We sharpen our GM skills through stories and knowledge.
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Hidden doors, forgotten shrines, and concealed passages are staples of dungeon exploration. However, a dungeon can hold far more secrets than these. Every dungeon has a history, and there are many ways to reveal that history through secrets. Hidden journals, writing scrawled on walls, or concealed tombs can reveal what happened long before the adventurers arrived.
Yet there are other secrets. Architecture can reveal the purpose or origin of a dungeon. Artwork can tell stories of ages long past that inform the party’s quest. I created a Statues with Secrets random table for The Great Book of Random Tables: Second Edition. Prisoners can provide a wealth of secrets, and not just living ones. The bones of prisoners can tell a story.
Secrets don’t have to be treasure. Something that adds to the lore of the world or provides a clue that advances the quest is sometimes worth more than gold.
Be sure to check out The Broken Empires. I created some random tables for it! (Created by Trevor from above.)
In honor of the release of the Second Edition, I’ve cut the prices on The Great Book of Random Tables: First Edition.
Selected RPGs for you to check out.
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Game Masters can draw inspiration from movies to create better, more engaging sessions.
Looker (1981)
A long time ago, in the age of DVDs, I was studying all of the films Michael Crichton wrote and directed, but I could never find Looker anywhere. Now, it is free with ads on YouTube.
It is about the collision of technology, beauty, media saturation, and computers controlling our lives. Plus, it features a company creating commercials with no live actors, only computer-generated ones. Prescient, much?
The movie has problems, but I’m always impressed by Crichton’s insight into technology and how it affects society. It boasts a cool ‘80s music score, a great cast, and nearly prophetic themes, all weighed down by glaring continuity errors and other distractions. It feels as though an intellectual thriller was forcefully edited into an action movie.
One of the WORST movies of the 1990s! - Robot Wars (1993)
Robot Wars is a bad movie, but I have fond memories of watching it with a friend who has since passed away. We were wandering through a video store in the late 90s, and both of us were sold by the fact that the movie claimed to be a sequel to Robot Jox.
It is not a sequel to Robot Jox, so we were lied to. However, we had fun watching it even though it was awful. This review of it is hilarious.
Akira Kurosawa - Composing Movement
My goodness, Kurosawa never ceases to amaze me.
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Paranoia: The All New Shiny Edition - RPG Review
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The Future of Dolmenwood with Gavin Norman | QOC S2E1
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