Frugal GM Review: The Shattered Continent Map

Yesterday I picked up what looked like a promising map from Giblet Blizzard. It is their 1st and only product that came out just this week.

It is a map that has been tweaked heavily to play well with Adobe Reader, well "tweaked" might be a bit strong of a word. Basically this map just makes use of the many features already available using the free Adobe Reader.

This map is advertised as being "customizable", which really just means turning on and off layers. Some of the layers are quite cool.....this PDF map has both a color and a black & white version.

GM Prep Tip: Recharge Your Batteries

This GM Prep Tip might not be seen as a "real" prep tip, but I think it is something that is fundamentally essential for all GMs to consider because it can really have a noticeable impact at your home table: recharging your batteries.

Of course I'm not talking about making sure the iPad you have queued up to view your gaming PDFs on, but the drive...the energy that it takes for all of us to run a game. GM burnout is a real thing and it can effect all of us. Far too often there comes a time when prepping and running a game for your friends just becomes more "work" that you have to do.

I don't GM nearly as much as I should because my wife is our group's main GM, but I get to take the reigns during the holiday season and periodically throughout the year to give her a break. One of the things I've done to "recharge" my own interest in gaming....something that was waning dangerously low after years of constant GMing and volunteer work that frankly wasn't appreciated outside of my current roster of players, was form a campaign that I found interesting. A place I could try new ideas and try to tell a story instead of running a super-strict "by the book" game.

I'm lucky in that the last year or so I've made a few like-minded "friends" out in RPG land and have been exposed to new ways to enjoy this hobby that I'd never have even considered years ago. This blog is one such outlet for me. I have another I'm working on that I think will work out nicely, but I don't want to jinx myself.

For many, simply sliding the GM screen to another position at the table is enough to keep from becoming too drained, if not actually recharged. Some people prefer to GM and others wouldn't feel comfortable GMing if they were paid tens of dollars to do so. Every table will be different based on the system used and the people at it. Honestly that is one of the reasons I like HackMaster is because there isn't that much a difference, at least knowledge-wise, between running a game and playing in one.

All I'm really trying to accomplish with this post is to encourage both players and GMs to be cognizant of GM burnout and take measures well before you get to the point where you need to. Don't be afraid to change the status quo, or at least discuss changing it. You might find it beneficial to the health of your group and your game.

Free GM Resource: ANAmap

This week's Free GM Resource is a pretty cool little web-based map editor from Deepnight.net

The editor doesn't have a lot of frills, so you aren't going to be making a highly detailed map for player's use, but I can totally see using ANAmap to "knockout" a quick map.

The interface is well labeled and quite easy to use and I was surprised at the functionality. When I opened up the "example" map I didn't realize it was an actual editable map and started erasing stuff. Without even thinking about it I instinctively used Ctrl+Z and it undid my handiwork. That functionality isn't even listed.

Katie's Custom D30 Attack Table

I have my table all set up for tonight's game and my cat (well she has decided I'm her human) jumped up in my chair and put her front paws on the table. My wife joked that Katie would be our GM tonight and that all of our PCs would invariably get bitten.

Katie's favorite game is what we like to call "I Bite You". As you can imagine the rules are pretty simple. I think her mouthiness is why she is such good friends with the dog (a lab mix).

Today I also found my "new" antique D30 (and there was much rejoicing). When it was lost my speculation was that Katie had taken it for a cat toy. It was found safe and sound and I didn't find a single tooth mark on it.

In honor of both finding my die safe and sound and to hail our new kitty overlord GM, I think I have to put forth the following D30 attack table:

Frugal GM Review: The Lair of Largash the Lurid

This week I'm picking up the dice to GM for my group since the normal GM is involved in NaNoWriMo and works in retail, which starts getting interesting this time of year. My players are around 3rd level and I run a bit of a sandbox world so I try to keep several potential adventures in mind instead of trying to railroad them into one particular adventure.

Normally this group bites at any hook I set for them, but since they drive the literal direction they travel, I need to have a few hooks in a few different spots for them to nibble on. To that end I picked up Dungeon Module CG1: The Lair of Largash the Lurid from Michael Mills.

TL;DR: "meh", it's ok, but I recommend picking it up to encourage the author to write more.

My Thoughts on an Article About Better Roleplaying

One of my gamer friends from "back East" shared this great post with me: A Writer’s Guide to Better Roleplaying: Developing Character at the Table.

While the article is really written from a player's perspective, I see this as a great article for every GM as well. If anything, I think it is more important for a GM to read this.

Normally I'd try to sum up the article before commenting on it, but the author (Rich Howard) provided an awesome bit of text at the end of the article doing exactly that:

TL;DR

Don’t let your character be static. Encourage other players’ stories as much as your own. Offer to become part of their narrative, let them become part of yours and find ways to merge your stories into an even larger epic.

If you let them, your continually evolving characters can take you to places you never could have imagined on your own.

Free GM Resource: State Tourism Office(s)

This morning when I woke up I spent some time before getting up thinking of what I wanted to highlight as a Free GM Resource this week. I wanted to do something "different" and a great previously untapped resource sprang to mind: local state tourism offices.

I have traveled a LOT in my life, as a child of a Navy Brat with wanderlust and then in the Air Force. I was lucky to spend all of high school in one place, which was a record for me until I got out of the Air Force and settled down in Boise. I still travel a fair amount, but more as a tourist than an incoming resident.

You know when you drive from state to state there is often a state tourism center somewhere close to the border. My idea is specifically for these centers, but extend to the online state tourist websites as well. These places are great free resources for your games. You can usually get free maps, great location photos, and awesome adventure seeds (with props). If you are running a fantasy game you might want to stick with the more natural tourist spots, but even a good highway map can be great.

Ignoring the interstate highways, many of the state highways were built on top of existing roads. Take a couple counties' worth of state roads, copy them over to another sheet, add the city locations and instant map of villages.

You don't even have to travel to get some great ideas as a lot of folks don't know what they might have locally. Within a 2 hour drive of my home (give or take) are some great foothills, mountains, rivers, lakes, a spectacular waterfall, and even some "ice caves". I could go nuts with the ice caves. Great place to put in some monsters I probably wouldn't be able to use otherwise. I can also grab a map of the caves and even some great photos to show as props.

Next time you are travelling, stop by one of these tourist centers. You might find some great stuff to do on your trip and some great ideas and resources for your game when you get back.

Frugal GM Review: Legend of the Ripper

Today being Halloween I thought I should review one of the "scary" products being offered for free as part of DriveThruRPG's Halloween "Treats".  I ended up choosing Goodman Games' free offering of Dungeon Crawl Classic #24: Legend of the Ripper.

Seriously, if you are even thinking of getting this adventure, ACT NOW!!! It is only free through the end of the day.

The DriveThruRPG listing says it is a D&D/d20 adventure, but the title shows it as a Dungeon Crawl Classic adventure, which is an actual recognized game system at DriveThruRPG, unlike my beloved HackMaster.

I'm not quite sure where it fits*, but I think it is intended to be a d20 game since it was put out in 2006. I think the name was lifted from the adventure series to use for their game system. At any rate, it is a minor point for me because the little corner tag on the cover sums it up well enough: "ALL NEW MODULE FOR ANY FANTASY CAMPAIGN".