Once again we stand upon the field of art-gushing! One should never underestimate the power of visual art in creating effective inspiration for RPG sessions. Without further ado, let’s get into it! Steampunk! Generally I think the artistic genre is overdone, or so hyper-stylized that it becomes meaningless (gears on hats, goggles everywhere, idolizing VictorianContinue reading “Art to Inspire 3”

Something which pops up a lot in my games: technology so advanced and powerful that it appears as magic. And yet, the players or the characters (or both) know that it is more than just “magic sparkles and earth energy.” We’ve all heard the Arthur C. Clarke quote that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishableContinue reading “Magic Tech and The Overlap”

I recall something I heard about Matt Mercer of Critical Role: he once asked his players where they would like to go in a massive city. “The Bank,” they said. Whereupon, Mercer produced a fully detailed map of the bank’s layout. When they asked how he knew they would go there, he said, “I didn’t,Continue reading “Why I Don’t Over-Plan Sessions”

In a world of make-believe, anything can be done, within reason. As such, I’ve used RPGs to provoke meaningful questions. It’s amazing what a bit of context can add; a question or situation is more compelling when it’s someone’s character in that situation. For example, in a sci-fi game I ended up proposing a questionContinue reading “Using RPGs to Tackle Philosophical Questions”

What with all the discussion surrounding brand and copyright of familiar creatures (yes, the OGL has been restored, but let’s not forget just because one battle has been won; many elements of the hobby are still tied to The Brand, and WoTC won’t back down forever), I thought it would be prudent to cover somethingContinue reading “Re-Interpreting Familiar Creatures”

How about some art again? Life may be busy, but there’s always time for inspiration for RPG sessions! Refer to the first post for my general criteria for how I collect and judge pieces in general. Now on to the specific examples! Science Fantasy again! And what a piece of exemplify it, with her dynamicContinue reading “Art to Inspire 2”

This is a hard topic, because it is pretty variable (to a point) and is up against a pretty steep challenge. To put it simply, this is hard because: RPGs are one of the hardest art forms to get immersed in. It’s not impossible, and it can be great when you get there, but itContinue reading “Tips for Immersion”

I’ve got thousands at this point; artwork running the genre gambit from High Fantasy all the way to Hard Sci-Fi, and back again, hitting all the spaces in between. I organize and cultivate them by genre and subject. And I use them to inspire my games. Usually, I’ll just pick a genre generally matching theContinue reading “Using Art to Inspire”

Like all art forms, RPGs have elements which make the experience unique from other art forms. The one I am referring to (taking advantage of the storytelling dynamic that exists between GMs and players), is what allows for some really special moments. This ability to play with the narrative expectations of the audience is notContinue reading “GM-Player Trickery”