Skull RPG: Game Masters Tell Your Story

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/B08NQ38H2KIn 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/B08NQ38H2KIn 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/B08NQ38H2KIn 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/B08NQ38H2KWe 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/B08NQ38H2KThe 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/B08NQ38H2KSo 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

Hey Storytellers,Two episodes ago we talked about the different eras of games using the Greek understanding of creation. So there were the golden, silver, bronze, and clay ages of humanity. Today we explore playing a game at the height of magic or technology that your world will ever see. 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/B08NQ38H2KThe golden age or era is one of the hardest to play an RPG in because your characters are literally becoming the legends of old. There are no ruins of value because the stuff of value is literally being created each and every day.These are usually higher-level campaigns (or a lot more points in a GURPS system).Listen for even more tips.

Hey Storytellers,I don't know about you but when I first tried to write my own adventures as a Dungeon Master for D&D 3.5 I thought I needed a world map. The same was true when I tried my hand at GURPS.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/B08NQ38H2KBut what if I told you that that may be the worst way to start a campaign?Instead, just draw what is needed. If starting at first level or low level or local adventure just start out with everything they may possibly encounter at those levels.So if you need a map it doesn't have to be more than 3 days journey in any direction and contain things like "abandoned mine" or "woods" or "larger town will name later."So don't feel like you have to design the entire world and then drill down because frankly after reading a ton of fantasy novels we feel like that is a requirement, but for gaming you can go the other way.

Hey Storytellers,In today's episode, we cover different eras as an overview. Using the Greek understanding of Golden, Silver, Bronze and Clay age of Humanity we talk about this in RPG terms.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/B08NQ38H2KWhat does that mean? Great question.A Golden Age adventure means that your world is at the pinnacle of magic / tech / etc. Most RPG's don't take place here.Instead, most take place during a bronze age of heroes. This allows the players to explore old castles (now turned into dungeons because of time) for ancient relics.Listen to the episode to learn more.

Hey Storytellers,In one of my campaigns, I wanted to tell a story about the players hunting down a particular villain. I didn't want this game to last more than about 8 months of real-time and I didn't want to spend a year of in-game time that didn't connect to the overarching storyline. So what did I do? 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/B08NQ38H2KSince we were playing GURPS I gave them 30 points to spend on whatever they wanted and told them that we would be fast-forwarding the game a full year in the calendar. They had done side quests and other things in that year that didn't correspond to the story, but they would still get experience for it.I could do the same thing in a D&D or Pathfinder game by giving 2 - 3 levels and saying the same thing.Listen to the episode for even more examples of how to accomplish this.

Hey Storytellers,In our last episode, we covered if you should use traps or not. One really nasty thing to do is to incorporate them into a mini-boss encounter. 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/B08NQ38H2KIn this episode, we talk about using things like a pit trap, poison darts, or even worse types of traps to have the enemy do battlefield control and potentially take out one of the front line melee fighters out of the fight for a while by dropping him/her down a 20-foot hole (with or without spikes).

Hey Storytellers,Do you need traps in your RPG? Do you need to create a dungeon where every room somehow has a 20,000 GP trap designed to kill 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/B08NQ38H2KThe answer to that is it is up to you. If you want to be trap heavy then tell your players they will need someone that can handle that task.If you don't have traps then you should tell your players that traps will not be that central to the game, but may come up from time to time. I.e. you don't need a character dedicated to it but some skill would be helpful.

Hey Storytellers,Sometimes in the middle of a conflict, you realize that your players are running through it too fast. So what do you do about that?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/B08NQ38H2KIn today's episode, we cover how to scale up or down your conflict in order to make it interesting. This may mean you fudge a die roll to avoid fully killing a player, or it may mean that backup for either side comes out of an unopened door or unexplored hallway.

Hey Storytellers,In today's episode, we will cover how to scale the challenge rating of your encounters (up or down) depending on the players around your table. 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/B08NQ38H2KLet's face it, if you have a min/max player and they are in their element (like killing one monster) then you need to move the challenge rating of that monster up (maybe 2 or 3 levels).Or you have a player trying a new type of character and they aren't using half of their good abilities yet. Well, then you may need to move the challenge rating down for them.Sometimes, you have both of these players (and others) at your table so what do you do?Listen to find out.

Hey Storytellers,Eventually, you may be ready to make your own custom RPG adventure and even campaign. This entire podcast is dedicated to helping you do just that and if you already make custom RPG's then our podcast is designed to give you more tools or maybe a way of using your current tools in a different way. 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,The next step to running a premade is learning how to string together one-off adventures if you want to run these cheaply either from free adventures on the internet or with some patreons dedicated to these.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/B08NQ38H2KLearn how to string many of these together easily in a somewhat coherent 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/B08NQ38H2KWe 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/B08NQ38H2KThere 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/B08NQ38H2KThere 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/B08NQ38H2KVillains 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/B08NQ38H2KIn 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/B08NQ38H2KWe 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/B08NQ38H2KThere are several techniques to use to get your game back on track:1) Ignore it a couple of times2) Redirect the player back to the game3) 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/B08NQ38H2KRules 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/B08NQ38H2KMy 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/B08NQ38H2KWe 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/B08NQ38H2KFun 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/B08NQ38H2KThis 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/B08NQ38H2KI 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/B08NQ38H2KMany 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/B08NQ38H2KThis 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=signupCheck 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/B08NQ38H2KWe 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/B08NQ38H2KToday 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/B08NQ38H2KThe 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.

 Hey Storytellers,This podcast talks about two different things. Some RPG's are prop heavy (looking at you Dungeons and Dragons), but then we branch out into other types of props that people use to help with immersion in the 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,You just got a new RPG and you want to play it tonight. How can you do that?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/B08NQ38H2KWe cover how to do this with board games as that is a lot easier but then use those same principles for tabletop RPG's.Also the same tips here should be used if you come across a rule or question you aren't sure about. Many major RPG's (and fan favs) will have wiki's or discussion boards with the official errata for those odd scenarios.Also, a good rule is if it will break the game just say no. No matter if it is in the rules or not. You are the game or dungeon master so live up to the master part of it.

 Hey Storytellers,For many tabletop RPG Dungeon Masters, one of the hardest, most time-consuming tasks is to roll up a high-level wizard for use in your game that will challenge your group.There is nothing worse than showing up woefully unprepared and having to cut your game short because your players raced to the final encounter, and you don't have the stats ready for combat.This is where Human NPC's: 84 Complete NPC's for 5th edition to use in your RPG in minutes is useful.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/B08NQ38H2KSimply choose a class. Then choose one of 7 levels between 1 - 18 to insert into your RPG immediately.Human NPC's is for any dungeon master that is playing Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.  We cover the base 12 classes from the Player's Handbook and only use spells / equipment from the D&D 5e Core Books, so if you haven't (or don't want) to pick up the newest supplement, that isn't an issue. However, there is space to add material on your own from those supplements if you want.Here is what you will discover in Human NPC's:• 12 Classes• Levels 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18• Full equipment, feats, spells, and even spellbooks (Wizard) included - you can just turn to the page you need and play the NPC• Use these for a core NPC (good or bad) in your game• Or just sprinkle in NPC's to make your challenge rating harder in your adventure (Premade or Custom)• How to play guides for each class included• Detailed notes on what each class has gained from level to level in case you want to do a minute or two of research on the NPC

Hey Storytellers,In our last episode, we defined many different types of genres. In this one, we match the genre to the 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/B08NQ38H2KDo you want to play high or low fantasy? D&D / Pathfinder / GURPSWhat about Sci-Fi? Star Wars / GURPSInterested in Gothic Horror (Vampires, Werewolves, etc.)? White Wolf Publishing / Vampire: The MasqueradeGive the episode a listen to hear more.

Hey Storytellers,Knowing that there is a different way to play an RPG if you like different genres was very helpful to my gaming. So do I like mysteries, but like a dash of horror every once in a while? Do I like action / adventure but love that in a western-style or a sci-fi style or both? Check out our courses for Game Masters: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/Check out our new book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2KGive this episode a listen to learn more about different types of genres if you forgot your literature class.Tomorrow we will cover marrying up your favorite genre's to different types of RPG's.

Hey Storytellers,Coming back at you with some game master / dungeon master 101. One of the interesting things is to think about what type of game master you are? You should do this because you might be trying to run a game that fits you but not your players and that could lead to some conflict.Check out our courses for Game Masters: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/Check out our new book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2KI, Dwight, am more of a storyteller and mystery type of game master. That means I love to weave a great tale and wrap it in clues. It's a mystery gang that just rings true in my heart.I have a co-worker who LOVES war games. Like 8+ hour-long board games because of the conflict. He might love a year-long dungeon crawl. That isn't for me, but it isn't wrong. It is just not my style.There are other styles that we develop in this episode so give it a listen and learn how to pivot your favorite types to help out some of your players that might like a different style.

Hey Storytellers,We are staring a new series for Game Master 101. We realized we cover a lot of GM 201 or 301 material and thought going back to the basics was a good idea.Learn more at https://skullrpg.comGet the free Tell Your Story course here: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/products/courses/view/1047566/?action=signupWhat is the role of a Game Master?Well it is a lot like being a mom of 5 toddlers....no really it feels like that. The game master needs to come up with a story idea, pick the RPG, find players, help to create an environment where people can have fun (entertainment), work with the players to weed out bullying and other behavior that doesn't provide the opportunity to have fun and many other things.Listen to the episode to see if we nailed them all or if we missed something.

Hey Storytellers,You don't get to have a podcast channel without a shameless plug every once in a while. So this is for our paid course Just Enough Planning. It is a 3-hour audio / video course that will cover the concepts in our Tell Your Story free course, but with editable PDF workbooks to create your next (or current) RPG Campaign. Check out our resources page for the link (and others): https://skullrpg.com/resources - check out the GM Tools section. Check out our courses for Game Masters: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/Check out our new book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2KOnce that is done we deep dive into creating a 3+ act (think major storylines within the main storyline) that can each take months to finish.Then we start to break up the acts into scenes (game session) while taking note to remember things in your campaign and acts so that you can foreshadow any twists or big reveals and keep your players following along. It is also a great resource if you plan on publishing any of your adventures.

Hey Storytellers,Sometimes you just want to create a dungeon, castle, spaceship or cavern, but if you draw like I do it just takes way too long to get something to look decent. But Dungeon Script is a great tool that can easily draw out what you want with really no learning curve.However, it has some great features that can take you time to learn. Listen to our full review and then click on the resource link below to go try it out. Check out our resources page for the link (and others): https://skullrpg.com/resources - check out the GM Tools section. Check out our courses for Game Masters: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/Check out our new book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

Hey Storytellers,Today we cover our free online course called Tell Your Story - it helps you think of your RPG campaign like it is a play. It was eye-opening to me once I realized this it changed my entire way of planning my RPG campaigns.Give us a listen to learn more and then click on the link below to get it for free.Check out our resources page for the link (and others): https://skullrpg.com/resources - check out the GM Tools section. Check out our courses for Game Masters: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/Check out our new book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K

Hey Storytellers,Going to jump right into this. Jacob found a resource that will allow you to very quickly plan out a dungeon, castle, natural cave WITH traps and monsters for your AD&D / D&D 3.5, 4.0, or 5.0 game. Does the same with Pathfinder and then some more generic RPG's as well.Simply an amazing resource for game masters.Listen to the episode and go to our resources page for more information. Check out our resources page for the link (and others): https://skullrpg.com/resources - check out the GM Tools section. Check out our courses for Game Masters: https://skullrpgbooks.vipmembervault.com/Check out our new book - 19 RPG Adventures for Game Masters to Run in any TTRPG: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NQ38H2K