So the time has come to plan your adventure for the session, but you have a new player coming who may not know what’s going on. And chances are, the current adventure arc is full of complexities that the newcomer doesn’t understand and that would take hours to explain. This is a problem

Our niche tends to be a divided front on most issues, and combat in our games is no exception. Some of your players may not enjoy roll playing, which is rolling dice just for the sake of rolling dice, they may enjoy a bit more flair in their combat. What do their attacks look like? How awesome are they really? How can you make the attacks more interesting?

Let’s face it as GM, or a player, you only have so many characters in our arsenal and not all of them need to be a beautiful and unique snowflake. And that’s OK.

Everyone Should Play an Obnoxious Character. Because it provides players with an opportunity to be someone other than themselves, role-playing can be a powerful educational experience, teaching us many valuable social skills. Which is particularly useful, considering that the majority of us grew up as socially inept geeks.

I know what I am, and I know that you hate me. Admitting the truth is the first step to recovery they say, so here goes: I am a rules lawyer.

Fleshing out a characters background helps delve deeper into the psyche and allow for greater understanding of this person. But how does one get started?

Food is an integral part of culture and our lives, but it’s oft something overlooked in a roleplaying game. Eating is important to all cultures and dishes reflect those cultures and values. How do you add this excellent bit of flavor (if you’ll excuse the pun) to your games?

At some point nearly every role-playing session gets bogged down with out-of-character conversation, and in some cases this can bring an entire session to its knees. Although occasionally irritating, especially to a Game Master who has an important adventure planned, in most cases these diversions are tolerated and unconsciously encouraged.

This is because role-playing is social, and oftentimes it is the only opportunity we get to see our friends. Remember, one cannot role-play without other people (we call that dementia, and prescribe drugs for it). If you enjoy role-playing, it’s partially because you enjoy interacting with others.

The most immediately noticeable and commonly used aspect to any character is its name. Your character’s name will stick with you for an entire campaign, so it should be meaningful. Some people have a very difficult time choosing a quality character name, while others don’t even try.

Names come from somewhere. Figure this out, and the rest is easier.

Bringing in a new player to an established group can be a big challenge, especially if the new player has never played an RPG before, but even if not. The truth is, roleplaying is very intimidating. Even as an experienced player, joining a new group or learning a new game can be a source of fear. I recently joined a game of Legend of the Five Rings, and found myself overwhelmed by the depth of an unfamiliar setting and the nuances of a new rule system.