I’ve been thinking a lot about the seeming disconnect between the various generations of gamers, each of whom are convinced that their way to play a game… Read more “The Five Levels of Play Style”
Tag: D&D
Hex Flower Engine: For When the Job Goes Pear-Shaped…
My apologies for the absence these last couple of weeks. I was getting over a major oral surgery, and the constant mouth pain made it difficult to… Read more “Hex Flower Engine: For When the Job Goes Pear-Shaped…”
How to Use Random Tables
Random tables are woven into the very fabric of role-playing games, from the earliest Wandering Monster tables to all of those Appendices in the AD&D Dungeon Master’s… Read more “How to Use Random Tables”
Progress and Predictions: the future of D&D
The news that John Hight, formerly of Blizzard, has joined WotC as the new company President has reignited the speculation that WizBro is moving into an online,… Read more “Progress and Predictions: the future of D&D”
Dungeon Mastering: Art or Science?
TSR line editor Mike Carr asks in the 1979 introduction to the Dungeon Master’s Guide: “Is dungeon mastering an art or a science? An interesting question!” It’s… Read more “Dungeon Mastering: Art or Science?”
Table Talk: Dude, Where’s My Campaign Book?
If there’s another edition of D&D that has more settings and reskinned environments than fifth edition, I don’t know what it is. It’s a good game system; a nearly perfect balance of crunch and DM fait accompli. I don’t think it’s a universal system, and there are some suppositions baked into the game (like armor class and to a lesser extent, alignment) which is hard to square up in certain genres, like science fiction. Why people keep wanting to do space opera with d20 is a mystery to me in a world where we have Star Wars and Traveller, but I digress.
Table Talk: Get Outta Town
Starting today I am going to strive to produce and post at least one rpg gaming entry a week. I’m going to try to brand them with this nifty graphic I tricked up, for those of you who want to tell at a glance if this is something you want to read or not.
Field Report: GameHole Con, Madison, WI
We are back from a road trip that may have been several days in the making, but was still over a thousand dollars cheaper than simply flying… Read more “Field Report: GameHole Con, Madison, WI”
Tools of the Trade, now in book form!
Hmm? What’s that? Oh, nothing, just this new tabletop role-playing game supplement I wrote. It’s now available in book form. You can grab yourself a copy of… Read more “Tools of the Trade, now in book form!”
Nerd Alert! A New RPG Book for Fantasy Heists!
Sound the whoop whoop! There’s a new book on the horizon! It’s called Tools of the Trade: A GM’s Guide to Creating and Running Fantasy Heists, and… Read more “Nerd Alert! A New RPG Book for Fantasy Heists!”