Tales from the Gazebo – Mile Wide, Inch Deep: Bards, Part 5
Mile Wide, Inch Deep: Bards, Part 5
By Cape Rust
Wow, it has only taken me 5 weeks to finish my discussion of the beloved/dreaded bard. I’m going to wrap this series up with a discussion of performances, role-playing performances and the magic of music. For all of the areas that bards are an inch deep, performances are a major exception. Bards perform, and as a GM you have to remember this. Depending...
Tales from the Gazebo – Mile Wide, Inch Deep: Bards, Part 4
Mile Wide, Inch Deep: Bards, Part 4
By Cape Rust
No foreplay for you; last week sneaky, sneaky Bards and Seekers of the Song, this week, other types. Next I’ll look at the dilettante; this is the type of bard that I think most people have encountered at their gaming table. This is the dabbler, who really doesn’t care about anyone but themselves. Yes a player can have a bard that dabbles and cares...
Tales From the Gazebo – Mile Wide, Inch Deep: Bards, Part 3
Mile Wide, Inch Deep: Bards, Part 3
By Cape Rust
We have spent the last few weeks discussing bards, and yes I have gotten long winded as bards are apt to do, but I figure we might as well do this right. Last week we discussed the “type” of party that a bard might fit into. OK, I mostly went into using PC bards in that role that you, as a GM, normally reserve for that one NPC who knows things...
Tales From the Gazebo – Mile Wide Inch Deep: Bards, Part 2
Mile Wide Inch Deep: Bards, Part 2
Cape Rust
Ah the bard… Yea… That guy… They guy who does that thing, where he well you know….. As a class, bards are confusing. It is hard to gauge where they fit into a party or even what type of party they fit best in. Sometimes the type of bard a player chooses to play will answer the question above, but sometimes the answer isn’t quite clear. When you...
Tales from the Gazebo – Mile Wide, Inch Deep; Bards, Part 1
Mile Wide, Inch Deep… Bards, Part 1
By Cape Rust
Of all of the core classes presented in fantasy games, I think I have seen and heard the most debate about bards. They are polarizing; people seem to love them or hate them and I think it is as much about the class as it is about the folks who tend to play them. I have heard the bard called everything from overpowered to useless, thus the mile...
Tales from the Gazebo – Head First: Barbarians, Part 3
Head First: Barbarians, Part 3
By Cape Rust
Here we are, week 3, dedicated to barbarians, and the hits just keep coming. Last week I discussed a few barbarian concepts and the introduction of a code to drive barbarians. This week I will get back on track and discuss some interesting multi-classing options and barbarians without borders.
I will use the term multi-classing because, let’s face it,...
Tales from the Gazebo – Head First: Barbarians, Part 2
Head First: Barbarians, Part 2
By Cape Rust
Last week was the genesis of my discussion on barbarians and how to incorporate them into your game, this week I’ll wrap up discussing different barbarian concepts and how GMs can integrate them into their game. I finished up last week’s article with some tips for your typical barbarian, so here I go with a few more concepts.
There is always the beastmaster....
Tales From the Gazebo – Head First: Barbarians, Part 1
Head First: Barbarians, Part 1
By Cape Rust
“Mogra smash bad guys! Mogra eat, Mogra drink, Mogra rut with males!” For some players and GMs this is all the barbarian is good for and it tends to be all that some barbarians will ever do. If Mogra is the only type of barbarian you’ve ever played or seen played, then you have been missing out. Remember, one person’s barbarian is another...
Tales From the Gazebo – CLASSics: Fighter, Part 2
CLASSics: Fighter, Part 2
By Cape Rust
Last week I started this series with the fighter and as usual I got long winded, so here we are with yet another part 2. Writing last week’s installment was actually quite easy. Most of the advice I gave my epic readers had to do with suggestions for making combat better in your games for fighters. This week I’m going to touch on the somewhat difficult subject...
Tales From the Gazebo – CLASSics: Fighter… I Don’t Even Know Her!
CLASSics: Fighter… I Don’t Even Know Her!
By Cape Rust
Hanging behind the bar in the small tavern is a battered shield and a well used, well maintained sword. The bar keeper sees you eying the hardware and tells your character not to get any ideas. As a player you know that these “relics” belong to the bar keep, because let’s face it, every grizzled old bar keeper has a past. But...
Tales from the Gazebo – CLASSic Introduction
CLASSic Introduction
By Cape Rust
For the next few weeks I’ve decided to delve into some of the staple classes encountered in fantasy role playing games. Because the focus of Tales from the Gazebo is on GMs, I’m going to pass along some tips to make playing these classes more interesting to your players and ensuring that each class gets enough of the spotlight. Most people running games have...
Tales from the Gazebo – Religion
Religion
By Cape Rust
Religion is a touchy subject for most people in the real world, and sometimes this can translate into their “in game faith” as well. Many fantasy games include polytheistic religious systems that mirror real world religions. As a GM it is always incumbent upon you to make the world your players inhabit feel alive and fluid; religion is a great tool to do just that.
While...
Tales From the Gazebo – Reusing Old Gaming Products
Reusing Old Gaming Products
By Cape Rust
Last week I discussed rivers and river crossings, this week I want to talk about reusing old products for new games. The amount of and types of information that supplements provide has changed over the years. Things started out very basic, then they trended towards hyper-detailed and now the trend, in my humble opinion, has gone to a plot hook dropping format...
Tales From the Gazebo – You can Never Cross the Same River Twice
You can Never Cross the Same River Twice
By Cape Rust
I’m sure most of you have heard that saying and based on the fact that this article is about running games you shouldn’t be surprised that I am going to apply it to running games. Actually it applies to running games and participating in games. We have all sat around the table before or after a campaign has ended talking about the highlights...
Tales from the Gazebo – Guns in Games: Parting Shots
Guns in Games: Parting Shots
By Cape Rust
Here we are at the end of my Guns in Games series. Rather than talking about a specific time period and the guns you might find in it, I want to finish this series by giving you, my fellow GMs, a few tips on describing guns in your games using sight, smell and feel.
Sight: visual descriptions are key to almost any successful RPG. In fact, I have met a few...
Tales from the Gazebo – Guns in Games: Today and Tomorrow
Guns in Games: Today and Tomorrow
By Cape Rust
Well we have run the gambit of weapons throughout time. Hitting on some of the highlights, we are almost at the end of this firearm filled journey. In fact, next week we will hit the finish line! Today we will hit on modern firearms in RPGs and speculate how firearms will be used in future settings.
Modern firearms are actually easy to deal with. As...
Tales from the Gazebo – Guns in Games: Steam Pow!
Guns in Games: Steam Pow!
By Cape Rust
Even with our break last week in the name of love, nothing can stop this series. Sure things can slow it down; but this train is still on the tracks and we have to move on. Steampunk has given authors, GMs and game designers the ability to greatly increase the things that guns can do in an alternate Victorian setting.
First, steampunk is so much more than adding...
Tales from the Gazebo – Sidebar: What’s Love got to do With it?
Sidebar: What’s Love got to do With It?
By Cape Rust
The last three weeks have been about guns, but with Valentine’s day fast approaching I thought why not take my finger off of the trigger and discuss love in RPGs. If you have never had to deal with love in RPGs then you are lucky. Just like in real life, love in RPGs can get complicated quickly. As a GM the last thing you need is more complications...
Tales from the Gazebo – Guns in Games: Draw Lunger!
Guns in Games: Draw Lunger!
By Cape Rust
In the real world as time marched on, so did the advances in gun technology. Black powder and flintlocks gave way to cartridges, single shot weapons became multi-shot weapons, and things got much more dangerous to the folks or creatures who found themselves on the business end of these improved firearms. From a gaming perspective, two of the gun genres that...
Tales from the Gazebo – Guns in Games: Swashbuckling Balls! (Musket balls that is)
Guns in Games: Swashbuckling Balls! (Musket balls that is)
By Cape Rust
The crossbow could be seen as one of the first rifle-like weapons. They had a trigger, they had a stock and they took a long time to reload (a full combat round depending on what rules system you are using). Crossbows added the benefit of providing “firepower” the common soldier could easily learn to use. The first man portable...
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