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: Whenever you find yourself writing high-level, world-encompassing lore (or reading it in a published adventure), always ask yourself, “How can this apply to where the heroes are and what they’re doing right now?” Then write up that lower-level lore as a core part of your campaign prep.
FRPG Player Tip: The best gift you can give a GM is to say, “I really loved it when we did [X] last week.” Sometimes it’s obvious when players are enjoying themselves, but the amount of information a GM juggles makes it really easy to miss those cues and end up feeling like a session didn’t work.
FRPG GM Tip: A fight against lots of low-powered foes is fun for the players, but can be a drag for you when you’re rolling a ton of attacks that mostly miss. So let enemies fight together, granting advantage or adding a nice bonus for assistance to roll fewer attacks with a greater chance to hit.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: As the campaign comes to an end, everyone should feel free to talk about what’s coming. GMs — foreshadow climactic events so the players are ready for them. Players — tell the GM if there are narrative loose ends you want your character to tie up before time runs out.
FRPG GM Tip: If there’s a particular spell or magical effect that you find hard to run for enemies during combat, it’s totally cool to just ignore it. But intentionally making use of the problematic effect in an easy encounter can be a great way to figure out how to handle it better.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: If one player who loves making notes wants to volunteer to recap the previous session each time you play, that’s great. But if your group doesn’t have such a player, everyone recapping together is a great way to warm up your collaborative creativity.
FRPG GM Tip: In addition to monster mechanics, think about the setup and circumstances of a combat encounter. Whatever their stat blocks, bored guards might be too flustered to flank or make multiple attacks. But the same stat blocks used as the boss’s personal guards can be fully optimized.
FRPG Player Tip: The GM frames the campaign story, but you and the other players have just as much input into where that story goes. A wild insight into the villain’s plans that you come up with off the top of your head might feel so cool that the GM swaps it for what they were planning originally.
FRPG GM Tip: Backstory isn’t just for player characters and NPCs. Every ruin comes with a story of what it was before. Every trap features a story of why it was created and how well it’s worked over the years. At every level, keep the connections between the present and the past in mind during play.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Maintaining fictional immersion doesn’t mean you need to add dense flavor to every single die roll you make. Simply focusing on adding a bit of detail to important moments of success or failure is all it takes to keep the world of the game fresh in everyone’s mind.
FRPG GM Tip: Outside of a boss battle, don’t worry if a combat encounter turns unexpectedly easy. Surprise wins over tough foes can boost the characters’ and players’ morale better than anything, and you can work the knowledge of what made the fight go soft into your next combat encounter.
FRPG Player Tip: Sometimes your character is the main character, driving the story on. Sometimes your character is there to support the other characters as they become the focus. Here’s a secret, though. Being the support while someone else shines is just as much fun as taking the lead yourself.
FRPG GM Tip: Adding foes is the easiest way to boost the threat of a combat encounter, but be careful that doing so doesn’t extend the encounter to become a slog. Focus on additional minions or low-health enemies, and on creating clear area-effect options for dealing with those enemies en masse.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: The improvisation at the heart of all RPGs can often feel more like improvising music than improvising story. And as with music, listening to everyone else puts you in the best position to follow as each player takes lead for a bit, and lets everyone stay in key.
FRPG GM Tip: Supporting the players is a baseline of being a good GM, and you should always look to reinforce that during downbeats in the campaign. Whenever things get dire for the characters, ask yourself what benefits you can work into the narrative to remind the players you’re on their side.
FRPG Player Tip: In a game where dice rolls get swingy, don’t be afraid to work outside your character’s comfort zone. The things you’re good at will always be your main focus, but trying something you’re terrible at and turning an amazing die roll into a clutch success is a great feeling.
FRPG GM Tip: Making bad decisions can be fun, so if the players are heading that way, don’t interrupt the discussion that might get them there. But make sure to weigh in with any information the players or characters might have overlooked or forgotten if that might lead to a better decision.
FRPG GM and Player Tip: Of all the skills and insights you’ll master for every RPG you play, learning to ignore your mistakes might be the most important. If you mess up, laugh and move on. The game is about the next cool thing you do, not the last thing that didn’t work out.
FRPG GM Tip: The goal breakdown that helps shape fictional characters and player characters alike is equally important for the villains in your game. What do they want? What do they need? What keeps them from getting those things? Track the answers for all your antagonists as the campaign unfolds.
FRPG Player Tip: Playing imperfect characters of a less-than-optimal power level can be great fun — but make sure the GM knows you’re doing that. Especially for new GMs running published adventures, it takes practice to adjust combat encounters so that unoptimized characters don’t end up in trouble.
FRPG GM Tip: Even in combat, roleplaying games are about story. When thinking about a fight scene, think in story terms when deciding how foes and environmental effects enter and play out during the fight. What’s your act 1 setup? What’s the act 2 complication? How does the last act resolve?
Art by Dean Spencer