Gms, are your players losing focus? Do you struggle to keep them invested in the story? Do they like to run rampant for no reason at all? How do I keep them on track (mostly)? Simple: Rewards. One of the easiest things you can do is to simply award "story experience points" to you players. I have known a few DMs and GMs to do so while others stick to only CR-based experience points. Both ways to play are fine, but if you need that extra little push to keep your players on track, reward them for it. This push tends to encourage players to not just seek out the nearest monster or lair. With additional points being handed out, the players are less likely to spend an entire session grinding out experience points. So how do you award the players? Well, there are many ways to hand out the story-based experience points. I like to stick to a rule of " if it advances or evolves the story-line/plot, then reward the party ." These awards can range from maybe ju...

So with a very anti-climactic finish for myself, the road of season nine for Paizo's RPG Superstar contest comes to a close.  Why? Well, there were a few circumstances, but in the end they are all just useless excuses. What truly ended things for me was fear. I let my lack of confidence in myself and my artistic skills drag me down. I can't draw, so I really focused on making my map as 'artful' as I could and trying to avoid cluttering it with useless objects. I really tried to use up as much space as I could. All this attributed to a boring map with a 'cool design' that had wasted, filled space instead of wasted blank space. I do not feel bad about this being the end this season. Even with a better map design and description, the top 16 that advanced all did exceedingly well in my book. I know that I brought myself down and not advancing was by my own hand (and of course, 16 talented designers that had the confidence to run with their ideas). W...

So, my sincerest apologies for dropping the ball this past month. Things will get back on schedule, but not immediately I am afraid. So, the top 32 were just announced on Paizo.com . There are some good entries if I do say so myself. If you are following the contest (and I suggest that you do), you might see a familiar name: Donald Robinson . As in, me. Make sure you check in the contest starting September 8th for round 2 (and beyond). And please. Vote for me. Thank You! Will have the next part of our Adventure Creation Walk-Through as well as a new class up by Thursday, September 10th. Thank you to all that voted in the first round of the contest! Also, big congratulations to the other Top 32 and Alternates for season 9. There is some really, really solid competition. This is going to be a tough road for everyone. Good luck everyone!