Over on Bluesky and Mastodon Dice Camp, I post daily fantasy roleplaying game tips for GMs and players. At the end of each month, you get the full collection of that month’s tips right here for your reading pleasure. And please feel free to follow me at either of the above locations to get new tips every day, fresh out of the idea forge.
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FRPG GM Tip: If you and your players enjoy minis combat, you don’t need printed maps or 3D terrain to bring a battle to life. Do sketches on paper or an erasable map, use any old objects to mark barriers, pillars, pools, and the like, and trust the players’ imaginations to bring it all to life.
FRPG Player Tip: The spells you choose as the player of a caster should be about your character’s spellcasting style, not just about optimizing damage and effects. If you want to burn things down as an evoker, go for it! But single-target effects and illusions can help you shape a cooler story.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Never underestimate the value and power of playing a game that simulates a world in which you can fight evil and make a stand for what’s right — especially while living in a world in which accomplishing those things sometimes feels impossible.
FRPG GM Tip: If you’re running a split-party combat in multiple areas, don’t let one side of the fight dominate. Talk to the players about adjusting initiative so the action switches between locations often, rather than letting each fight run long and risk players on the other side getting bored.
FRPG Player Tip: As a new player, the best way to figure out what you can do is to ask the other players, “How can I do this thing?” You don’t need to know all the rules up front. But as you learn how to do things, make note of the rules so that you’re not asking the same questions over and over.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Arguments between characters can be a fun part of roleplaying. Arguments between players can ruin a game in short order. If an in-character discussion starts to feel heated, stepping back from the game and talking together as players can help lower the tension.
FRPG Player Tip: Playing a straightforward hero is a good idea when you’re new to a game. But even complicated characters like spellcasters can be simplified. Focus on one or two things you want to do with the character, even if that means ignoring other options while you get to know those options.
FRPG GM Tip: When it comes to worldbuilding and adventure backstory, think “menu,” not “meal.” Players don't need a whole history prepped, cooked, and served up. They need you to give them a sense of what tastes the setup has to offer, then to let them order the specific entree they want to sample.
FRPG Player Tip: It’s never “going meta” to talk to the GM about things you’d like to see in the game. Ask for more magic, or less magic, or more-lethal combat, or more roleplaying, or more foes that let you show off your signature moves, or anything else that would make the game better for you.
FRPG GM Tip: Whenever narrating a scene is necessary, work in break points where you connect what’s being described to things the characters already know, or where you invite the players to ask questions. Keeping exposition interactive helps keep necessary narration from feeling like a GM monologue.
FRPG Player Tip: Playing a support character can be a lot of fun as you aid other characters in combat, buff them with magic, or stand by ready to heal. But if you want to play focused support, let the GM know that, so they’re not creating encounters expecting that you’ll be front-line every round.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Four to five characters in an adventuring party remains the standard after decades of play. Whatever the number, though, talk about what everyone needs to do to make the party size work, from taking on side roles in a small party, to keeping things moving with a large party.
FRPG Player Tip: Most GMs would love to help you create or fine-tune your character — but well ahead of time, not during the game. Talk to your GM about what you need and arrange a time that’s convenient for them when you can meet up, or do your character building through email or text.
FRPG GM Tip: The best villains are smart enough to know that fighting heroes is a bad idea. Identifying and locating the boss makes a great ongoing quest, culminating in a showdown against their chosen lieutenants — or an awesome social encounter where those lieutenants agree to turn the boss over.
FRPG Player Tip: Always feel free to ask whether some element of an encounter can be used to your benefit — high ground, potential allies, whatever. Sometimes a GM plans such benefits and waits for players to uncover them. Sometimes they don’t plan them and are happy for you to discover them anyway.
FRPG GM Tip: Never waste time and energy worrying over a thing you overlooked or forgot to use in your last game session. Instead, plan to put that thing into a subsequent game session and focus on making it work even better the next time.
FRPG Player Tip: Sometimes you create a character who doesn’t play as well as you’d hoped, or who feels like the wrong fit for an evolving story. When that happens, there are any number of ways you can refocus a character to fix what ails them, so talk to the GM about what approach might work best.
FRPG GM Tip: Setting the players the challenge of figuring out the tactical setup of a battle map during a fight can be fun. But it can be even more fun to give the characters the map first, let them assess the lay of the land, then let the players meticulously plan their assault.
FRPG Player Tip: When bad things happen to your character or the party because you forgot a campaign detail that your character would have absolutely remembered, ask the GM to remind you of such things going forward. A GM who flat-out refuses to do so is probably someone you don’t want to game with.
FRPG GM Tip: Just as you might keep a list of potential upcoming adventure ideas the heroes can undertake as the campaign progresses, keep a list of potential nefarious plots and deeds the villains might get up to. Choosing from options rather than a fixed slate keeps things feeling unpredictable.
FRPG Player Tip: If you’re ready to try your hand as a GM, offer to run a one-shot for a group — then ask exactly what kind of adventure they’d like to play. Making sure the players have fun is a GM’s greatest challenge, and knowing they’re invested in the adventure ahead of time makes that easier.
FRPG GM Tip: Some players find it hard to come up with shared-story campaign ideas on the fly, but most can easily tell you what their character got up to during the last downtime. Asking players to detail downtime narrative is a great way to work toward even greater levels of shared storytelling.
FRPG Player Tip: If you’re new to the game, ask an experienced player what character options are the easiest to work with. The fewer complex mechanics you need to worry about for your first character, the more you can focus on having fun doing what your character is best at.
FRPG GM Tip: Warn the players when their characters are about to do something foolish by accident. Don’t worry about breaking the fourth wall, or verisimilitude, or letting the dice fall where they may. You’ll always have more than enough characters doing foolish things on purpose to keep you busy.
FRPG Player Tip: The goal of just about any roleplaying game is for your character to increase their knowledge, their power, and their place in the world as a result of the challenges they face. Don’t focus too much on making your starting character as potent as you can. Give them room to grow.
FRPG GM Tip: Just as you might make notes for a dozen locations or adventure seeds, then end up using only a few of them, make way more notes for your villains’ plots, pursuits, and sanctums than you’ll ever use. Then choose whichever elements feel best based on how the campaign is progressing.
FRPG Player Tip: Sometimes you really know your character — their goals, personality, eccentricities, and more — right from the start. Sometimes you need to get to know your character as a result of playing them over time. Sometimes you think you know your character, only to have them surprise you.
FRPG GM Tip: Keep notes at hand detailing the characters’ known family members, close NPC friends, important contacts, animal companions or familiars, affiliated factions or guilds, and other things important to them. You being able to talk about those things helps solidify the world of the story.
FRPG Player Tip: Basing a character on a favorite fictional hero is a tradition as old as RPGs. But you’ll find that the most interesting aspect of a character isn’t the look, personality, or theme you borrowed for them, but the ways in which you tweak those borrowed elements to make them your own.
FRPG GM Tip: Having the party pick up NPCs in dangerous circumstances can raise the stakes nicely, but make sure you have a built-in safe exit for them. A few combat veterans among a group of bystanders who can lead the others to safety without player-character intervention often does the trick.
FRPG Player Tip: When making choices for a character, asking “What would I do?” is a good starting point — but don’t stop there. RPGs are about possibility. About being our best selves. So instead, ask: “What would I do if I could truly make a difference? What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?”
Art by Dean Spencer