Many of the paper cuts we collected revolved around not having something you need when you need it. Maybe it’s pencils. Maybe it’s a new character sheet for a NPC created on the spot. Or maybe you simply have a new player over and don’t have dice for them. Fortunately, the solution to all of these problems is the same: proper preparation.

To be perfectly honest with you, I collect gaming crap. I try out lots of little tools to try and make the experience better, but in the end I just have a bunch of clutter. And so, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about a more elegant solution for my gaming needs. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve finally settled on the three ring binder as the centerpiece.

Sadly the Roleplaying Tools category of our blog tends to be woefully under utilized category in our blog.  Mostly because I’m long winded and can come up with way to many GM/player advice posts that don’t really fit in the “tools” category.  Fortunately for you, I found more tools to fill it with. Thinking Outside [...]

We’ve all spent hours looking at dice in our local game store.  We’ve carefully chosen those that call to us, usually based on looks.  Eventually, long after we’ve paid for them and come home, we cast them back into the Bag of Shame because they fail us constantly with a slew of terrible rolls.  Or, [...]

Figures, flats, minis, dice, tokens, we’ve used all of them. Sometimes, to mark where enemies are on the map, I’ve gone so far as to actually draw them on, in pen, because it’s all I had. Although I’d have to say that using LEGOs with custom made weapons is a new one on me, but [...]

I know a lot of people, many of which would possibly play in games I run. I just keep forgetting about them. So I’ve devised a way to keep track of them. I call it the Gamer Rolodex.

When we develop worlds what do we remember most? The sprawling landscapes, the epic adventure, or the great bartender in the tavern where the adventure started who retold his adventure from his younger days?

This weekend I was at a multiple day family function and couldn’t get my gaming fix. It was day two and the shaking had gotten so bad that I was considering knocking over convenience store so I could go buy a Monopoly board. That’s when I decided that I would have to put a game together. Fortunately, I had paper, pencils, and a prime audience for creating a new gamer: a fourteen year old boy. What I lacked were dice.

Savage Worlds combat can be the most brutal combat of any game system I’ve ever played. If the players roll poorly the end may be nigh. If the dice explode they win without too much of a problem. So how do we tip the scales in a oh so subtle way?

My old D&D group could be pretty crunch heavy. We wanted a way to express that our characters had knowledge that didn’t have skill points attached. What to do?