Recent Posts Tagged With verisimilitude

• Why Verisimilitude?

  Posted on Sunday September 13th, 2009 at 01:14 pm in blog, goals, Adventure, Background, history, realism, characters, scenery, storytelling, players, plot, rules

  Since this blog was started, I have had people ask me and the other authors exactly what verisimilitude means and why we use that word.  If you are a frequent reader of roleplaying articles, you will probably encounter this word and from its context...

• The DM’s Call: Consequences

  Posted on Tuesday September 1st, 2009 at 10:44 am in how to, campaign, realism, d&d, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, dnd, dm, role playing, john lewis, dungeons & dragons, better characters

  Consequences are one of the primary elements featured in the Dungeons & Dragons campaigns I run.  I try to continually reinforce with the players that their actions have impact on the world around them.  I do this for two primary reasons: first...

• The DM’s Call: Information; Reversal

  Posted on Friday August 28th, 2009 at 11:52 am in how to, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm, role playing

  A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article on managing the information characters acquire.  I talked about various ways to give out, control, manipulate, and use both information and misinformation to produce misconception and uncertainty.  I mention...

• The DM’s Call: Information

  Posted on Tuesday August 18th, 2009 at 08:31 pm in how to, resources, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm

  One of the players in my Friday night game is also the Dungeon Master of a separate game with a different group of players.  Over the past few weeks a couple of us from my group have been giving him some pointers and advice for running his game.  O...

• The DM’s Call: Roleplaying Responsibility

  Posted on Wednesday August 12th, 2009 at 11:28 am in blog, how to, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm

  Recently here at RoleplayingPro we’ve engaged in a few lengthy discussions revolving around roleplaying.  I know that’s really not too surprising given the title of this blog.  Specifically though, we have been discussing encouraging roleplayin...

• There’s No Room for Roleplaying in 4E? Find a different room.

  Posted on Saturday August 8th, 2009 at 02:04 pm in blog, how to, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm

  I just read an interesting editorial from D&D Insider that claims that there are actually people out there in cyberspace that have been saying “There’s no room for roleplaying in Fourth Edition.”  After a short search on the web, I found o...

• Building Memorable D&D Characters: Goals & Motivations

  Posted on Wednesday August 5th, 2009 at 11:52 pm in how to, resources, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm

  Welcome back to the latest installment of Building Memorable D&D Characters, the column dedicated to helping you make your Dungeons & Dragons character “come to life”.  So far we have discussed race and class, background, and most recent...

• The Gamemaster’s Arsenal: Stress-Free Gaming

  Posted on Monday August 3rd, 2009 at 10:31 am in blog, how to, resources, Creative, campaign, realism, gm, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dm

  Because it’s not you against them; that would imply they have a chance… Welcome to The Gamemaster’s Arsenal, the column dedicated to arming GM’s everywhere with the skills, knowledge, and creative energy necessary to provide the best possi...

• Building Memorable D&D Characters: Quirks & Flaws

  Posted on Wednesday July 29th, 2009 at 08:53 pm in blog, how to, resources, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd

  Welcome to latest Building Memorable D&D Characters.  In the last installment we talked about how character background can be used to develop a more interesting and compelling hero, this week we shift our focus from the character’s back-story ...

• Building Memorable D&D Characters: Backgrounds

  Posted on Wednesday July 22nd, 2009 at 11:44 pm in how to, resources, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm

  Welcome back to the second installment of Building Memorable D&D Characters.  In the first part we talked about how a character’s choice of race and class can be used to develop a more interesting and compelling hero; this week we shift our fo...

• Building Realism: Character Relationships

  Posted on Sunday July 19th, 2009 at 10:50 pm in how to, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm, role playing

  It’s safe to say that the majority of roleplaying games assume that the group is made up of characters that get along reasonably enough and share at least a few cooperative goals.  For our group I like everyone at the table (myself included) to ha...

• Building Memorable D&D Characters: Race & Class

  Posted on Wednesday July 15th, 2009 at 09:27 am in how to, resources, Creative, campaign, realism, d&d, players, Role Playing Games, roleplaying, character, dnd, dm

  Campaign longevity hinges on two important aspects of the game; having a DM that provides an interesting and compelling story and players that provide interesting and compelling characters.  This series of articles focus on the latter; building char...

• Building Realism: The Baseline

  Posted on Tuesday April 28th, 2009 at 09:32 am in blog, rpg, campaigns, cops, cop, roleplaying, npcs, prepare, game master, npc, bad guys, roleplaying game

  I had a long discussion yesterday with a couple of other gamers about Sam’s post regarding cops (5 Keys to Running Law Enforcement NPC’s) and the follow-up comments and it got me thinking once again about realism in RPG’s.  First of all; Sam g...

• Class-Based Character Backgrounds for D&D

  Posted on Wednesday April 1st, 2009 at 09:23 am in Background, resources, history, classes, roleplaying, character development, back story, dandd, 4th ed, verisimilitude, game mastering, fantasy roleplaying game

  In response to a comment posted in last week’s Experience Points column about character background, I offer up several answers to the question; “How did your character become a [insert class name here]?  Here are a few ideas about the events and...

• DM’s Toolbox: Patrons

  Posted on Thursday January 22nd, 2009 at 03:16 am in blog, rpg, campaign, roleplaying, patrons, dungeons and dragons, dandd, campaign design, verisimilitude, dungeon master, game sessions, dark legacy

  Something from my DM toolbox that I frequently employ in both campaign and adventure design is the patron.  Patrons are the movers and shakers of my campaign.  They are the people, creatures, organizations, and institutions that need things done an...