Lulu’s Law for tabletop RPGs: “Within 24 of hours of placing a Lulu order, you’ll find out about a gaming book you should have ordered.” Here’s how that usually breaks down for me, step by step: Place Lulu order for gaming book(s). (Use coupon, of course!) Bask in warm glow of a job well done. […]
One of the fun things about having blogged for a long time is that I sometimes remember writing something years ago and, when I do, I can just go read it again. And man has this article from my Treasure Tables days back in 2005 come full fucking circle 10 years later: I’d rather rake
I picked up 188 RPG products in 2014 (plus a few more than arent in RPGGeek’s database yet), 43 of which were published in 2014. Of those 43, I’ve spent enough time with enough of them to tease out a partial list of 12 favorites — partial because there are books I expect to love
My favorite gaming books published in 2014 (so far) Read More »
After making my support payment to BoardGameGeek/RPGGeek, my 1/1 (or sometimes 1/2) tradition, I decided to write the post I meant to write last night — I was too tired to do it last night. So here’s my 2014 in games, by the numbers, and with more personal reflection than I was planning when I
Bleakstone is my old school fantasy hexcrawl setting, parts of which have been kicking around in my brain since 2012. This post presents an overview, including an elevator pitch and all the high notes. In August of 2014 I finally realized that I do best when I design gaming stuff in chunks, rather than trying
Bleakstone campaign setting Read More »
I wanted my daughter Lark’s first RPG experience to be one that reflected her personality and interests (at age 4), so I designed one, Storylike, for us to play New Game Day. I snapped this photo from her first-ever gaming session.
My daughter’s first RPG session Read More »
A little while back game designer Jason Morningstar said this about his solitaire RPG METAL SHOWCASE 11PM: “Half solo RPG, half choose-your-path novel, half nobody has ever bought or played this and I think it is really good!” Gauntlet thrown, challenge accepted. I ordered a copy, played it, and now I’m going to talk about
METAL SHOWCASE 11PM review Read More »
I often see posts asking for Lulu RPG recommendations, and Lulu’s search functionality is pretty lacking, so rather than type mine up every time I wrote this post for easy reference. It’s up to several dozen recommendations, mostly old school products and story games, and I keep it more or less up to date with
Gaming books on Lulu.com that I enjoy Read More »
I’ve done a bit of design work in the tabletop RPG industry, and like most gamers I’ve started and abandoned game designs over the years, but today marks only the second time I’ve designed a complete RPG and shared it with others. After enjoying my experience with RPG Geek’s 24-hour RPG design contest in 2012,
Signal Lost, my Game Chef 2013 submission Read More »
I created my first complete RPG, Eaten Away, for the 2012 RPG Geek 24-Hour RPG Contest. It’s a pickup game of zombie horror, no prep required. I designed Eaten Away on October 15, 2012. After waking up at 4:00 a.m. with a splitting headache, I got the idea for what became the Attrition System at
Eaten Away, a 24-hour RPG Read More »
