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Game Master's Laboratory

Public • 146 • Free

82 contributions to Game Master's Laboratory
Proactive Investigative Horror Sandbox: Can it be done?
Update: First monster killed, Big Bad revealed! Hi, gang! Here to workshop some ideas and see if an investigative horror mystery can be done in the PARP style with a sandboxed, collaborative setting. Details in the comments...
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New comment 10d ago
0 likes • 14d
I sure would also love to get @Jonah Fishel ’s take on these goals. 😁 …If they’re good or need to get some extra work. 🙏
0 likes • 12d
Update: Monster slain and Big Bad revealed! Last night one of our older players joined in, so now I have SEVEN hunters. If this wasn't a PbtA game it would be too many. Their first monster is a form-shifting abomination with mouths and multiple ghastly appendages, bursting from The Other Side through a hole in reality punched in a dead detective's chest. Just before killing it, our Hex, Dr. Gorbechev, attempted to speak with it... successfully. Dr. G learned of the vast and black void reality, around which all multiverses spin, and its eons-long thirst to devour them all. (The spoiler is that came out of the back of my pants, as I wasn't expecting that. I have no idea how they're going to stop it, and am just going to trust that the answer will reveal itself, -- likely by virtue of the players' wild ideas, -- by the time we get there. 🙏 Player number seven is very much a reactive player, uses one trick, is just in it for the dice rolling, and likely has some trauma from dishonest and adversarial GMs. He's older than I am, so it's not like he's a helpless little kid. He simply has... a style. I will not be forcing goals down his throat. And I have reiterated to the group that I will not be rolling out the mission machine, that the purpose of those goals is to pursue them. We'll see how next week goes. Multiple players during our "Stars and Wishes" review at the end asked for more investigation. Might be hard with seven players, and to grant one of the same players' wish that we have a complete episode every session. Another wish was prosody, or themes. Rock scenes with a rock monster, as an example. Easily done. My writer of the group referred to a minor monster as a "Glitchling," so that's canon, now. 🙌 Also, two players have a circus fortune teller in their backstories, so now that's GOT to be a recurring NPC. The only social issues I see: One player hogs the table verbally, not out of ego or a dominant personality, and rather via a lack of confidence and clarity when the spotlight is on them, meandering and pontificating to lead up to an action instead of just stating their action in the narrative. My solution thus far is, "You absolutely can! What's the action?"
Wanting to hone my skills.
Hello, I am legally blind D&D 1e/2e/3.5e/5e/MTG/PF1e/PF2e/WH40K player. I am currently a GM for 6 games, training a new DM (D&D) and play in two as a player. I also work in special education. If it weren't for adaptative technology, the game and books would be completely unaccessible to me. I have adapted just to keep playing. Been playing for 35 years roughly. Started when I was young. Didn't know what I was doing at first (Not sure I still do) but I am still going and have almost 36 players
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New comment 5h ago
0 likes • 12d
This is amazing and incredibly inspirational. Thanks for sharing your story! 💖
TUNIC principle
Ben Milton of Questing Beast recently talked about Time Until Next Impactful Choice (TUNIC) and I thought it was an interesting, though nebulous suggestion. I mean, I know exactly what he means, but it’s less of a technique and more of a piece of generalized advice. Wondered if anyone else saw this and what their takeaways were? https://youtu.be/j-ywPjMEtq4?t=396&si=xPRn3Km85r0JFxVn
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New comment 17d ago
TUNIC principle
1 like • 17d
@Briggs Schneider @Jay George : Yes! Monster of the Week has the same thing Vaesen does: It’s called the countdown. What happens if the players don’t get involved or phone it in investigating the mystery. 😄
Prison Break?!?!
Anyone have any experience running a prison break? An NPC that had invented gun powder spoke up against the gov't and has been kidnapped. My players want to rescue him. Rather than a simple 'beat up the bad guys and rescue the NPC' has anyone done anything fun mechanically or story wise that would make the encounter memorable?
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New comment 16d ago
1 like • 18d
The introductory adventure in Scum and Villainy for the Firedrake crew is a prison break, so my number one piece of advice is lots of checks, fail forward, and tick clocks. If you’re in a pass/fail dice system like 5e or PF, you will need a way to brainstorm on the fly what could happen on a failed roll. Picking a lock? Success AND you let out a ferocious beast, knock over a table full of noisy gear, your weapons are far away, or aggressively tick a clock to get the guards to come find you. If you need help with inspiration for what to add, being a tarot deck, some Rory’s story cubes, or banter with the chatbot a little for all the awful things that could go wrong in a prison break in your genre.
Mechanics for stopping a ritual
Greetings everyone! My player will be trying to stop a cultist priests ritual next session. The ritual involves mushroom spores taking over the brains of people that have been captured. The cult has been making people disappear and when they come back, they’ve changed and are talking avidly of being “chosen” for something greater. So what I am struggling with, is mechanically how such an encounter can unfold. Would love to hear ideas and suggestions. We are playing DnD 5e (2014). Bjørn
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New comment 18d ago
1 like • 18d
I’m doing a little dance of joy with all the folks using other systems and rules ideas to solve this issue. Go team! 🙌
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James Willetts
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311points to level up
@james-willetts-2216
Big time RPGer, sound engineer by trade, improv theater novice, cat lover, father of two, always looking to improve my GMing and PCing. ☺️

Active 3d ago
Joined Aug 10, 2024
Tucson
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