, west, and east. Think of it almost like entering a dungeon in Legend of Zelda. Instead of just dealing with whatever the threat in this main chamber is, unconnected from anything else, your party is now acting in an organic environment. Can they sneak past the goblin guards in the main room, angling themselves into the side chamber? If they begin combat, what will it take to draw the interest of any other forces in the complex? What kind of patrols of monsters exist that they have to be concerned with?

And, most importantly, how will the party (or their enemies) use these open doors to their strategic advantage?

Does the paladin stand in the doorway behind his tower shield, protecting the ranger while they ply their bow? Does the rogue duck into the shadows, sneaking from one archway to another to stab unsuspecting foes in the back, or to fire their crossbow unseen? Does the dynamic space make the ability to shape the battlefield with illusions, smoke bombs, or other forms of concealment more powerful? Does the party genuinely have to contend with size restrictions, using narrow spaces to thwart larger foes, or grappling with smaller enemies who retreat into crawlspaces that leave bigger characters easy prey?

These are all questions we don't really think about when we're sectioning off the parts of a dungeon in our minds, and constructing specific arenas that have specific, laid-out challenges for our players to deal with. But when we open up the entire dungeon, and treat the whole thing as one, connected, Rube Goldberg device that's ready to go off with movements the party can only partially stop, it can become a much greater challenge.

So Where Should There Be A Door?

Now, it's perfectly possible to build an entire dungeon without a single door in it. After all, hallways, thresholds, stairs, and other locations are still perfectly viable locations for traps, ambushes, and so on. However, doors do still serve a valuable purpose, and there are several places they should be. But their presence should feel organic, rather than taken for granted. For example:

- Exterior Doors: These doors keep out invaders as well as the weather. Whether the doors are huge, like castle gates, or relatively small like postern doors, these are meant to be serious barriers that are not overcome lightly.

- Security Doors: Typically found at a choke point, think of the sort of doors you'd find at the entrace to a cell block in a prison, or for gaining access to a deeper part of a castle or fortress. These doors are meant to be defensible, and difficult to pass through without a key, the proper tools, a spell, or some combination thereof.

- Vault Doors: The ultimate door, a vault is the highest possible security. Whether it's defending some great treasures, or it's keeping unfathomably dangerous beings locked away, these doors are typically strong enough that you can't just smash through them with brute force even if you have time to try. They require a combination, answers to a riddle, or even proper spells to open.

Now, other than these big three categories, ask yourself why interior doors are necessary in a given location. Because if access is meant to be free and easy (such as between the back and front of a shop or a tavern), then chances are good there will just be a curtain, or at most a swinging, batwing-style door. The doors of an inn are likely to be closed off to give guests privacy, and the doors of a prison are locked and barred to prevent escape. But will the huts and cottages in a village even have interior doors? Or exterior doors, for that matter? Would an aging castle exposed to the elements for centuries still have doors now, even if it once did? What need for privacy would a crypt have, especially if there was nothing valuable buried inside the vaults? Would a place meant to be open to the public, like a church, have more than a handful of doors to ensure only specific people could easily access specific locations?

Again, whether a door does or doesn't belong on the map is a choice that's ultimately up to you. However, it is worth stopping to ask how we let the presence of doors funnel us into one-challenge, one-arena thinking, which can make an RPG feel far more like a game, and far less like an unfolding experience for your players... good or bad.

However, if you do want to have doors in your dungeons, consider using some of the following resources:

- 100 Doors To Find In A Dungeon (as well as a Pathfinder version)

- 100 Secret Doors To Find In A Dungeon (which also comes with a Pathfinder version)

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Crunch post! To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the Azukail Games YouTube channel, or my Rumble channel The Literary Mercenary! Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my dystopian sci-fi thriller Old Soldiers, my hardboiled gangland noir series starring a bruiser of a Maine Coon with Marked Territory and Painted Cats, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!