Category: general

A common complaint from players and game masters alike is that a specific adventure for a roleplaying game is “railroaded”. They mean that the players lack agency – that the GM is forcing them to act as an audience to the GM’s script. This is then frowned upon as bad GMing.

They had me at “a quiet roleplaying game”. All roleplaying games are a conversation, whether that’s at the table or over videochat – how does a quiet roleplaying game even work?

I am forty five years old. I’ve been playing tabletop roleplaying games for thirty five years. I am middle aged, and increasingly aware of my limited time on Earth.

Stars & Wishes is the one system agnostic mechanic I advise any GM to deploy.

Like a lot of people, I’ve played a lot of Baldur’s Gate 3 this winter. We also play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and while it’s a different medium, there’s a lot to consider in the digital game that can have direct use at the tabletop.

While these plans never work out as designed, I want to inspire others to plan their gaming year. Let’s go!