I was thinking about why I don’t post more on RPGnet (I concluded that while I like it there, I’ve never felt like I fit in; that’s not unusual for me), and looking back through some of the relatively few posts I’ve made, when I stumbled across one that fits right into the “this should […]
Three tips for zero-prep GMing Read More »
I’ve been logging RPG sessions on RPGGeek since 2008 — 961 of them as of this writing. I was thinking about Ars Magica [affiliate link] this morning and wondered where it stood in terms of my longest campaigns in the past 16 years, and lo and behold it’s right at the top: I posted about
Longest campaigns I’ve played from 2008-2022, and other data neepery Read More »
This morning, out of the blue, it hit me that I can summarize my approach to GMing tabletop RPGs in a single, concise principle: There is no curtain. The curtain is, of course, a reference to The Wizard of Oz — in which a curtain conceals what the titular Wizard is actually up to in
There is no curtain Read More »
After running an Urban Shadows campaign for a year, I have a few takeaways to share. One of my starting points with any RPG is “Does it do what it says on the tin?” Urban Shadows very much does what it says on the tin, and it’s a fantastic game. 1. After our group character
Takeaways from running Urban Shadows for a year Read More »
Hot damn is Monsterhearts 2 a good book. (It’s also an amazing game in play, but right now I just want to talk about the book itself.) It’s lean, without an ounce of cruft anywhere on its frame. It’s devoid of blather. This is a bullshit-free presentation honed by years of actual play, design chops,
Monsterhearts 2 is a scintillating jewel Read More »
I love sandbox games and urban horror, and at that intersection sits the absolutely stellar PbtA RPG Urban Shadows (paid link). I expected Urban Shadows to be good at facilitating sandbox play, but I wasn’t prepared for just how good it is. Since the proof is in the pudding, below is the brief recap of goings-on
Urban Shadows is fantastic for spinning up a sandbox game Read More »
Nathan D. Paoletta‘s World Wide Wrestling (paid link) RPG reminds me of Action Movie World (paid link), another tight-premise PbtA game, not because they share a premise but because WWW 100% delivers on its premise (just like AMW). Wrasslin’ My last contact with professional wrestling was in the 1980s, when I used to occasionally watch it
World Wide Wrestling is an over-the-top delight Read More »
I play a lot of PbtA games these days, so when I’m eyeing new dice I’m generally thinking about pairs of six-siders.[1] And I’m a sucker for pretty dice. These puppies stopped me in my tracks — they’re anodized titanium dice from Flytanium, combining one of my favorite metals with one of my favorite colors:
Flytanium anodized titanium dice Read More »
I’ve had the pleasure of playing two sessions of Ian Williams‘ Action Movie World (paid link), and this game fucking delivers on every front. It’s designed to play like a cheesy action movie made from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, and it does exactly what it says on the tin. The two movies we’ve played were
Action Movie World delivers Read More »
I wrapped up a second campaign of tremulus (paid link), a Powered by the Apocalypse RPG of Lovecraftian horror by Sean Preston, this past Tuesday night. I’ve been meaning to write about tremulus for some time, because it’s a great game, it’s underrated, and I initially underrated it myself. It’s basically “Call of Cthulhu (paid link)
tremulus after two campaigns Read More »
