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Here
you will find a collection of tips, tricks, hints, and advice
on gamemastering an adventure game for young people, keeping
the game fun and involving, and finding inspiration for future
adventures. Some of these tools are located right here on
the Young Person's Adventure League website, while
others are located on other websites, or even printed
onto sheets of paper and bound into a cover. (Do they
still do that in your day and age?)
THE
TINKERER'S TOOLS
Here
are tips and advice that you can find right here on the
site:
The Golden Rules of Adventure
Games - The very core rules of good gamemastering
for any role-playing game. You may wish to reference this
list frequently.
How
to Role-Play with Young People - A collection
of the best advice on the subject. Soon to also be available
as a PDF document, so that you may print a copy to keep
with you when your electronic computational device
is not handy.
Getting
an Early Start - When it comes to roleplaying
with young people, you don't have to wait until your polyhedral
dice are no longer a choking hazard. Here are a list of
ways to roleplay kids of almost any age, to help inspire
their interest for more complex games later on.
PRINT
AND PDF TOOLS
Below
are printed (and electro-printed) publications
filled with tips and advice for roleplaying gamemasters:
Roleplaying with Kids - An extraordinary
guide to fostering a new generation of gamers, this book
by Sandy Atunes, Mike Holmes, Sam Chupp and Zak Arnston
includes sections on kids at conventions, playing with mixed
groups of adults & children, non-combat gaming, rewards,
violence in gaming, and much, much more.
On
top of it all, it also includes two simple gaming systems
to run for children - Sam Chupp's "Six Stones"
live-action system, and Zak Arnston's "Shadows."
You can purchase your copy directly from Technomancer
Games for the mere pittance of $12.99
Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering - This
slim little volume is packed to overflowing with exceptional
gamemastering advice from one of the biggest names in game
design, Robin Laws.
Trouble
is, the print edition is a little hard to find, as the book
went out of print in 2002. When you can find it, the going
price can exceed $150 - quite a steep fee to pay for a 38
page book!
Thankfully,
a PDF edition is available at sjgames.com
for the much more reasonable price of $7.95. If you happen
to possess one of those electronic computational devices,
along with an electronic page scribing console,
you should be able to produce a printed copy in practically
no time at all. Amazing, the things we can do nowadays,
isn't it?
Gamemastering Secrets - An excellent hardcover
volume with contributions by a crew of excellent game authors,
including none other than Sam Chupp (of Changeling,
Dragonkin,
and Square One
fame!). You can find a copy at your local game shop (always
check there first!) or, oddly enough, on the shores of the
Amazon River...
Grrrrauuuth!
Grnnnnnooooor!
...what's that, Anna?
GRRRAUUUTH! *spit*
Oh? Really? How silly of me...
Anna
informs me that should be on Amazon.com,
and not the Amazon River. My mistake. However, if you've
already managed to travel to the Amazon due to my err, be
certain to look for Fabiano's Gaming Shop and Adventure
Gear Emporium. You'll be glad you did.
The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible -
This softcover volume authored by Sean Patrick Fannon not
only includes tips on organizing a gaming group, handling
troublesome players, and more - it also includes a history
of the roleplaying hobby, as well as a brief index of RPGs
in different genres. The second (and latest) edition of
this book was released in 2000, and as such, the index is
a bit dated - but it could still inspire ideas for future
adventures.
Check
your local gaming store for a copy, or visit Amazon.com.
ONLINE
TOOLS
Below
are tools that are located on other sites that you can visit
right this very minute to sate your hunger for
roleplaying advice. Ah, instant gratification...
GAMEMASTERING
TIPS
Kids-RPG
Yahoo Group - The most obvious source of information
on playing role-playing games with young people, it is listed
here only in the event that you have somehow managed to
avoid visiting it by now.
roleplayingtips.com
- A weekly electronic digest of roleplaying tips of all
possible sorts, from how to improve your speaking voice
to how to deal with unruly players. Be certain to pay special
attention to issue
188 - 5 Tips for Roleplaying with Younger Children and
Role-Playing
Games and Kids by Katrina Middelburg-Creswell.
The
Big List of RPG Plots - Compiled by S. John
Ross, this list is indispensable for any gamemaster attempting
to create a story for an adventure game. The Big List
contains summaries for over 30 common story plots to
mix, match, twist, and otherwise manipulate into an adventure
scenario. A PDF version for printing is available here
- I personally have a copy tucked inside my satchel and
in the inside cover of every adventuring notebook that I
own.
Gamemastering Secrets
- The website for the hardcover book Gamemastering Secrets
(see below) has a great collection of links and resources
in the Bookshelf
and GM's
Web sections.
Fudge Factor
- An online periodical for the FUDGE
roleplaying game, filled with excellent support material
from FUDGE devotees. You won't want to miss the
FUDGE
For Young Kids article - the tips given here can really
be applied to any RPG at all.
CHARACTER
TOOLS
Heromachine
2.0 - A fantastic web-based tool for creating
superhero illustrations - perfect for most any superhero
RPG. Many options are available to help make each creation
unique.
RPGSheets
- Links to hundreds of character sheets for popular RPGs.
Includes official sheets as well as user-created sheets.
CHARACTER
GENERATION PROGRAMS
Making
characters can be time-consuming work. These programs aim
to reduce the time and effort involved in creating characters.
Redblade
- A feature-rich character generator for d20
based RPGs that can be customized to work with other systems.
PCGen - Another excellent character generator
for d20 games, with the potential
to be used for other roleplaying rule systems.
RANDOM
GENERATION TOOLS
Creating
new character names, descriptions, locations, and more can
really wear out a person's creativity after a while. That
may have been the same line of thinking that prompted the
crafting of these random generators. Simply enter in a small
amount of data, and the artificial intellect will
serve up some inspiration post-haste. (Where do they hide
all of the springs and gears?)
Serendipity
- Generate names and descriptions for characters of several
different cultures, places, objects, and even stories.
The
Everchanging Book of Names - A shareware program
that generates random names in a very sophisticated manner.
Proppian Fairy Tale Generator - Generate your
own fairy tale, then send your adventurers through it, or
use it as the backstory.
Dave's
Funky Premise Generator - Generates a simple
premise and genre, which could be the springboard for your
next big campaign, or something completely silly. In some
cases, it could even be both.
Dungeon
Generator - will generate a black and white
dungeon map that you can print out and populate, based on
your own custom settings. By Jamis Buck, master of D&D
generators.
D&D
3.5 NPC Generator - Another creation by Jamis
Buck, this tool generates random non-player characters for
your Dungeons & Dragons
game.
FANTASY FONTS
Below
are collections of typefaces that can be installed into
your electronic page scribing console. Use them
for map legends, special documents, letters, or any other
sort of handout for your adventurers. Some of the non-English
characters could even be used for coded messages that the
party's cryptographer must decipher! The possibilities are
without limit!
Cumberland Fontworks -
Nifty fonts by S. John Ross, the creative mind behind the Risus RPG and
the Big List of RPG Plots. Included are fonts for making hex and
grid paper, and even a font called Flagstone that lets you create
dungeon floorplans. Lord
Kyl's Fonts - A humble collection of fonts.
Many good choices here, including lots of strange and cryptic
characters.
Dan
Smith's Fantasy Fonts - A modest collection,
but be sure not to miss his Celtic Knotwork fonts, which
will allow you to create knotwork borders.
The
Thieves Guild - Another good collection, including
a Moon Phase font.
MAPS
What
is an adventure without a good map to plan and plot over?
Dungeons
& Dragons Map-A-Week - The official Dungeons
& Dragons website has a large collection of
free maps that can be used with most any adventure game
- not just D&D.
The
Thieves Guild - These rogues come through again
with a nice collection of ready-made maps.
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