RPG Narration Through the Eyes of Viewpoint Characters

We Dungeon Masters often describe our roleplaying game worlds like neutral, all-seeing narrator robots, and that means we’re wasting a lot of potential. Fantasy authors use this trick of picking viewpoint characters to provide sharper, more useful, more flavorful narration filtered through their characters’ expert lenses. Of course, that would never work at a Dungeons & Dragons table. We couldn’t possibly use viewpoint characters to punch up our scene-setting narration. Or could we?

Should You Really Talk To Your Players About Their Characters?

We Game Masters never think about narrative points of view. We just default to the thing we’ve always done. Years ago, I suggested that it was time to switch from calling players you to a third-person approach. It was great for pacing and clarity, but it also changed how players connect to their characters. But is that a problem? More importantly, have you ever considered how your narrative point-of-view affects your game?

Actually… You Are an Author

As a Game Master, you are an author, but that doesn’t mean what most people think it does. What it mostly means is that you can learn a lot of stupid narration tricks from authors. And video games.

The Battletoads Problem

How do you build a good monster hunt that feels like an actual monster hunt? It’s do-able, but you have to be careful not the make your game the Battletoads of D&D campaigns.

Let’s Build a Pretty Good Dungeon: How Players Explore

Now it’s time for the third and final short essay laying out the underlying design approach for our pretty good dungeon. Except this isn’t the final one and it isn’t short. This one’s all about how players decide where to go next.

The Anatomy of a Screwjob

Today, I’m going to tell you exactly how to screw over your players. That’s so you can stop yourself from doing it. Because screwjobs are bad.

Order Matters: Guided Nonlinearity and Closed Openness

When it comes to gameplay experiences, order matters. What comes first, what comes next, it’s literally a game changer. So what’s a conscientious adventure maker to do when roleplaying game is all about letting players explore any way they want?

How Well Do You Know Your PCs?

How much of your prep time should you spend before the start of a campaign reviewing the players’ characters? How much time should you spend before each session reviewing their Reactions and Bonus Actions? I’m willing to bet the correct answer is, “More than you do.”

More Shapey Goodness

Before I move on from Scenario Shape, let’s talk a bit about we might apply these ideas to detailed Encounter building. When we actually get to that. Someday.

How Shape Shapes Scenarios

Now that you’ve learned how to break a scenario design into hierarchical levels, I can show you how to spot — and plan — a scenario’s shape. And what that means. And why its good.

Structure All the Way Down

More True Scenario Design and more on structure. Actually, the real structure discussion starts here. Last time, I breathlessly yelled about what makes good structure good and bad structure suck. Now I’m actually going to show you structure. I’ll even outline a crappy adventure you can finish for your own use if you suck at tone and genre.

Real Game Masters Run Half-Baked Adventures

Let’s celebrate the start of the year’s back nine with an inspiring and uplifting message about how you misunderstood everything I said about everything about whether or not you suck and you suck for that. Or, to say it another way, let’s talk about real, human Game Masters balance good design with practical prep and polish.

Struction: An Introduction to Structure

It’s time to open a new chapter in our True Scenario Designery journey. So let’s talk about how scenario structure is like the beams and masts that hold up a confection shaped like an animated porifera. You heard me.

Post-Play Pre-Prep Prep

Basic game mastering tricks anyone can use? Promises of brevity broken? Alliterative potty jokes? Sounds like classic Angry.

Open-Endedness, Open Challenges, and Hat Theory

This rambling rant covers a lot of ground about the many hats a Game Master has to wear and why you shouldn’t worry about worry about open-endedness or creativity when you’re writing adventures. Seriously.

Challenge Or Goal?

In this informal little digression from the main True Scenario Designery lessons, I’ll help you suss out the difference between goals and challenges. Because, as some of my supporters are about to learn, they’re easy to confuse.

What Do You Do When You Lose the Plot (Part III)

Here it is, as promised, only three weeks later — I said weeks; did you hear days — the last part in the What Do You Do When You Lose the Plot miniseries. This is the part where I tell you my secret five-step recovery plan to bring any project back on track when it’s gone off the rails. As long as it’s a gaming project. This isn’t life advice.

Momentum: Building Victory

Today, I teach you about the second of a pair of complementary gameplay dynamics vital to making winnable — and losable — adventures that feel great to play.