Worldbuilding 101

Worldbuilding isn’t an easy task, and in this new series of posts, I will show you some tips and tricks to make it easier.  This week, it’s the people of your world.

A powerful tool in storytelling

There is a tool available to you as a Game Master that you almost never use. This tool can be used to control the game flow, game speed, and where is the adventure heading without it feeling unnatural. This tool is in all of your games, and it is part of your worlds. It is right in front of you. This tool is language...

About skills...

Today, I was wondering about skills in roleplaying games, and the way they are done. What are they representing, and what behaviours can a designer encourage by choosing the right mechanic to go with skills, because there is more to a skill than “roll a d20″…
Starting off, we should define what IS a skill in a roleplaying game. Skills, by and large, are the abilties of the characters that define what can they do. Some games, actually, most of the games, use skills along with an attribute system, and in these games the skills represent the know how the character has learnt over the years, opposed to the attirbutes, which represent the inherited affinity.