Mastering The RPG

The crew talks about some of the greatest games they played or GM’d … and some of the not-so-great.  Just a fun discussion for the season finale about our memories of games past.   00:00 - Introduction 02:50 - Email 15:00 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!  

Eric, Carl and James talk about how to run a horror game in a tabletop RPG.  Ideas on how to engage players, set expectations, and drive the narrative are presented.   00:00 - Introduction 04:20 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!  

Eric, James, and Carl talk about what essentials are in their RPG GM toolkit.  Everything from websites, books, and tools for running their role-playing game in person or online.     Some of the items mentioned in the episode:   Savage Worlds Characters - Saveged.us Carl’s OneNote template - https://youtu.be/41_HXccph1k Lazy DM Notion Template TokenStamp - https://rolladvantage.com/tokenstamp/ Tok...

James, Eric, and Carl discuss ways of providing the lore of your setting without the dreaded lore dump. They also discuss how knowledge skills play into discovering this information.  The team walks through the good and bad ways to provide information to players during the game.   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!    

Carl, Eric, and James discuss ideas on how to make combat and fights in RPGs more interesting and engaging for players regardless of the game system.  They offer advice around four pillars-maps, enemies, victory conditions, and narrative aspects. Thank you to a listener for a cool stuff found this week!   00:00 - Introduction - Fun talk about 150th episode of Tabletop Tango and Jame’s campaigns 09...

James, Eric and Carl talk about how to create a cohesive party in any RPG such as Dungeons and Dragons and Savage Worlds.  They look at how the GM can help and what players can do to help make an effective and narratively interesting group of adventurers. The discussion includes how partnering with other players, sharing backstory, complementing mechanically, and other ideas can lead to success.  ...

Eric and Carl discuss using small narrative breaks (such as Savage Worlds Interludes) for additional role-playing opportunities for players to explore backstories or share character information between intense parts of an adventure. The information is inspired by Savage Worlds but is applicable to any RPG—including D&D (Dungeons and Dragons).   00:00 - Introduction 01:30 - Cool Stuff 07:35 - Main...

James, Eric, and Carl talk about preparing published RPG adventures for your table. They discuss suggestions on selection, preparing to run the adventures, running and pitfalls, and finally what can players do to ensure the published campaign goes off well.  This information is general and is applicable to Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, or any of your favorite RPGs.   00:00...

James, Eric, and Carl talk about phenomenon of GM Burnout.  What is the cause, how to identify it is happening, what to do to avoid it… and if it happens, what to do to get the spark back.    00:00 - Introduction 02:25 - Email 05:00 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!  Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/as...

Carl and Eric talk about some upcoming games being kickstarted in 2023 with their thoughts on each. Carl also brings up a challenge he has in his current sci-fi Savage Worlds campaign and chats with Eric about ideas to improve engagement and next steps in the campaign.   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!  Become a Patron: ht...

Carl and Eric talk about the challenges and rewards when a player becomes a GM (Gamemaster) or Dungeon Master (DM) in a tabletop RPG.  There are many challenges as they start and the team offers some advice and ideas to make the transition easier.  The advice is valid for any tabletop RPG including Dungeon and Dragons (D&D).   00:00 - Introduction 02:30 - Cool Stuff - The Red Dragon Inn - https://...

Carl and James discuss what are and why you might want to use rival adventuring parties in your tabletop RPG game such as Dungeon and Dragons, Savage Worlds, or many others.  They go over the ways they enhance play and some suggestions for a successful game and campaign. 00:00 - Introduction 01:20 - Email 07:05 - Main Topic Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherp...

Carl, Eric, and James discuss the challenges and ways to motivate players in your tabletop RPG game such as Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), Savage Worlds, or other systems. They talk about different play styles with GM advice and what Player’s can do to self motivate and help motivate the GM.   00:00 - Introduction 02:45 - Cool Stuff - Kickstarters -  Legend of Ghost Mountain  - https://peginc.com/leg...

The team discusses ideas on driving character growth in a tabletop RPG.  This includes how Gamemasters (GMs) can help players reach their vision and what players can do to make an interesting character arc or journey.  Doesn't matter if it is Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) or another game system, you’ll find ideas like how to shape backstory, drive characters via moral dilemmas, and where game mechani...

Season Finale!  Carl, Eric, and James talk about cool stuff from the past and their journey as players and game masters (GM) in Dungeon and Dragons (D&D) or other systems. They discuss some of their early mistakes, big lessons learned, and “Aha! moments. Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!  Become a Patron: https://www.patreon...

Carl and James talk about creating a satisfying end to an RPG campaign regardless of game system (like Dungeons and Dragons).  They have advice for both GMs looking to make the ending memorable and for players to up the epic-ness of final conflicts. The duo also answer a listener question on generic RPG systems.   00:00 - Introduction 01:30 - Questions / Feedback 11:30 - Main Topic   Visit us at h...

James leads Eric and Carl through a discussion of how they create compelling and interesting monsters for their RPG campaigns for D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) and other RPGs (you know Carl is a Savage Worlds fanatic).  They look at the why you would do it, tips and tricks, creating compelling boss fights and some suggestions for players too.   00:00 - Introduction 03:00 - Main Topic   Visit us at ht...

Eric leads James and Carl through what, why, and how of creating a character backstory for tabletop RPGs like Dungeon and Dragons (D&D). They offer tips and tricks for players and GMs using backstories to guide their campaigns.   00:00 - Introduction 04:50 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!

The trio talks about running and participating in social encounters and social situations in a tabletop RPG. They talk about the challenges and suggestions for players and GMs. Ideas are applicable to any RPG such as Dungeons and Dragons (D&D).  This week’s cool stuff found is a card game where you are an evil overlord.  00:00 - Introduction 01:26 - Cool Stuff Found - “Aye, Dark Overlord!” - Fanta...

Carl, Eric, and James compare old-school gaming (and OSR) to modern games and play styles. We also answer a question on using sanity from Call of Cthulhu in Savage Worlds. 00:00 - Introduction 01:25 - Question and Answers 15:12 - Main Topic Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!

Carl, Eric, and Morgan (our special guest) talk about how you can take some cool Savage Worlds RPG mechanics and use them in your system of choice (such as Dungeons and Dragons).   00:00 - Introduction 02:40 - Cool Stuff Found 09:40 - Main Topic Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and questions!

The team discusses how they think about creating a new campaign for tabletop RPG such as Dungeons and Dragons. Includes ideas on how to create a campaign concept and story arcs.   00:00 - Introduction 02:20 - Cool Stuff Found - The Lazy DM’s Companion https://slyflourish.com/ 10:25 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comments and quest...

The team discusses disruptive player characters in RPG and how a GM can improve the situation. There are some suggestions for players on how avoid  becoming the “Selfish Rogue.” 00:00 - Introduction 01:50 - Cool Stuff Found - “Slaying the Dragon” by Ben Riggs - https://www.amazon.com/dp/125027804X/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_6HE679YJ256XQYG43MC4 09:30 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.co...

In this episode our team discusses using familiars and other extras without upsetting the GM and all your friends!  There's a fine line sometimes between fun and disrupting so let's learn how to walk it.   00:00 - Introduction 01:39 - Cool Stuff Found - Noisy Person Cards -  James D’Amato 09:50 - Main Topic   Visit us at https://masteringtherpg.com and mail gamemaster@masteringtherpg.com for comme...

Carl, Eric, and James talk about what a one-shot is, the challenges in running and designing them. They talk about tips on creation and running the events at conventions or your home group. They also throw in some player tips when playing in one. 00:00 - Introduction 01:14 - Cool Stuff - https://www.greatgamemaster.com/dm/ 04:40 - Main Topic   If you have a question or want some advice on particul...