What’s New

I’ve started a “GM Tips” category to help get things started. Handy advice, mostly, and often links to a few files that I’ve created over the years or web sites that Games Masters should find useful.

GM Tips

To help manage your campaigns better and deal with last- minute real life issues that tend to come up, create a player contact sheet and put it in your GM binder, or keep
it on your computer with your other campaign files. Things to include on your contact sheet:

* Player name
* Day phone (and hours)
* Morning/Evening phone (and hours)
* Cell phone
* Day e-mail
* Alternate e-mail
* Typical available days
* Pick-up address/Directions

The range of phone numbers gives you the most flexibility for coordinating last-minute changes. When collecting these, ask for any acceptable use conditions (such as
contacting players at work only case of emergency).

E-mails are tricky because you don’t know how often players will check theirs and when they’ll be able to respond, so by getting a daytime e-mail you are again able to contact
players with greatest possible success.
Tracking alternate game days that players have available can make scheduling a lot easier and more efficient. If you can rule out a day, for example, that’s 1/7 of a rescheduling
decision made without making a single phone call.

Knowing players’ pick-up addresses and driving directions lets you pass those on without delay to drivers. This is especially important during last-minute commute changes.

All this might seem obvious, but if you don’t have a contact sheet prepped, consider stopping right now and whipping one up – even if it’s full of blanks. Get things filled out
before or during next session. As GM, you can use a player contact sheet to ensure sessions are as fully attended as possible with minimal starting delays.

Final point: ask what players’ privacy policies are. Some players want to keep their contact information (or certain pieces of it) private – even from fellow players, so gather this information and honour any requests.

Here’s a usable example :
http://roleplayingtips.mythosa.net/downloads/player_contact_sheet.xls

Posting schedule, and comments policy

I intend to post progress updates, and excerpts every week (or even more often if possible). Any and all polite comments are welcome and will be responded to warmly. Suggestions as to tweaks and “I’d really like this better if….” “How about…?” and all other *helpful* comments are especially welcome.

500 Plug N Play NPCs

500 Plus N Play NPCs is a tool for Games Masters who are suddenly caught out by their players diving off-plot and need an NPC on the spur of the poment. Or who are just looking for an inspirational plot-hook to hang their scenario idea from. Instant generation of bold and unusual NPC concepts in a vast range of situations. Sound interesting….? Tune in next week for more information….

Game Master Workshops

Game Master Workshop are something unique (as far as I know). Professional analysis of the skills a *good* Game Master has, and a set of progressive training exercises to help develop (or just polish) them. More details in the next post….

Entry-level Game World and system : Instant Game

Instant Game is snappy universal gaming system created to help gaming groups go from Character creation to playing in less than fifteen minutes. So that you can spend more time playing! It’s ideal for “pick-up” games or spare chunks of a gaming evening. Beginner GMs love it, too.
Character creation is rapid and character-concept-driven. Combat, role-playing and magic-use are fast-paced and flexible, with in-game rewards for creative play, team-playing and cool ideas. The core mechanism is capable of swiftly resolving to the GMs’ satisfaction any and all oddball skill checks the Players weird antics could provoke.
Instant Game includes an engaging, easily and swiftly presented, game world with an educational real-world medieval historical basis.
For those who feel fifteen minutes is too long, there are dozens of pre-made Characters ready for those who want to dive straight into the game-playing.

Coming soon

My qoal is to help Role Playing Game Masters acquire (or simply polish) the skills needed to be a good Game Master. To do that I intend to make available “Game Master Workshops” ebooks, an ideal entry-level game system and world and a handy little project I call “500 Plug N Play NPCs”….

Hello world!

Welcome to XperiencePoints!

XperiencePoints is dedicated to helping you free up more time to enjoy your role-playing games by providing hints, tips and game-aids to those in need.

The site is currently under construction but soon, soon….