Author: markezrastokes
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The Magic of Mirrors: Using NPCs & Story Beats to Reflect Inner Growth
Have you ever introduced an NPC at your table that just really clicked with your players? Maybe it was a gobliness left behind by a war party that was supposed to foreshadow their bloodthirsty nature but instead became a recipient of their empathy. As Stewards, we can’t always predict what NPCs will connect with our…
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The Creative Potential of Chaos
One thing I learned quickly after getting into TTRPGs is that I love playing games infused with chaos. Whether I’m a player or a Steward, I want to bring chaos to the table, and I want to be challenged by chaos.
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When the Party Fights: Using In-Game Conflict to Teach Real-World Resolution
Conflict is absolutely essential for great storytelling. At the gaming table, it can create drama, tension, and growth… as long as everyone’s onboard. Sometimes, though, what starts as roleplay could actually reveal personal discomfort, and that discomfort is easy to weaponize.
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From Dice to Dialogue
I once had a student that we’ll call “Leo.” Leo was tall, Leo was compliant, and Leo was largely nonverbal. This provided difficulty in the classroom, because it was his senior year at the autism center where I taught, and I wanted to do everything I could to prepare him for adulthood.
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The Rule of Cool… and Kindness
Encouraging Compassion Through Narrative Choices Your players are at the inevitable moment of battle. The rogue draws her dagger and slinks into the corner. The barbarian kicks down the door between the party and their enemies. The bard determines whether he can distract a footsoldier long enough for the rogue to slit its throat. How…
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The Illusion of Knowing
Imagine for a moment that you’re in a dark-but-candlelit room, across a modest table from a wizened woman. She squints at oversized cards spread across the navy-felted table, and she begins to speak: “Ah yes… I see a decision weighing on you…” You hang on to her every word. What if this same narrative trick…
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A Eulogy for Mammy
Below is the eulogy I gave at my grandmother’s funeral today. She was a special woman who lived a long life filled with purpose and self-discipline.
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From the Neighborhood of Make-Believe to the Tabletop
When I was a kid, I had a happy place: It was peaceful, it was slow-moving, and it involved a geriatric changing into a sweater before feeding the fish and playing with a train. My happy place was Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
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Why We Create Before Anyone’s Watching
It’s late Sunday night, and the next morning’s Patreon drop just isn’t where I want it to be creatively. I’ve got to get up the next morning at 4:30 to get the drop done before heading to my day job before sunrise. That’s when the self-doubt creeps in the most–when I’m tired, vulnerable and alone…
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Yes, And… Insight: How Improv Rules Make You a Better TTRPG Steward (and Human Being)
The beautiful thing about tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), which a lot of video-game players have difficulty realizing at first, is that the adventure you’re on doesn’t have preprogrammed coding.
