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 Player Tip: At some point, you’ll get really fast at calculating the outcome of dice rolls for combat or skill-based interactions. When you start out, you’ll be really slow at that — just like all the more-experienced players in your group once were. Don’t let worrying about it get in your way.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: If a saving throw is close to the target number but partial success isn’t part of your game’s rules, make it so. A character or foe misses a save against being stunned by 1 or 2? Maybe they’re dazed or slowed instead. Bending mechanics to serve the story is never a bad thing.
FRPG GM Tip: One of the easiest ways to help yourself keep your in-game description brief is to focus first on the most unusual, fantastic, or apparently threatening features in a scene. Then let the players’ “WTF is that?!” questions inspire which specific details you follow up on.
FRPG Player Tip: When showing respect for the other players by avoiding scenarios or themes they’ve asked to steer clear of, don’t forget the GM is a player too. If something at the table feels like it’s making the GM uncomfortable, take a break to talk about it and change direction if necessary.
FRPG GM Tip: Playing out scenarios where the characters are victimized by NPCs can be made easier with a comedic touch. Discovering that a con artist has run a successful scam on the party can easily get under the players’ collective skin, but making that NPC a bumbling joke will lighten the tone.
FRPG Player Tip: Sometimes being evil is a villain’s only goal. But if the GM is dropping hints that there’s more going on with the villain’s plots and plans, pay attention. Digging into those clues almost inevitably reveals the best ways by which you can thwart those plans.
FRPG GM Tip: When you have a monster whose feel and theme you love, pull elements of that monster and add them to other stat blocks to create unique themed creatures. Use undead traits to create necromantic variations, elemental traits to create evoker threats, and on and on.
FRPG Player Tip: If you ever find yourself wanting to make a skill check first, then decide why you’re making the check afterward, stop and recalibrate. The game is about setting the scene and your character’s place in it. Rolling dice puts a certain spin on that process, but should never define it.
FRPG GM Tip: One of the easiest ways to keep things moving in a game with fixed initiative is to call out who’s acting next each time you call out who’s acting now. Reminding players that their turn is coming up puts them on a useful countdown for preparing what they’re going to do.
FRPG Player Tip: Elaborate backstory often gets a bad rap, and there’s nothing wrong with a “blank slate” character you can just start playing. But thinking about where your character comes from can provide a strong foundation for roleplaying — as well as story hooks the GM can use to engage you.
FRPG GM Tip: Environmental effects are great for making combat encounters feel unique. But especially for a large party, effects that require dice rolls can slow things down. Focus instead on effects that deal low flat damage or impose minor conditions automatically to help keep things moving.
FRPG Player Tip: Asking questions is best way to engage with a scene. But if you find yourself asking questions that have already been asked and answered by someone else, make note of that. Active listening — not just to the GM but to the other players as well — is the heart and soul of the game.
FRPG GM Tip: Especially if you’re running combat on a tactical map, short-range teleportation is one of the coolest things you can add to an encounter. Let the characters and their enemies tap into unstable magic in an ancient ruin and fling themselves all over the battlefield.
FRPG Player Tip: If a trusted NPC betraying the party is going to ruin your fun, talk about that in session 0 or during a break in play. Establishing boundaries isn’t only about “mature” or potentially traumatic content. Narrative tropes that derail enjoyment are all potential topics for discussion.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Long-arc adventures have become the norm for published campaigns. But fantasy gaming’s origins are rooted in short standalone adventures that can be linked to create a narrative unique to your group, so if you’re not familiar with that mode of play and design, it’s worth checking out.
FRPG GM Tip: Avoid having an NPC offer up important lore or hooks that turn out to be lies, unless the players have a clear chance to figure that out. A deceitful NPC can sometimes make for great story, but you run the risk of having the players doubt every honest NPC you throw at them thereafter.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Playing in different games can show you a different side of your own approach to play. If you’ve never gotten into tactical combat, or in-character roleplay, or specific character types, seeing those things done by players who truly love them might give you a new perspective.
FRPG GM Tip: Contrivance and convenience bother us when they happen to other people. When they happen to us, we’re usually fine with that. So don’t forget that the characters are “us” when needing to feed them a convenient plot point, create tenuous connections to NPCs, and so forth.
FRPG Player Tip: In your first games, you’ll have an unrealistic expectation of how fast you need to think and react to what’s happening. Take note of when more experienced players need a moment to focus or have to backpedal from an initial decision, and remind yourself that you’re doing just fine.
FRPG GM Tip: If you play online using a virtual tabletop, don’t focus just on maps as the liminal space between your side of the game and the players’ side. Use your VTT to post notes, track party wealth, reveal images, or share anything else you’d share on the physical table for an in-person game.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: One of the best tips for speeding things up during combat play is rolling dice together. Roll your damage when you roll your attack so you’re ready if you hit. If you make multiple attacks, color-code your dice and roll all attacks and damage at once.
FRPG GM Tip: The more transhuman you make your ancient wyrm, inscrutable lich, or alien brain boss villains, the more you want to give them a key mortal trait they’ve picked up by accident or have never been able to shake off. Then give the players a chance to turn that trait into a means of defeat.
FRPG Player Tip: One of the best gifts you can give a GM is letting them know what you enjoyed about the previous session. It’s not just about saying thanks for the work that goes into running a game — it’s about providing direction for future sessions you’ll enjoy just as much.
FRPG GM Tip: Even if it means running a bit short or long, trying to end each session on a clear break point or opportunity to rest can help you deal more effectively with a player who can’t make the next game session at the last minute.
FRPG Player Tip: When playing a spellcaster or other resource-focused character, it’s equally cool to dole out those resources slowly as it is to blow them all at the first opportunity. Just let the other players know your preferred play style so they can work with it, not be surprised by it.
FRPG GM Tip: Monster health expressed as an average means that some monsters must have more health than that. If you’re running an encounter in which the characters initially take down more foes than you expected, all the foes remaining should be immediately upgraded into that above-average group.
FRPG Player Tip: Especially if it takes you a bit of time to calculate the modifier for a check or attack because of situational bonuses, just roll the die first. If the number rolled is high enough to succeed without your modifiers, you’ve just helped speed the game up a bit.
FRPG GM Tip: An annoying NPC should get on the characters’ nerves, but shouldn’t ever irritate the players. If you feel an NPC crossing that line, look for opportunities to highlight something funny or ingratiating about them to lighten the tone.
FRPG Player Tip: If you find yourself feeling meh about new options for your character as the campaign goes on, talk to the GM about customizing those options to be a better fit. Tweaking a subclass, trait, or feat to match your character’s story is one of the easiest bits of homebrew.
Art by Dean Spencer