The word “Gritty” seems to show up most often in reference to young audience media being adapted to an older audience. A gritty reboot. In that vein, I’ve adapted a tool for you, my fellow GMs, to establish the grittiness...
In comics, Stan Lee’s writing style from the 60s became known as The Marvel Method. As Stan Lee wrote more titles, the time he had for each title diminished. Additionally, his experience in comics taught him where the visual...
The short story is that, unfortunately, for the immediate future, I just don’t have time to write my blogs. The long story is less of a story and more a cathartic vent. I am someone who is happiest when...
Between movies, comics, and video games, I’ve seen and taken part in the destruction of a whole lot of Imperial All-Terrain Scout Transports. AT-STs are mostly there to give the heroes something larger than usual to destroy. Not in...
In last week’s Know Direction 223 – GM Tips from the Pathfinder Pros, I mentioned that my GMing style favours forward momentum. In the Know Direction Discord channel, Litis asked me to expand on what I meant by GMing with...
On my trip to Cuba last week, I was stung (by, I’m gonna say, a bee) for the first time in my life. Like any good GM, I immediately began making mental notes of the pain and discomfort I...
The motivation behind my mantra, that everyone games in different ways for different reasons, is rooted in my belief that to fulfill my role as fun facilitator, I must first understand why my players play the way they do....
Not long ago, I talked about using popular culture as inspiration for your campaigns. In that article, I focused on using tried and true concepts and designs as a starting point to make encounters memorable. However, a recent episode of...
Picture a Star Wars movie. Any Star Wars movie. OK, most Star Wars movies. Now picture a scene in that movie involving either a Jedi in training or someone mentoring a Jedi. What you are picturing is a potential...
For the longest time I scoffed at the idea that Die Hard is a Christmas movie, but a few years ago, after hearing it argued often, at length, and from a variety of angles, I realized that I don’t...