Gene asks – I’m running a fifth edition D&D campaign that’s been going on for about two and a half years. We have five players but average three or four per session. One player, who I’ll call Jess, has hardly ever missed a session and so has more experience (and is two levels higher) than …
Larry asks – I’m pretty familiar with D&D via the computer golden age of Black Isle Studios, but just recently started playing PnP this year. So far I’ve been having a blast and I’m going to be DMing in the next few weeks for the first time as well! It’s a pretty varied group that …
Greg asks – The game I’m running has gone off the rails. Two of my players are certain that an NPC that they are supposed to like and trust are going to betray them. They think they’re outsmarting me by refusing to go along with his plans. This NPC (a nobleman that wants to raise …
Katherine asks – So when I plan for a campaign I have an overall end goal for the party (that sometimes changes depending on the circumstances), but I tend to only plan in small increments because my party tends to be spontaneous. Do you have any tips for staying organized? I have so many things …
Joe L asks – I’ve been running games for a while and was thinking that I could probably charge people to run a campaign for them. How do you think running a paid campaign would differ and what do you think I should charge? How many other people out there do this? Joe, there are …
Dylan asks – I sometimes feel like I’m losing the players’ concentration. What can I do to make sure players stay interested in the game even when they’re not the center of attention? Dylan, keeping the interest of your players is crucially important for a GM. And while you’re not a babysitter, you are a …
Mike C. asks – How tough would it be to run a campaign (or even just a session) with no notes at all? Mike, I love this question because it comes from a place of absolute fearlessness. GMs spend a lot of time locked in a personal battle over how much to plan versus how …
David asks – I’ve been running a campaign with a group for a little over a year. For the majority of them this has been their first exposure to pen-and-paper games, so I have spent a lot of time teaching and reteaching terminology and mechanics in our sessions. This has slowed the pace of the …
Von asks – How can I break up with my DM? I’m about 18 months into a weekly campaign and my life is just getting too busy. I still have time to play but it is starting to feel like more of an appointment than a hobby. Von, regardless of how you extricate yourself from …
Mike J. asks – I’m running a Traveller campaign, and the party is the crew of a spaceship. I had planned to have them get involved in a big interplanetary war and eventually come face to face with the big bad of the campaign. Unfortunately, the party has no interest in joining this war or …