A newsletter and podcast focused on Friday Strout's fiction and tabletop roleplaying games. Featuring top industry contributors from both the professional Game Master scene, game designers, writers, artists, and more!
One of the most frequent questions that I get as a pro GM is: “How do I build camaraderie at my pro tables?”
Step 1: Take a deep breath.
Step 2: Read the rest of the article.
The Check-In
Typically people arrive and there’s a sense of needing to go through the formalities of “Hello, how are you?” I’m not a fan of that conversation, personally. Most of the time I’m wired up for the work day and I may or may not be dealing with a ton of stress. Instead, I ask “Do you have anything from your week you’d like to share?”
This does two things: It relieves the pressure of someone talking about their present feelings and also allows them the freedom to pick what they’d like to discuss that’s important to them.
The Bio Notes
When you’re dealing with 20-70+ people a week that cycle in and out, it can be difficult to keep track of everyone! Which is why I recommend that you keep some notes on players so that you can help build a stronger relationship. These do not have to be elaborate – they can simply be: Occupation, hobbies, other unique things about them.
Active listening
Taking the time to actively listen to your players during play and while socializing is integral to conveying that you care about them. You do not have to pretend to be their friend before it feels natural. That is part of the process to earning long-term players, though – is becoming more comfortable with one another. Actively listening is imperative for you to build bonds with your players.
Letting people tell their stories
Encouraging people to tell their stories is all well and good, but ultimately you need to help them feel comfortable enough to do so. That comes in time. Share a bit of your story and then invite them to, too.
The Vineyard RPG Kickstarter & new articles
I’m going to be writing a new article for Dollars & Dragons for every $2,000 we earn over our current amount, which is 7k. So at 9k, 11k, 13k, 15k, etc. (Until we hit goal.) That’s a total of 20 Dollars & Dragons articles!
If you enjoy my work and want to support our team, please do so here:
I’ve been working on this for a very long time and have had the pleasure of working with an incredibly skilled team to help elevate this dream into a reality. If you pledge in the first 24 hours you’ll receive an Early Bird special price. Time is running out!
What does corporate greed look like in a fantasy world? Presenting: The Vineyard RPG! Fight or join an undead criminal organization that expands its influence through monetary debts, blackmail secrets, and political manipulation.
Our book features 9 compelling villain dossiers each outfitted with a biography, plot hooks, lair, and stat block that you can integrate into over 20 locations. Resist undead corporate greed by fighting their influence or join them by signing a contract to gain power – for a price. Trade your darkest secrets for boons Their Majesty Aisling Rovehnna can grant, unlocking your dreams and nightmares alike.
Over 20 incredible industry pros have breathed undead life into the Vineyard RPG. But none of this would be possible without your support. We’re paying all of our contributors at above industry rates because unlike these undead villains: we aren’t maximizing profits over people.
Download our preview adventure The Tower of Atonement to join the playtest. Pledge during our Kickstarter campaign for exclusive pricing and additional limited tier rewards. Thank you for your support.
Vineyard RPG is just a day away from launching on Kickstarter. Please hit the “Notify Me On Launch” button so that you can enjoy great early bird prices! We won’t be able to do this without your help. Thanks so much for being a reader & listener of Dollars & Dragons.
I’m joining forces with RPG BOT for the Vineyard RPG AMA this Sunday, April 2nd at 4pm PST! You can join the Discord here and post your Qs ahead of time if you’re unable to make it in #the-vineyard channel, AMA thread. We’ll host via the Stage, so be sure to hit the “interested” button on the event. (It will be recorded and released later in the week.)
Get a sneak peek of the Kickstarter launch page, our preview adventure The Tower of Atonement, and know everything before we launch at 8am April 3rd!
This bonus ep we talk to Michelle Nguyen Bradley (she/they) of Tabletop News! Support them on Kickstarter here! With more high quality productions like Tabletop News we can invite more advertising (and more money) into TTRPG. That’s not trickle down economics, that’s just how growing industries grow! Also, it’s just a cool show. We also chat about hosting, being a producer, Michelle’s brief fashion industry business, and actual plays.
Hey y’all. Some of my friends have just launched their Kickstarter All The Witches which seems like a fantastic and fun indie RPG book. Check it out!
Supporting indie designers is important in tabletop. More publishers, writers, and creators means that consumers are served the sort of games they want to play – not just what the big dragon is putting out.
“Our goal as a team is not to create an entire world in All the Witches. Instead, our plan is to feature 3 regions of the world and flesh them each out with rich detail. Groups that play All the Witches can start off in one of these regions and have entire adventures there, they can go and travel to the other regions to explore, or they can collectively imagine what the rest of this world might look like and build things together to make their stories truly theirs.”
The three regions that All the Witches will feature are:
Tane: A dense forest region that once thrived with life and beauty. Long ago, some adventurers slew a great spirit that resided in Tane, and its death sent the entire region into a spiral of corruption and Discordance. Not many live there now because the region is extremely toxic and dangerous, but those that do rely heavily on Witches to keep their towns free of corruption, poison, and dangerous creatures. Groups that start here will often find themselves fighting against the very nature around them in order to survive.
The Golden Islands: A large chain of islands that house two civilizations that couldn’t be more opposite to one another. The United Islands of Sunder are a free people that use magic to sail the seas, explore the unknown, and keep the treasures they find. Darkhammer on the other hand is a society with strict rules that uses magic to strengthen and protect their ships and trading routes. These two come into conflict often, and groups that start here will find themselves fighting people from either civilization in order to survive.
Cyllynys: A verdant gem in the northern seas, Cyllynys is a small nation with a big impact on the world at large. Settled long ago by a diverse array of peoples, its earliest history is shrouded in myth and legend; ancient monuments of mysterious origin dot the landscape. The people of Cyllynys have, since their earliest days, put tremendous value upon knowledge and wisdom, and this led to their development of steam technology. Now, that same technology threatens to take over the traditions and ancient monuments that once meant so much. Groups that start here will face a changing nation, and the tensions that arise because of that change.
All the Witches was first created to give people who loved and were influenced by magical stories a place to come and explore a fully fleshed out magical game system and create their own stories with it so they didn’t have to worry about the creator of those stories being hateful and problematic. The system itself is influenced by the magical systems found in various Roleplaying Video Games and fantasy stories and movies.
A lot of the game mechanics found in All the Witches are unique, but made to be simple and cohesive enough to be understood quickly and explored deeply. The creature of All the Witches is me, Emmapanada (Emma for short). A trans non-binary asexual person who gained the spark to create a system like this from seeing the pain coming from the Queer community at a beloved IP turning against them. I’ve been GMing and playing various TTRPGs for a little over 10 years now, and while I’ve created private rulesets in the past, this is my first foray into designing a system that will be available to anyone to play. As this is my first time creating a system with the intention of bringing it to crowdfunding, I’ve hired a number of industry professionals to help me navigate system creation to ensure that we create something truly special.
Currently, our team is made up of (the following is their Twitter usernames):
This go around we’re talking all about working in the industry. It’s a difficult profession to get into, so why not listen to one of the most experienced there is in TTRPG? Brian has written for Dragon magazine, D&D Insider, Paizo, Green Ronin, Wizards of the Coast, and more!
CONTENT WARNING: We’re talking about sex, kink and roleplaying.
Alex Roberts (she/her) chats with Friday about being a counselor, the connection of kink, trauma and religion. We also chat about Alex’s old podcast Backstory on the One Shot podcast network, Starcrossed and why it’s Jenga for people who wanna fuck and why For The Queen is super cool.
You don’t have to be a professional to use these tricks to help you develop deeper relationships between NPCs and PCs. Even if you don’t plan to pursue a career in voice acting or dedicate hours a week.
The 3 Things To Pay Attention To:
Resonance
Pitch
Tone
We’re going to work on some techniques provided by Nicole Gress & ProZD! Resonance is important for you to make a noticeable differences between genders (if you want to.)
Resonance Tricks:
Pitch trick:
Tone Tricks:
Have a great time running games. Do what you think is fun and practice with physicality. Thanks for checking the newsletter. If you’d like to support me you can do so on Patreon!
