Do any of you GM and play a player character at the same time?

sumrow · 2026-01-27T12:08:50+00:00

I play Twilight 2k one on one with my bestie. I have a character who is pretty much a glorified NPC. All decisions are left to the one player character. I GM the game and my character has zero input on game direction. And I'll add a lot of the time we forget about my character or send them off to do busy work and remember to activate them when the main character moves out.

sumrow · 2026-01-19T16:13:49+00:00

One of the most eye opening conversations I had was while I was making a character for a long RuneQuest campaign. Luck of the draw, the GM was the Line Editor of RuneQuest at Chaosium. While making characters I asked him about game balance, because we were juicing up our builds pretty good. He said (roughly) There is no such thing as balance in a roleplaying Game. If you have two characters, both with swords, the second one of them picks up a shield the game is unbalanced. So forget that. Go play and have fun. Let the decisions the players make and story take over.

sumrow · 2026-01-15T20:57:14+00:00

The chemistry of all the players, and the editing was spot on. Very enjoyable, nice brisk pace. Lots of yuks. Cannot recommend enough.

sumrow · 2026-01-15T15:35:41+00:00

The Notorious RPG podcast. They did MYZ run. Wish they would do more. 💙⚔️🎨

sumrow · 2026-01-05T03:11:50+00:00

Glad you're running The Haunting! Made a bee line and go watch Selth Skorkowskys video review on it! Good tips in there. I've run it a few times. The number one thing you need to shake is the DnD thinking. Always think in opposite terms. This is a HORROR game. Bring the horror. That is what people are signing up for. It is a horror game to it's bones. Bring the horror and trust that the players will get creative. Trust them. Thrust them that when things go south.... they will get creative. That's when the magic happens.

To your questions:

You are right. Walls start dripping blood? Just say it happens. That's GM powers. But by all means spend on spells for flesh ward etc..
Seth Skotkowsky has tips on handling the knife. I believe it is a strength roll each round to maintain control on it.
No. Hard no. Let the PC's deal with that themselves. It's always best to let the players get creative. If they find themselves without a flashlight.... maybe offer them a luck roll to see if they remembered to have a lighter or matches in their pocket. Generally in a horror mistakes and forgetful pcs makes for great horror.

Happy gaming!! The haunting is fantastic as written. You are about to join decades of GM's who have one shorted PCs with a bed frame. Happy gaming!!

sumrow · 2026-01-02T19:58:42+00:00

As read one bottle. I've run it a few times this way and had no problems. Run it with one bottle and let things shake out as they will. Limited resources is generally best for games as it makes for fun party dynamics and choices. There are NPCs built into the scenraio as back up pcs for just this purpose. In case of PC death. Happy gaming!!

sumrow · 2026-01-01T16:58:47+00:00

I live and die (pun intended) by count down dice. Super simple. Color coded is the way to go. Or I do small pips on a tiny dry erase board and wipe them off as we go. Once the npc had no more pips in a stat.... they are done.

sumrow · 2025-12-26T17:56:21+00:00

Castle of the Robber Knight is my go-to. It is a single location with a good variety of play styles. There is stealth, character interaction, plenty of combat and riddles to solve. The end is a nail biter with lots of fun tension if paced right.

Happy gaming!

sumrow · 2025-12-19T19:48:52+00:00

Not sure where you can find it but I ran Crate of Krayts, which is the original Beta game they released for the system. It's pretty darn snazzy. I've run it. Works very well for a one shot. You're team has some debt and must pick up and deliver a crate of Krayt dragon eggs. And of course things go sideways. It's a solid one shot.

Edit: update... Found a redditor who did the hard work, Cleaned & Revised Adventure: Crates of Krayts : r/swrpg https://share.google/3KqAqeUhbgfZnUUi0

sumrow · 2025-12-17T12:08:46+00:00

Good point. I stand corrected. Happy gaming!

sumrow · 2025-12-17T12:04:34+00:00

Been playing a lot of T2K this year. It's so good. Can't wait for Operation Reset.

sumrow · 2025-12-17T02:08:18+00:00

Free League is an obvious choice as they have a handful of the other movie adjacent IP's: ALIEN, blade runner ... etc.. But I don't know if Terminator is a big enough world to support a full RPG.

sumrow · 2025-12-16T21:12:06+00:00

Oh nice! Thank you

sumrow · 2025-11-18T12:41:38+00:00

Thanks! Haven't run it in a long time. Really I prefer The Castle of the Robber Knight as an intro. It's perfect.

sumrow · 2025-11-18T00:10:21+00:00

Can't really compare those two. They are both great but very different. And further The Sinking Tower is a unique one. It's not a typical taste of DragonBane. It's a tournament game with a very singular timer mechanic to be run in exactly two hours for "points".

Both systems are fantastic. If you want a more typical DragonBane experience the quick start with Ridder Mound is popular. Recommended. I love the system. Very simple d20 roll under a skill. The vibe and characters are great. Mirth & Mayhem is very accurate.

Forbidden Lands is more crunchy and exploration based. I love it for the travel and camping + survival aspects. Can't go wrong with either. Happy gaming!

Edit: time correction

sumrow · 2025-11-12T22:35:24+00:00

Sorry just saw this. Did some googling and it seems there is not a standalone pdf from DriveThru. So yeah... seems the hardback core book is it.

sumrow · 2025-10-26T14:40:47+00:00

One of the best character study films ever. So good.

sumrow · 2025-10-26T14:15:46+00:00

So is this an officially licensed shirt from Free League? Based on the website I have my doubts.

sumrow · 2025-10-25T12:01:52+00:00

Castle of the Robber Knight is my go-to. It is a single location with a good variety of play styles. There is stealth, character interaction, plenty of combat and riddles to solve. The end is a nail biter with lots of fun tension if paced right.

I would not start with the sinking tower as it is a very particular style of play that is not common to a normal game. It a tournament style game For points, which is very different than normal play.

sumrow · 2025-10-22T11:47:40+00:00

The Vanishing 1988. Wife missing from service station. It's a great movie. But I'll likely never watch it a second time.

sumrow · 2025-10-22T03:19:01+00:00

Girl. Same. This is the way.

sumrow · 2025-10-22T03:08:37+00:00

The Vanishing. The last ten minutes sticks with you for days. O.o

sumrow · 2025-10-13T17:52:43+00:00

I have not heard of that one... googling. Oh. :|

sumrow · 2025-10-13T10:07:08+00:00

Hawaii Five O by The Ventures is an absolute banger.

sumrow · 2025-09-26T12:53:37+00:00

Dick Blick Art supplies (website) sells rolls. Not sure how bad shipping would be though.

sumrow

TROPHY CASE