Steve Johnson

Steve Johnson is the co-founder of Hex Games and co-creator of QAGS (the Quick Ass Game System). He has written, co-written, or otherwise contributed to numerous RPG supplements, including Spooky: The Definitive Guide to Horror Gaming, Sharktoberfest, and the ENnie Award-winning Hobomancer. He also writes non-gaming books, makes maps, and does digital art using Daz 3D Studio, AI, and other tools for people who can't draw. You can find links at lnk.bio.kingyak.

Supporting Character Quirks

  Supporting characters are a lot more interesting when there’s something weird about them. While you don’t want to give every single GMC the characters meet a quirky trait (unless you’re playing a David Lynch-style game), important or recurring characters will be more memorable if they’ve got an unusual trait. The list below is for…

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Random Bad Guy Obsessions

There’s a school of thought in certain books, comics, movies, and RPGs that giving a character one random obsession makes them well-rounded. While this is not remotely true, it’s at least a step in the right direction, and can sometimes even lead to something approaching three-dimensionality. Here’s  a random table to get you started on…

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Book of Dumb Tables 2 Cover Illustration by Joshua LH Burnett

Scene Changers

  Sometimes, scenes just drag on too damned long as players insist on searching for non-existent clues, questioning suspects who don’t know anything, and focusing on throwaway details that don’t mean anything. Usually, the best way to deal with this is to have something happen that the characters have to deal with right away, but…

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