Posts containing GMing advice
I love gaming, and I love GMing. GMing, sadly, is a time-consuming hobby. Beyond actually running game night, GMing requires a decent amount of preparation. Sometimes getting ready for the game can take longer than the session itself! That’s not ideal as, like you I expect, I’m a busy chap. Luckily, I’ve recently been testing a new plan to crush my GM prep woes and make my campaign more awesome.
It’s no secret, I like the old-school style of play. It’s what I grew up with (a long time ago) and it suits my insane desire to roll my characters’ stats and manage my resources. I am that cool.
As part of my ongoing design of Gloamhold and its innumerable shadow-drenched, doom-shrouded halls I’ve been thinking deeply about the nuts and bolts of adventure design. Here, I’m not talking about what monsters lurk where or what treasures they might guard. I’ve done that top-level plotting about the dungeon’s various denizens.
I’m coming to realise, the art of simplicity is a subtle one to master. If your game is too simple, you risk boring or alienating your players. If it’s too complex, you risk frustrating or alienating your players.
I’ve thought a lot about complexity (and simplicity) in campaign and adventure design recently. I’ve previously posted about the Paradox of Choice and KISS, but I can’t seem to shake the allure of simplicity.
