World War Z and Monster Blood Tattoo

Just recently, I’ve been reading books that make me want to run games based on them, and I’d like to recommend two of them to you.

Let’s take a gander at the Zombie War and monster blood tattoos.

Read more

Run Club and Revelations

ars ludi continues to deliver quality GMing ideas, this time with Run Club and Revelations

Run Club is the formalization of a round-robin GMing arrangement, where every player takes turns GMing one-shots. Ben goes into depth about why you might want to try this out (to give a first-time GM a boost of confidence, for example), and what concerns your group might have about Run Club. Ask Your Players to GM at Least Once, here on TT, dovetails nicely with this post.

Ben’s post on revelations addresses how to make the most out of those game-defining “Aha!” moments. He explains why revelations can be tricky, and offers some excellent suggestions for nailing them — like not planning every finicky detail of the actual “reveal,” so that you stay flexible.

Flip Through a Book, Build a World

D&D’s Forgotten Realms setting is my all-time favorite campaign world, primarily because it’s packed so full of ideas.

When the latest edition of the setting came out, Ed Greenwood said that you could flip open any page of the book at random, point to any section of that page, and find an idea you could run with.

I think Ed’s right — and I think this approach could be broadened to include nearly any book, for nearly any game. Let’s test this theory.

Read more

Win an Early Christmas Present from TT

It’s been awhile since we had a contest, and I think it’s about time for another one.

As of yesterday, the Treasure Tables Store has been completely revamped. In addition to TT’s custom gaming T-shirts, it now features a wide range of RPG products available through Amazon.com. I hope you like it, and feedback is always welcome in the comments.

The contest is simple: Just buy a T-shirt from the TT store between now (November 3rd) and November 30th, 2006, and email me your Order ID (which is provided upon checkout) before midnight on 11/30/06.

On December 1st, I will select one purchaser who has emailed me their Order ID at random and email them a $20.00 Amazon.com gift certificate. That’s all there is to it!

The winner will be announced here on TT on December 1st. Good luck!

The Unblinking Eye: A Player Over Webcam

Back when I lived in Michigan, one of my players moved away during a campaign. We all missed him, and we discussed the possibility of using a webcam to allow him to continue playing with us.

This setup never materialized, but it certainly sounded workable. We’d have set up a webcam with a view of the whole table, as well as a central microphone (so he could hear us) and speakers (so we could hear him).

On the whole, this arrangement sounds like it would come as close as possible to the experience of all sitting around the same table, without breaking the bank. (A pro videoconferencing setup would obviously be better, but who has that kind of money?)

How well do you think this would work? If you’ve ever tried it, how well did it work?

World Powers and Big-Picture Plotlines

I haven’t thought about this idea in years, but it popped into my head yesterday and demanded to be posted. I’ve never tried it, and it’s a bit rough around the edges, but I think it has merit.

If your campaign (in any genre) features events of global importance happening in the background, and those events have an impact on the events in the foreground, this one’s for you.

In a nutshell, have several friends run the world powers in your game.

Read more

← Previous Page