In today's episode we talk about different game concepts and group sizes. Which concepts work better for large groups? Which ones work better for small groups? Is there anything I should avoid with my group? How do I handle my large or small group in different situations? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode? Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/Lev...
Dec 23, 2020•49 min•Ep. 48
In today's episode we talk about our evolution as storytellers. Where did we start telling stories? How have we changed as storytellers? What different things did you try? What worked best for us and why? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star rating wherev...
Dec 16, 2020•48 min•Ep. 47
In today's episode we talk about how to handle players leaving your table. What shouldn't I do? What are some techniques for handling this? Can I avoid awkward moments when the player leaves in the middle of something? How do I make the parting meaningful? We discuss all these question and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming P...
Dec 09, 2020•36 min•Ep. 46
In today's episode we talk about improving your side stories and encounters. How do I make an encounter more meaningful? How do I add flavor to my side stories? How do I keep my players engaged? How do I get my players to interact with deeper elements of my side story or encounter? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebo...
Dec 02, 2020•47 min•Ep. 45
In today's episode we talk about player agency and player choice. What do I do when my players don't want to follow my story? How do I handle players making different choices than I predicted? Do I have to indulge every choice they make? Do players actually have choice and agency? We discuss all this and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/Leve...
Nov 25, 2020•46 min•Ep. 44
In today's episode we talk about creating your own monsters. Where to I start when I create my monster? What should it look like? How should it act? How much detail do I need on where it comes from? What powers should it have? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a f...
Nov 18, 2020•42 min•Ep. 43
In today's episode we talk about Rules Lawyers. How do I handle my Rules Lawyer? Should I dismiss them outright? When are they useful? What if I have multiple Rules Lawyers? How do I remedy rules disputes with them? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star ra...
Nov 11, 2020•41 min•Ep. 42
In today's episode we talk about player backgrounds and motivations. Should I care about player backgrounds? What are the purpose of player backgrounds? How do I use my players motivations? Should I build stories around my player backgrounds and motivations? We answer all these questions and more in todays episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming ...
Nov 04, 2020•45 min•Ep. 41
In today's episode we talk about tactical play vs non tactical play. How do I do more tactical play in my game? What are the benefits to a more tactical game? When should I scale back the tactics? Do I need tactical play at all? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a...
Oct 28, 2020•45 min•Ep. 40
In today's episode we talk about putting the spotlight on your players. How do I create moments for each of my players? Should I focus on skills, class, or what the character likes? How do I keep the other players from being left out? How often should I give my players these moments? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.face...
Oct 21, 2020•41 min•Ep. 39
In today's episode we talk about telling a mystery in a game. How do I leave clues for my players? What if my players miss clues? How do I get my players to move on the evidence? What if my players go astray? How do I help my physical characters fit into this type of game? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/Le...
Oct 14, 2020•41 min•Ep. 38
In today's episode we talk about the one shot game. How do I tackle running a game like this? Why would I want to run a one shot game? Should I use pregens or have my players make characters? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get yo...
Oct 07, 2020•47 min•Ep. 37
In today's episode we talk about running your first game. How do I manage my time with the players? What type of story should I tell? How long should the game be? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast. Leave us an email...
Sep 30, 2020•43 min•Ep. 36
In today's episode we talk about the difficult subject of what to do when players don't fit in at the table. Is this a player problem or a character choice problem? Can this be rectified in game with a character change? What do you do when the player is the problem? When is it time to go separate ways at the table? We answer all these question and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and eng...
Sep 23, 2020•42 min•Ep. 35
In today's episode we talk about adding new players to your table. How do you insert them into an existing story? What do I do with an experienced player? What do I do with a new player? How do I make them feel like they are part of the game no matter where they are inserted? We answer all these questions and more on today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review...
Sep 16, 2020•37 min•Ep. 34
In today's episode we talk about adding social elements and encounters into your games. How do you let your diplomat shine? How do you prevent a power gamer from ruining their experience? How do you incorporate social and politicking into different settings? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star ra...
Sep 09, 2020•40 min•Ep. 33
In today's episode we change up the format and conduct our first interview with a group of guys from The Dungeon Masters Dojo podcast. Luis, Scott, and Bill have been gaming for 30 plus years each and were a lot of fun to talk to during the podcast. We hope you enjoy their stories and insight. Check out their podcast, The Dungeon Masters Dojo, with new episodes on Tuesday and shorter content on Wednesdays. You can find them at all your favorite podcast providers or check them out on Facebook htt...
Sep 02, 2020•58 min•Ep. 32
In today's episode we talk about your players equipment, supplies, and money. How do you keep track of all those things as a GM? How do you make those items scarce and prevent players from hording them? We answer these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get you podcast. Leave us an email for fee...
Aug 26, 2020•39 min•Ep. 31
In today's episode we talk about helping your players out when they lose their way. How obvious should I be? When do my players need help? What are some techniques for helping them out? How to I plan for contingencies? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star...
Aug 19, 2020•40 min•Ep. 30
In today's episode we discuss adding adding a special element to a well crafted game to take it from a good game to a great game. How do you pack an emotional punch that will leave your players feeling satisfied? How do you introduce a prop or physical element into the game and have it hold weight for the players? We dive into these questions and more in today's episode. We have new episodes that come out almost every Wednesday. If you like the show please subscribe for new episodes, also leave ...
Aug 12, 2020•37 min•Ep. 29
Unfortunately we were not able to record an episode this week and we didn't have one in the bank. Instead I am releasing a little teaser episode of future topics we are looking at talking about. We also have our first interview scheduled with another group that will be coming out later this month or early next month. Please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. Also you can contact us at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com We'll be back next Wednesday with another episode. Leave us an email f...
Aug 05, 2020•4 min
In today's episode we continue our discussion from last week on collaborative universe building. This episode is more focused on the tools we use to execute the collaborative world building we've been using in our games. How do you share notes? How do you share music? How do you transition your games? These are just a few questions and more that we answer in today's episode. If you'd like to get a hold of us or participate in the discussion send us an email at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com ...
Jul 23, 2020•36 min•Ep. 28
Today we discuss creating a collaborative universe. This episode is more about the theory and definition of what collaborative universe building is. How do you trust that the other GM's in your universe are going to be faithful to your universe? What are the benefits of creating a universe with your friends? This is a natural extension of last weeks episode and we think you'll find it enjoyable. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follo...
Jul 15, 2020•38 min•Ep. 27
In today's episode we talk about Episodic Storytelling. What is Episodic Storytelling? What are the benefits of running a game like this? Shouldn't a game be an epic chronicle? How do you maintain consistency between stories? We attempt to answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a rev...
Jul 08, 2020•37 min•Ep. 26
In this episode we discuss players cheating in games. Why would someone want to cheat in a tabletop game? What should you do about it? What types of cheating are common to see in games? We attempt to answer all these questions and more in today's episode. If you'd like to join the discussion or want to suggest and episode topic you can reach us at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebo...
Jul 02, 2020•38 min•Ep. 25
Today we discuss player table talk and what you should admit or ignore as a GM. We boil it down to two pretty simple rules and it gets us going on some interesting tangents. This episode eventually dives into Jared's two key philosophies on game and how to improve them. It's definitely worth the listen. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave...
Jun 24, 2020•40 min•Ep. 24
In today's episode we discuss splitting your party vs group play. How do you handle the group once they've split up? How can you avoid metagaming? Why might you encourage this type of behavior? On the other side if you want your players to stay together. How do you keep them together? What are the benefits to group play? How do you train your players to move in a group? These are all things we discuss in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgaming...
Jun 10, 2020•33 min•Ep. 23
Today we discuss ending your game. Why is an ending important? What if I'm doing a short game or a one shot? What if the game wasn't very successful to begin with? How do I create my ending? We discuss all this and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast....
Jun 04, 2020•37 min•Ep. 22
Today we talk about GM Writer's Block. How do you get past writer's block? Should you shelve the game you are working on or muscle through it. We'll discuss several techniques on getting past a dreaded case of writer's block. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a five star rating wherever you get your podcast....
May 27, 2020•33 min•Ep. 21
In this episode we dive into the Sandbox Game. How do you run a sandbox game? How do you do a story in a sandbox game? What happens if my players zig when I want them to zag? How do I end the game after playing it for so long? We answer all these questions and more in today's episode. Leave us an email for feedback, questions, or thoughts at levelupyourgamingpodcast@gmail.com or Follow us on Facebook and engage with us at https://www.facebook.com/LevelUpYourGaming Please leave us a review or a f...
May 20, 2020•38 min•Ep. 20
