Skull RPG: Game Masters Tell Your Story

Hey Storytellers,

Today we answer the question about what is the easiest way to get into being a Game Master.

 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 have found that starting off with a one-off adventure in a system you know somewhat decently well is the easiest way to start. 

Hey Storytellers,

In today's episode, we cover what to do if your players kill your plot hook or just decide they don't want to do the adventure and want to do something else.

 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

There are many ways to recover from this but if your players kill your hook because they are untrusting you can pivot the hook from being a good character to an evil one and leave the clue on their person.

Or as the adventures are walking around you can bring the hook to them in a moment of action. Getting revenge is a great motivator for an adventure.

Listen for more.

Hey Storytellers,

In today's episode, we will cover how to create a backstory for your good NPC's in your stories.

 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

There are no heroes without flaws. There are no rulers without secrets. There is no one in a position of power that hasn't done something they regret.

Secrets may be a driving force for a good NPC. They may be trying to cover those up, or doing things to keep the secret buried. Everyone has something they are ashamed of and that is what I build into my backstory for every notable NPC that can affect the players' lives. Knowing that secret can lead to some really fun impromptu (or planned) adventures for your players.

Hey Storytellers,

In today's episode, we talk about how to create a memorable villain.

 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

Villains should be the hero of their own story. So Thanos from Marvel is trying to save the universe from overpopulation.

We discuss how to give your villain a backstory so that they believe that their actions (no matter how evil) are justified because their end goal is just.

Hey Storytellers,

This isn't a plug for our course "Just Enough Planning" (https://skullrpg.com/just-enough-planning-course/). Instead, we are covering how much planning you may feel comfortable with as a game master.

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 today's episode, we cover how you know if you are under planning, overplanning, and what to do about it.

Hey Storyteller,

Many times you try out a storyline and one or more of your players (or worse even you as the game master) is bored with it. Instead, there is a better way and you can do it at the start.

 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 have covered the lexicon game before. This should be played with your gaming group when you have a very vague concept of what you want to do. Then let the players help you refine what they want to do, see and play and also the things they don't want to see for a while. 

Check out the rules here: http://skullrpg.com/resources/#t-1608175211406

Hey Storytellers,

Our group has two main game masters, as well as, others that are learning or haven't GM'd in a while. If you have a group like this you might have some issues if the old GM just hasn't gotten used to being a player yet.

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

Hey Storytellers,

Many of our games start with jokes as we ease into the game. That isn't an issue, but the issue is about 30 minutes in if you have one or more players still cracking jokes in a serious game.

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

There are several techniques to use to get your game back on track:
1) Ignore it a couple of times
2) Redirect the player back to the game
3) Remind them that we are doing a serious game (after the game to start with)
4) Set some ground rules to get the game back on track

Hey Storytellers,

Sometimes your players are distracted and some distractions are totally understandable. Those aren't the ones I am talking about, but rather if they aren't engaged in your RPG what are some of the ways to help bring them back to your game.

 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

Hey Storytellers,

A rules lawyer is one who will correct the game master most of the time about the specific rules (and errata buried on the internet) for the game you are playing.

 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

Rules lawyers can be used to help you shore up your understanding of the game. If you are unclear on how something would work, then ask the rules lawyer for their opinion of the situation.

I also like to think about rules from a physics point of view (yes even in magic). So if the rule is just dumb and I have the rules lawyer trying to drive a train through the loophole. I will call it out and talk to them about that. 

We talk about other ways to work with the rules lawyer in this episode.

Hey Storytellers,

Today we talk about when you should say "Yes" to your players.

 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

My short rule for this is to say "Yes" unless it will break my game and even then if the idea is fun I might just say "Everything that happens after this point is now in an alternate reality" and run that game for a while.

Otherwise, I look for where maybe what they were asking for happened because I didn't explain what was happening well enough. Even then I will probably just pivot my plans for what they want to do because being a game master / dungeon master is to focus less on the master part of that term and more on being a game moderator.

Hey Storytellers,

The fastest way to improve your improvisational skills is to have fun using them.

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 recommend going to our resources page (https://skullrpg.com/resources/#t-1608661750213) and scroll down a little until you find the "Everybody is John" link.

Everybody is John is a free game that takes some pieces of paper, one d6, pennies (about 10 per player, or anything that can be used as counters that can be held in the palm of your hand).

We recommend playing a game of this for maybe ten minutes every time you meet before starting your RPG. It will quickly get you up to speed on handling any crazy ask you will ever get because this is a game of crazy asks.

Listen to the episode to learn more about Everybody is John. 

Hey Storytellers,

In this episode, we talk about how many premade adventures can't be run strictly by the book and that you, as the game master, may need to use your mad improvisational skills (or amateur ones), to make up for the fact that your gaming group wasn't a part of their test market (assuming they even had one).

 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

Fun fact: most premade adventures aren't playtested and some have been ported from system to system so much that they still bring misprints (looking at you Tomb of Horrors).

So this covers how to fix some of those problems as you read through premade adventures. It will also cover how to scale up or scale down the challenge of each premade on the fly so that you can provide some sort of challenge (or not just kill everyone 10+ times - true story).

Finally, we will cover what happens if the players what to do a game-breaking choice and how to say "yes, but" to that.

Hey Storytellers,

In today's episode, we talk about how the game master can use some light improvisational skills in your game.

 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

This episode deals with what happens if your players decide to not take the direct path toward the area you have planned out for them to use. Well, you are the only one with the map that indicates where that castle, ruins, NPC, etc. is. So whose to say that they don't find the adventure you planned for them if they don't go the exact way you thought they should.

Hey Storytellers,

In this episode, we will discuss ways to handle your player's bizarre choices in your RPG.

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

I don't think that "No" should be the standard response for your players. Instead, I try to accommodate what I can, but sometimes the request just doesn't make any sense.

We cover how to explain what is possible for a player's character or tell them the number of rolls they are asking to try to succeed on for them to succeed at the crazy number of actions in order to pull off their request. Then let the player decide if they want to take the risk to do something cool or decide to do something more practical.

Hey Storytellers,

In today's episode, we cover some of the ways that game masters feel like their players are ruining their game.

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

Many times players are rebelling against the game master because of things the game master is doing.  If a game master is railroading the players or taking away the free choice of players then I would expect players to rebel.

The other way that players may be ruining your game is because they may not be fully involved in the game for whatever reason or even have an issue with you personally. 

We will cover each of these issues in-depth in the coming episodes.

In today's episode, we show you how to create impromptu choices for your players based on their actions.

 Hey Storytellers,

The rule of three says that you can let your players level up (like in a D&D / Pathfinder) game after three game sessions.

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

This allows you and the players to have a clear path forward and steady cadence to level up the characters. It also helps you have less work to do if you are trying to figure out what monsters give what experience (huge issue in D&D 3.5).

If you are playing a game like GURPS or Vampire: The Masquerade we cover how to change how much experience you give out so that your players can receive some advantages faster.

 Hey Storytellers,

Yesterday we created a Cyberpunk / mystery RPG campaign. One of the issues I have had was losing the thread of the story used in a campaign like 4 months into the story and my game sessions would suffer.

Find out more about this with our free course: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1047566/?action=signup

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 deep dive into a 3 act plan for the campaign that the players can use and influence. The act / subplot helps me have a general direction to move forward.

With this sort of plan you will now be able to have a good idea of what you will need to plan from a game session 1 or 2 game sessions out.

We don't recommend planning out everything at this stage as things will change because of your player's actions and interactions with the story line.

Always remember that the GM and Player are telling a story together but the GM does the heavy lifting - especially in the beginning.

 Hey Storytellers,

Here is where we take the elements from yesterday's RPG Campaign episode and actually start to flesh out a campaign.

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

Today we create an RPG Campaign from scratch.

We pick a genre, RPG system, villain, villain's motivations, as well as the conflict / mystery (main genre) for the campaign.

We also begin to build out each of the three acts. Remember that these are held loosely, but give you an idea of where you are going in your story months before you get there.

I have found doing this helpful (and yes it always changes) to keep me on track and not just running random encounters because I don't know what to do next.

Hey Storytellers,

We have covered the elements of a good game session, but what do you need for an RPG Campaign?

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 RPG campaign is the entirety of your story. This could be a one-off session (really easy to plan) or a story that lasts for decades.

We cover the main elements of what you should plan out for each of your longer campaigns.

These are things like genre, what RPG you will use, the basic story, and the main conflict.

Listen to the episode for more information.