GM 101: What are the Elements of an RPG Story Arc

Hey Storytellers,

We started this channel in Sept 2020 and since then we have received 3000 downloads. That is really good for not advertising this channel and just getting organic reach.

Because we do pay a premium for podcast hosting, publishing to numerous channels and helping iTunes audio quality we are switching over to just YouTube because of the costs.

We noticed that as of 3/22/21 we have about 11 - 14 people that regularly download our material. For those of you that do this - we thank you.

We would love for everyone to switch over to follow us on YouTube.

SkullRPG.com/YouTube will get you there. We have tripled our subscribers in the last month and have good engagement in our comments. We would love to see you over there as well, liking, commenting, giving video suggestions, etc.

Thanks,

Dwight and Jacob Scull

Hey Storytellers,

Sometimes you have a great idea but it isn't connected to anything at all, nor do you always know how to scale it up to use in a larger context.

Visit https://www.Skullrpg.com to see what books, free courses, and other resources are available for you and your gaming needs.

In today's episode, we cover how Olson Scott Card did this for Ender's Game and how you can do it as well in your tabletop RPG game. 

Hey Storytellers,

Have you ever noticed why most D&D / Pathfinder games occur in a place with definite boundaries?

Visit Skullrpg.com to see what books, free courses, and other resources are available for you and your gaming needs.

In this episode, we talk about ways to get out of places with definite boundaries and how the gaming mat has limited D&D to 2d combat that requires walls to work really well.

 Hey Storyteller,

Creating a fantasy race can be daunting. Are my players going to be in this race? Are they trying to save this race?

How does this race fit into the larger campaign? Do they worship different gods? Who are their heroes, villains, economic structure, language?

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

In this episode, we boil this down to the basics and it won't take you forever to create a fantasy race that has enough information to play your campaign.

Subscribe for more dungeon master tips and tricks. 

We post 10-minute videos 3 times a week.

 Hey Storyteller,

Creating a fantasy city can be daunting. Do you need a map? How many store owners and types of stores do I need to have created? What about guilds / factions / temples? Do I need to know what the tech / magic limit is for this city? Where do I even begin?

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

In this episode, we boil this down to the basics and it won't take you forever to build out a city that has enough information to play your campaign.

Subscribe for more dungeon master tips and tricks. 

We post 10-minute videos 3 times a week. 

Hey Storyteller,

Creating a fantasy kingdom can be daunting. How many people do you need to create? Do you need to flesh out one or more temple systems? What do you do about the economy or leadership or any number of things?

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

In this episode, we boil this down to the basics and it won't take you forever to build out a kingdom that has enough information to play your campaign.

Subscribe for more dungeon master tips and tricks. 

We post 10-minute videos 3 times a week.

Hey Storyteller,

After reading many fantasy series it feels like in order to start a campaign some people feel like they have to recreate the Silmarillion. But do you?

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

We would say only have as much mythology as you feel you need. If your players will be heavily involved in the fallout from the past myths / gods and goddesses / demi-gods / etc.

Subscribe for more dungeon master tips and tricks. 

We post 10-minute videos 3 times a week.

Hey Storytellers,

We have moved to posting every Monday/Wednesday/Friday.

To finish up our how to play an RPG in ____ era. We turn to the modern era or the clay era. 

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

The current age of humanity is the clay era of humanity according to Greek Mythology. After the gods have destroyed humanity several times they finally landed on clay and blood (flesh and blood) because we were controllable. 

Playing an RPG in this era is common for any D20 Modern game, World of Darkness, even futuristic games like Shadowrun / Star Wars (which was a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, but I digress) / Cyberpunk would be considered clay era or age unless they were the pinnacle of all technology until the end of time and then that would be golden era or age.

In this episode, we discuss how setting an RPG in this age differs from the last three we have covered and generally give some ideas on how to play in those worlds.

Hey Storytellers,

We have moved to posting on Monday / Wednesday / Friday.

The Silver era or age can be explained this way. Atlantis (golden age) has just fallen. The survivors have landed, scattered across the world. They don't have the technology or maybe even raw goods to bring Atlantis back but compared to the primitives they are now living among they are like gods.

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

So they band together and create the great civilizations Greece and Rome and conquer the world with new technology and strategies, but it is nothing like what the power of Atlantis could have done if they wanted to. But sadly, those days are gone.

The old Atlantians (or those with the knowledge) are known as demi-gods throughout history and their works are told, but only from a person with no knowledge of how they were able to accomplish what they did.

Disclaimer: We don't believe in Atlantis but this gives you a great idea of Gold vs Silver Eras.

Hey Storytellers,

We are moving to a Monday / Wednesday / Friday publishing schedule at this point. We hope that lets you catch up and listen to each episode as they land.

In today's episode, we talk about most of the RPG's we play. This is the bronze era using a Greco-Roman Mythology understanding of humanity. Your players are exploring a world that has fallen from the Golden and Silver eras. There are wondrous items, spells, and/or technology that cannot be recreated (or at least as easily as they used to be).

Check out our newest book - Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TCKRZTM/

Check out our first book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K