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Focal Point: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
 
$11.95
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
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Focal Point: The Complete Game Master\'s Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
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Focal Point: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
Publisher: Encoded Designs
by Saif A. E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/20/2021 06:10:44

Awesome book with a terrible navigation format. I am not sure if I am the only one, but the analogy to Cinema Set Production is completely off to me. After reading it, 2 weeks after I wanted to come back to the book and look for that specific chapter where I read some amazing advice about the plot twist charting, and what do I find? "Keep Filming!" or "Safety on the Set" or "And... Action"... good luck figuring that out. The subtitles don't help either, with shooting stars like "Roll the Film!" or "Does the Script hold together?".

Perhaps I am over emphatizing the negative... but guys... please keep it simple. Normal titles like "Preparing the table" or "Using charts to tell a good story" would be thousand times better. As it is now, there is a lot of hidden value in a huge blob of unindexed text (PS. There is an index at the end but it follows these cryptic title convention too)

Yet I really liked the content, particularly the ones of preparing plot points and strong motivations for consistency. I would share where is that but... I think it is somewhere in the "It start's with a script..." :D

I give 3 stars because of the weird formatting analogy and because of various blob of very generic advice that in practice don't really help much.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Focal Point: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
Publisher: Encoded Designs
by Aaron H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/01/2017 15:32:27

This book is a GREAT resource for advice and ideas on running RPG sessions of any genre. It's split into three sections, each focusing on a different aspect of GMing, and the chapters are organized and themed as if you're running a TV show, which is a very appropriate comparison to a campaign.

I ran my first session yesterday after reading this (and Odyssey and Never Unprepared as well, which I will be reviewing separately), and it was a HUGE hit! We've got a timeframe set for the end of "Season One" of our campaign, and my plans are coming together much more easily with this advice.

Thank you so much!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Focal Point: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
Publisher: Encoded Designs
by A customer [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/06/2016 13:24:30

I think this might be my new favorite of all the books from Engine publishing and the trio of writers. Unlike some other reviewers, I really enjoy Gemma and her game crew. They make mistakes so that we don't have to.

Please guys, make another Masks book!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Focal Point: The Complete Game Master's Guide to Running Extraordinary Sessions
Publisher: Encoded Designs
by Dan E. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/14/2016 18:25:58

The example group is just terrible. Much of the advice was obviously never really tried by the authors. it's just so bad.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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