Category: Specific RPGs
| February 19, 2013 | Posted by Troy E. Taylor |
My first visit to Gen Con in 2005 was memorable for two reasons. The first was because I got to attend a seminar on GMing. The panelists were some guys — you might know them — from this hot gaming site, Treasure Tables. I sat in the back row and listened to them. Good seminar. Vicky Potter gave me a mechanical pencil — which I’ve still got. I then had lunch with one of the Werecabbages, John E. Ling. We were two of the “Three…
| October 16, 2012 | Posted by Troy E. Taylor |
One of the concepts that has taken root in the “Doctor Who” universe is that of “fixed points in time” — a clever way to say that some events can’t be changed because they are crucial to the fabric of the universe … yada, yada, yada. . It’s a storytelling technique that explains why even River Song can’t kill Hitler to spare us the horrors of World War II or Mount Vesuvius will destroy Pompeii no matter what (or because of any) actions the Doctor…
| October 4, 2012 | Posted by Don Mappin |
Who put their card game in my RPG? It may not be a question you’re asking yourself today but it could be a question you’re asking yourself a year from now. The “deck building RPG,” Genesis Aspyrias, is currently in development and puts a new twist on the evolution of RPG mechanics. Previously I’ve discussed the collectible card RPG and some general trends within the industry, as well as their potential impact as a GM. One of those games we’ve unboxed here, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay RPG by Fantasy…
| August 27, 2012 | Posted by Troy E. Taylor |
So, during my monthly review of podcasts during my commute to work, and I’m listening to a seminar conducted by Wolfgang Baur — Kobold-in-Chief over at Kobold Press (formerly Open Design) — for the most recent PaizoCon that was recorded and posted by those fine Canadians over at 3.5 Private Sanctuary. Wolfgang talks about his GMing techniques for room and combat description — a broad topic, to be sure. But of particular interest was his approach to combat description for encounters he writes up for…
| July 23, 2012 | Posted by Don Mappin |
There’s a new game in town that you may or may not be familiar with, Margaret Weis Productions’ iteration of the latest Marvel superheroes RPG, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying. Having run every iteration of every Marvel RPG to date, I must say that the Marvel Heroic version may not only be the best but the first RPG in several years that has made me pause and appreciate the underlying mechanics within. Or in other words, made me feel like I wasn’t just doing the same old narrating exercise that…
| April 26, 2012 | Posted by Scott Martin |
With Great Power is an RPG by Michael S. Miller that I’ve had on my shelf for a while. Flipping through it kindles bright “I want to run this” ideas. I planned for it to slot as a filler game for my home group (to buy time for other GMs to prepare prep-heavy games) and thought it would be fun to run at our monthly roleplaying meetup. With that in mind, I read, prepped, and printed references, and got ready to play. Update: When I…
| February 23, 2012 | Posted by Scott Martin |
No matter what game you play, some people love pure concepts and others love a mix–or a stew. Some players will create an exemplar of a class–the perfect paladin, a unique warrior, an ideal wizard–while others build gish–a fighter/wizard/cyber-dragon hybrid with a dash of paprika. Sometimes a hybrid becomes a new “class” over time–or disappears when a rules update invalidates an old concept. For example, the Fighter/Wizard concept has been around for a long time; I wouldn’t want to cross swords with Ingold Inglorion, a…
