RPG Mainframe

Get your pen and paper ready for this one. I propose a method to marry the opposing forces of GM prep and true player agency. No easy love affair, but with a few 'blobs and fingers,' I think I have an answer.

As I faced the uncertainty of running a new cyberpunk campaign, I discovered a useful dichotomy in my thinking: working toward moments of feeling versus moments of revelation. Join me for another critical look at how we create.

Take some time to analyze your own pushing and pulling behaviors as a GM. A dynamic balance of assertive and passive components will make your game, like any good conversation, feel good to all present.

I go into some cognitive research on using pen and paper over digital tools. Let's get all sciencey, and reinforce what I see as the absolute CORE of what we do (yes, even moreso than DICE!) ... writing.

25 days of crazy work to create my system-free play world: Bearcats. Here's the play by play on the hurdles and triumphs. 

Join me for a talk about confronting what you're 'currently struggling with' and the three methods I've working on to improve my NPC game at the table.

I take some time to sit and talk about how we can find more mental energy for our games by releasing our prep, expectations, and concerns when we're at the table. I've only got so much brain power, so I need it HERE! NOW!

A creepy ghost story, and a discussion of implementing deadliness, lethal defenses and other fast-kill methods into your boss designs.

Three clutch criteria for deciding whether or not new, created or assimilated mechanics matter in your game. 

Just a straight gab on dice, where they came from, why we love 'em, what brands are my favorites, and how they get used in RPG's! No big theory here, just chewin' the fat.

This episode has me hollerin' about my ups and downs creating the new supers supplement for ICRPG... VIGILANTE CITY. It was a wacky road, but as always, let's find ways to ENJOY our creative projects and let go of expectations and baggage.

Know where you came from! I realized while playing Chrono Trigger that almost all my ideas come from that wonderful game in some form. This isn't a bummer, but a new wellspring of creative renewal. Join me for a spirited report of my recent playthrough and deep-think.

Your mind, and its ability to apply itself, see new possibilities, and be truly authentic is the key to your creativity. Join me in this special episode to explore three ancient methods to enhance your mind, and more importantly : YOU. 

Why are we so engrossed in this glorious hobby? What is it we truly seek? Let's look within for answers, and take it seriously.

Our hobby is evolving at a crazy rate these days, and yet I see so many tables swirling in a confusing morass of slow play, burdensome math, and lopsided player attention. Rally with me to a better future!

I take a moment to ponder the future, and how language impacts my game.

In this episode, inspired by THE ORDER OF THE AMBER DIE, I dive into tracking stats in your game, and how it can lead you to a THESIS on the improvements you've been craving. 

5 sessions of bone crushing action into my new at-home table game, and things have gone bonkers. Come hang out, I take a minute to catch you up on every detail of how I planned it, and what happened despite those plans!

This episode of Mainframe goes deep on how the 'plan 1 night at a time' method works, if ICRPG is suited to long term play, and how campaigns can ever be published when they are so dynamic.

I take an episode to talk about my compact sci-fi PDF adventure: The Mercury Dale.

This meaty episode explores the method of 'attacking' your room target, making everything easier if possible for players. Dynamic roll targets rock, so let's get into it. 

After the awesome RIN CON, I reflect on things learned.

In this oddball episode, I experiment with direct 'read-aloud' type text for my adventure: Doomvault.

Four key bullets to create and improvise a unique culture in your RPG world.

Knowing your 'Whole Truth' is the key to improvising continuity, nuance, intrigue and emotion in a session. In this episode, I apply this to my adventure 'Hell's Hearth.'

Thoughts and feels after a weekend in RPG crazy land!

A huge topic for huge creative moments. Let's take it apart.

Reader mail! Make 'em retreat? JUNK'D updates. How to execute kickass intro's. Come and hang out a while.

Let's stop grinding gears with the term 'attention defecit.' I think of it as Attention Surplus Syndrome. A. S. S. Let's taco 'bout it. 

In this episode, I talk about possible dangers and 'incoming perils' in my Warp Shell sci-fi setting.

Once again, reader questions answered.

The fiction of Lovecraft has influenced so much of D&D... let's take a closer look.

Let's take a minute to consider how we can make TotM all it's destined to be.

We all love lore.. it sets us off in new directions, sparks ideas, informs players. I take some time to explore some unseen lore from my world of Alfheim. 

One of the most acclaimed episodes of Mainframe talks about making your GM prep part of your weekly fun habit. Can prep be as fun as playing? 

Long have designers sought a truly GM-less game system. Is it a thing worth pursuing?

At the core of all RPG making is writing. This podcast explores some of my practices and ideas for better written material, and happier brain.

Another round of answering readers questions!

Adventure inversion, dramatic questions, and so-called dump-statting hit the creativity desk, as we examine new ways to mix up adventure design.

CHUNKS are simple conceptual pieces of monsters, vehicles, or hazards that include abilities. Destroy the CHUNK, eliminate the ability. The uses are many... here are a few ideas.

Presenting monsters in groups is cool, but even better is a 'set' of foes that present variable challenges all at once. Let's get into it.

I take a break from the usual and answer all kinds of reader mail.

All great games need motion in their intensity... something building up. This talk focuses on methods and ideas for that... the art of escalation.

This episode throws a blob of playable material your way, as our little goblin hero makes his way to a magical tower and (certain?) doom.

In this RPG talk, I get into using your own internal urges to guide creativity, rather than so-called 'ideas.' Get after it!

In this episode, I pontificate on three aspects of RPG creativity you just can't do without.

"If there is no death, there is no game." Handling player catastrophes with grace and skill.

The slow knife penetrates the shield! This episode talks about slowly cooking the intensity of your game, a thing worth the effort!

Take a deep dive with me into the oath featured in Index Card RPG. Be awesome, take the oath!

Don't just make a bunch of tunnels and rooms, give your next dungeon a potent theme using power words!

Is it bad? Is it great? Let's talk about the concept of forcing a series of events, and all it has to offer or deny a good game table.

Let's take some time to consider spells and how to get every ounce of cool out of them in our games.

Let's kick this thing off! I take some time to process some of the key reader questions that started the MAINFRAME in the first place.