Posterous theme by Cory Watilo

Filed under: Gaming

How to fix a stalled game

As a gamer, I am always looking for interesting game aids—stuff I can use in my game to make it more interesting or fun for other players. This generally means nice maps, fake skulls, "bone" dice, interesting playing cards, good artwork, the right background music, etc.... But what's more rare than a good game prop is a way to make fresh ideas from scratch for new game sessions. A GM can only come up with so many ideas before he needs inspiration.

Enter The Storymatic.

it's a way to get the creative juices flowing again. Not sure what happens next? Pull a card.

Revenge!

Aw snap! Revenge it is. But who is seeking revenge? And why? I dunno, but Storymatic can help here too.

Farmer and Prisoner of War

OK. Not two traits I'd have put together, but let's think it through. Our story is one of revenge by a farmer who either is or ws at one time a prisoner of war. Did our character ever do anything that might have such an unintended consequence? Well, there was that one time when he went into the great and vile kingdom of Krith to free prisoners of war. Why would a farmer care, especially if he were one that were freed?

Got it! His wife was a prisoner. She was one that didn't make it out. The farmer now blames the hero for his wife's untimely death during the daring rescue. He has spent countless months preparing his retribution and now the trap is to be sprung! Voilà! The game has a plot, the heroes have something to fear, and the GM has something to work with.

Writing aids, plot devices, and creatively inspirational tools are a great addition to any GM's tool chest.

Things that you might also wanna check out for GMing inspiration

Remembering Gary Gygax

I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else.

Gary's influence in my life can't be overstated. I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons and fantasizing about the worlds he created. He died in 2008 and every once in a while that makes me sad all over again.

Savage Worlds Explorers Edition

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I played this game at MarsCon this year and was very impressed. I just ordered it from Amazon along with the Fantasy Companion sourcebook. This book is only 10 buck and is a high quality full color print. I was amazed at the production quality for the price.

The game itself is fun. It's great to play a game that gets right down to the good stuff right away. It's quick in combat without sacrificing the enjoyably bits, and the rules are flexible enough to allow for plenty of out of combat excitement as well.

D&D will always hold a special place in my heart, but I can't lie: I'm tempting strongly to find a game like this one that speeds up combat. I'm playing a game next week. Can't wait!