Skull RPG: Game Masters Tell Your Story

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.