It has been about three weeks since the 200-word RPG challenge. There were many awesome entries! It was a fun design experiment as this was my first time entering. I made a little change to my original entry. Added a creature type and expanded the description and rules. You can also still see my original entry .  Jumble Rumble Two conjurers face-off in a deadly Summoner’s Duel. To win, summon jumbled creatures to dominate your opponent's creations. Feel free to add options, use dice with more sides for adding extra options, or add more players for a full-on Jumble Rumble! Rules: Players roll a six-sided die for each aspect of their summoned creature. A player rolls for a base creature, followed by an environment and an element. Next, players compare monsters. Players determine points earned against the other monster based on the charts below. The player with the highest score after three summons wins. Base Creature: 1- Dragon: +1 Demons and Celestials ...

 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet and Monte Cook (October 2000).  Monster Manual 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 34–35. ISBN 0-7869-1552-1. So, I was invited by a friend to en ter into this year's 200-word RPG Challenge  Organized by  David Schirduan  and  Marshall Miller . My entry is a dice game that can be played solitaire or with a friend(s). Each player creates random monsters using a d6. The player whose monsters has more advantages of the others wins. The rules are simple and can be expanded upon. In fact, once the contest is over, I'll expand out the rules for more summoning options. This was the first year I had known about it, and it sounded like fun. This was just a fun little project last week, and I hope you guys enjoy it. You can find my main entry here:  https://200wordrpg.github.io/2017/rpg/2017/04/21/JumbleRumble.html But, for now, I'll come back later to put the game and rules on this page once the contest ends. Ch...

Need a new puzzle to drop into your next D&D, Pathfinder, or other RPG system session? Remember last year when I first released my  Primary Wall of Force Puzzle  and been dying for a new one? Many D&D DMs and Pathfinder GMs, and players alike went berserk trying to solve the answer to my 'simple' puzzle last time. It was probably my most successful GM Tip to date. Well, I know it has been forever and a half since my last posting. I felt it was time to start making new puzzles to drop into your RPGs. (Perhaps one a little more memorable). Below you will find the puzzle. I will post the solution next week; however, if you need the answer so you can use this puzzle for your weekend game, then e-mail , tweet , or post on my facebook page . The rules for this puzzle are simple. Follow the logic train. If you use this in a game, make sure you reserve the name spellings. That's your first hint! Name Persistence Valyrie L. and James C. are of equal persistenc...

Making Old Monsters New Again Your players have successfully navigated the treacherous network of caverns in search of [insert name of Famous BBEG #37]. Kicking down the door, they think he is caught by surprise. His laughter echoes among the cavern walls. The ground ripples beneath their feet. The expanse between the party and BBEG #37 erupts in a shower of carrion, rocks, and debris. The master's pet has been summoned. The heroes look upon the new foe with... well... disappointment. The DM has once again tossed another Purple Worm/Pit Fiend/other monster the DM fancies just a little too much. Complete let-down. Oh, but wait! This one has Resistance to ______. And a precast buff spell. Make that THREE spells! Just no. Stop. No. You're done. Go home and think about what you have done. Then come back and we can fix this. I'll wait. Don't worry. Okay, are you ready? So making new monsters isn't your thing. Or maybe you just find it difficult. Don't worry, Th...

The Perfect Aide for Beating Writer's Block Today's RPG product review is on Rory's Story Cubes . (You can visit the company's  Home Page  here). [This post contains affiliate links] "Now wait a minute! These aren't an RPG product," I am sure some of you are thinking already. You're right. These were made as solitaire/party game.   Rory's Story Cubes  were designed to be a story-telling board game for 1-12 players. There are 9 d6s with a total of 54 different images. The Story Cubes are a multi-award winning product, including Dr. Toy "10 Best Games Winner." There are many different ways to play this game, and I am sure you will find more information on board game review sites (such as  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/20545/rorys-story-cubes ). So... how do these relate to RPGs and Writer's Block? (Review & Usage Notes) Rory's Story Cubes  make a claim that there are over 10 million combinations. Let me do some...

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...

King’s Dice King’s Dice is a gambling game designed for use in any D&D/Pathfinder/RPG . Feel free to use and adapt as you wish. The game and rules are as follows: The King's dice is a mix of luck and strategy. Set-up: Each Player uses 20 d6s (can be purchased as a brick). There is a "King's Die" which is a d20. Before the game begins, all Characters/players must agree on how much money to wager and the amount each die will be worth. The money is put up front and held until the end of the game. Ex: Players agree to 200gp, thus each die is worth 10gp. Game-play: One player starts with the King's Die rolls the die. Based on the result of the King's die, all players (starting with the person left of who rolled the King's Die and ending with the person who rolled the King's Die) go around the table saying how many dice they will roll and pick up that number. After all players have stated how many dice they will roll, all ...

How often do you roll your d12s? No, mistaking it for a d20 does not count. But seriously, think about it? When you go for a 2-handed martial character, you are more likely to grab that greatsword for 2d6 19-20/x2 over a greataxe with a 1d12 x3. The greatsword even saves you a few pounds off your carrying capacity. Then you start looking into larger weapons and the d12 fades away to 3d6 and never shows its poor, pudgy self again. The more I think about it, the more I realize that the d12 is just the fat kid of the dice pool with poor hygiene or something. No one wants to play with him. It is like, “why take that one when I can get those two?” Difference between 1d12 and 2d6: an average of 0.5. At higher levels, you have rogues and damage blasters rolling all these d6s. The only time the poor fat kid gets a chance to roll, is when he is mistaken for a d20, aka “Chris Farley”. I mean, admit it, you know Chris Farley was just plain awesome. Everyone would hang out with him if given the ...