Day Jobs

I always wish I could be brave enough to tell people that I'm a Dungeon Master when they ask what I do.  I have yet to accomplish this bravery.  I imagine the looks on the faces would be picture worthy.  Here's to all of us being willing to share what really defines us in life rather than what we do to pay the bills.  And damn you to those lucky few who get paid to do what they love most in life.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Mythology

Mythology is a great place to go looking for ideas to steal for your game.  It's even better if the mythology is unknown to your players.  On the other had it can be great if it is known to them.  There's nothing quite like the "oh shit" look on a player's face when they realize what they're up against.  It can also make for a neat campaign.  I've run two games set in ancient greece as told by mythology.  Monsters, diety intervention.  The whole 9 yards.  All in all the games were fun.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Treasure

Always remember to diversify.  You never know when you might end up in a place where one type of shiny is not accepted, rending much of your wealth useless.  Shiny acquisition has been part of the RPG hobby for a long long time.  It's motivational factor comes up again and again.  It's a great fall back if you can't find anything else your character wants.  And explains why you'd risk your life on some crazy endeavor in the first place.  Now I want to make a character who's battlecry is "For the shinys!".  Too many characters, too little time.

Art from WotC Art Archive
LooneyDM out

BBEG

You know you've arrived as a DM when your players fear even the description of the BBEG.  Or the mention that they might be around.  In any respect when you can create a monstrosity that your players prefer not to face you have succeeded as a DM.

LooneyDM out

Deadlines

I always remember that I should update the blog at the worst time.  Much like I always remember that I need to do game prep at the worst time.  And by worst time I mean 30 minutes before I need to have it done.  So how about you?  Have you ever remembered that you needed to prep for a game shortly before it was supposed to begin?  My biggest forget is npc tokens for my online game.  I have quite a pile of tokens for the online tools I use but I frequently find that I need a specific one that I don't have.  It makes for a lovely point of panic when I'm creating tokens for the encounter as the players are setting up their tokens on the map.  Such is the price of forgetfulness and not minding ones deadlines.

Art from here
LooneyDM out

Battlecry

There are times for inspiring and heroic battlecries.  There are times for battlecries that strike fear into the hearts of your enemies.  And then there are times where it doesn't matter what you say so you say something that everyone will remember.

Art from GIS for "The Tick"
LooneyDM out

Spiders

Warning! Spider.  Lots of spider.  Look away if you don't like them.  I haven't ever intentionally put spiders in games with players who I know have fears of them, but I've seen it done.  The panic was epic.  Lots of flailing and nearly running away from an easy encounter.


Art from WotC art archive
LooneyDM out

Disease

Warning, crazy disease related picture.  So I've been sick.  Hence the missed day on Wednesday.  I wish I could say that was the only thing I missed that Wednesday.  On the subject of diseases in D&D and other games, they're relatively rare.  While there have been epic quests in fantasy to cure loved ones or other important people the disease related effects on players tend to be minimal.  Like ability damage, no one wants to be out of action for long.  Especially not the multiple sessions it could require to cure up the disease if the cleric's remove disease isn't going to cut it.  More often they player will try to live with any side effects.  Which is how you end up with an entire party infected with lycanthropy.  But that's another story for another time.

Art from GIS for "disease"
LooneyDM out