I've been running role-playing games for thirty years, but am relatively new to playing them. Erica's rolled up dozens of characters, but has only a few Storytelling experiences under her belt. Together, we've written a blog about what we learned, the challenges we have to overcome, and all the solutions we've come up with to keep an RPG campaign going - The RPGuide.

This is a collection of our best and favorite articles from the first year and a half of RPGuide posts. We've got advice for handling players, building NPCs, and we debate rules and play styles. If you're an old hand at role-playing, maybe you'll find a new trick to put up your sleeve, or a fresh way of looking at gaming. And if you're new to RPGs, then you're welcome to learn from our mistakes and take advantage of our experience.

You've probably read My Guide to RPG Story-telling, the Companion, or maybe From Dream to Dice, and that's what brought you around to this little collection. But if this is your first RPGuidebook, welcome Don't worry, you don't need to read any of the others first - Loaded Dice can be used on its own. We'll even begin with a "What the heck is a table-top role-playing game?" chapter. So let's play