I've never taken part in RPGaDAY, though I've been following other creators as they cover prompt on blogs and podcasts for years. #RPGaDAY seeks to bring positivity through interesting discussion centered on a specific prompt for each day of August. I'll be going through the prompts on a weekly basis and all thoughts offered are those of myself, Joe Salvador, and not those of Raven God Games LLC and we are not connected to any of the games or companies mentioned. Links are provided for your convenience only.
You can learn more about RPGaDAY here.
DAY 8: An Accessory you appreciate. Nothing like a good notebook. I carry a notebook to work and keep another on the desk at home. As a GM (and creator), I always have one game or another in the back of my mind and I jot ideas down in my notebooks---everything from little maps, inspiration taken from books or other media, cool names I come across, to thoughts on rules.
DAY 9: An Accessory you'd like to see. Hard one. How about one I'd like to see in my collection? I'd like a foldable, leather dice tray, one with the button up sides and a cool embossed design.
DAY 10: RPG you'd like to see on TV. I mean... a good Conan series would hit home.
DAY 11: RPG With well supported One-Shots: Mothership! Mothership has a such an incredible following of creators and many have released one-shots, most that fit on a single sheet of paper. What's more is that they cover a broad range of styles, from combat heavy bug hunt to exploration, you can certainly find something to suit your interests.
DAY 12: RPG with well-supported Campaigns: AD&D 2E. Going old-school here, Second Edition AD&D had I don't know how many settings and they were supported with scores of campaign releases. I can't vouch for the quality of all of them, but they were plentiful for sure. I remember playing through Ravenloft: The Grim Harvest and some form of Al-Qadim: Caravans (iirc) run by my friends and having a great time with both, but a few I've always had my eye on Night Below, which is sitting on my shelf now...
DAY 13: Evocative Environments. Environments are often easily-forgotten, but they can bolster the scene that the GM is trying to set, increase tension, and build atmosphere. Use the senses---play up odors, the temperature, the weather, the dusk settling in and vision becoming blurred---these set the mood and help make the world feel real. Its something I struggle with as GM, I get caught up in thinking about NPCs, monsters, rules and will forget to describe something, even if I had thought about it ahead of time.
DAY 14: Compelling Characters. Characters are the heart of role-playing and while character creation rules can help create interesting characters, its truly up to the players to make their characters interesting. I'd even say that the rules don't matter---I've seen compelling characters in extremely rules light games and in heavy games---its more important that the player becomes interested in playing the character and learning where their adventures take them. GMs can help by being a fan of the players and simply asking questions to spark their imaginations---how does your PC feel about this? What are you thinking?
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