Submissions

Here is the list of our running submissions for the 2012 SOTY (RPG Site of the Year contest):

THIS IS MY GAME
- Online since: January 2010
- A great post: Dealing with Uncertainty
This is My Game is just that: a site about our games and how we play them. Run by Randall Walker and Tracy Barnett, we strive to talk about what’s going on in gaming right now as we see it at our own gaming tables. A diverse group of authors contribute to the blog, giving us an array of opinions and viewpoints that we value greatly.We write about the games that we love. No matter what game we’re playing, this is our game.

DAILY ENCOUNTER
- Online since: March 2010
- A great post: Race & Culture in Dungeons & Dragons 5E/Next
Daily Encounter is a site that offers a group of 4E DnD enthusiasts an opportunity to share their ideas for the game. Paul (@paulbaalham), Adam (@blindgeekuk), Micheal (@digitaldraco) and myself (@obsidiancrane) all contribute to the site; from DM advice and campaign craft articles to home brew rules (including themes) and Adam’s Kickstarter roundups. Right now the site offers a repository of over 40 encounters (mostly heroic tier), over a dozen homebrew rules elements for DMs (and players) to consider along with numerous editorial articles and even a selection of monsters both new and old. Our one hope is that you enjoy our offerings and have fun playing your game.

THE FREE RPG BLOG
- Online since: October 2008
- A great post: How to write a free RPG – Prologue
The Free RPG Blog champions free roleplaying game materials by reviewing free games, running competitions and offering advice in the form of practical how-to guides. It began because its author, Rob Lang, felt that the world of free RPGs needed a voice and their authors needed support and a pat on the back.

PAPER & PLASTIC
- Online since: October 2007
- A great post: [Interview] Mike Olson about the Atomic Robo RPG
Paper & Plastic is a blog about tabletop RPGs. From Indie to OSRIC, from D&D 4th edition to Fate incanations. I will explore with you new RPGs and rediscover old ones. On top of that, interviews, rule tests, small talks and good advice.

G*M*S MAGAZINE
- Online since: July 2010
- A great post: Annelise: Stories of Pain, Hunger, and Redemption
The purpose of the blog is to promote games. I love RPGs and I owe a great deal to the gaming industry. It literally saved my life. Now I want to give something back and hopefully get someone to enjoy some games as much as I have.

THE OTHER SIDE
- Online since: April 2007
- A great post: But, shouldn’t we aspire to be the Hero?
The Other Side is dedicated to providing an outlet for my writing on a bunch of topics. I focus on horror games, but also old-school, new-school, middle-school and grad-school. I talk about tons of different games and try to say something intelligent about all of them. You can expect a bunch of game related crunch from me as well.

THE ARTIFACT RPG
- Online since: June 2011
- A great post: Survival Games
The Artifact RPG blog is a great way to get your Science Fiction RPG fix with free downloads, stories, GM ideas, and experimental mechanics to use in your games. We’re working to make RPGs simpler to start up and introduce new players by writing articles about translating the psychology of the player to someone unacquainted with RPGs.

DUNGEON’S MASTER
- Online since: February 2009
- A great post: The Importance of Trust and Honesty in D&D
Dungeon’s Master is the best place on the internet to find 4e D&D resources. Our goal is to provide usable resources for players and DMs to make their overall gaming experience better. With almost 900 articles in our archives, we’re sure you’ll find the article you need to take your gaming experience from good to great! We also take great pride in being an active member of the D&D gaming community by supporting and promoting D&D public play and providing weekly coverage of D&D Encounters.

SHAPER AND MAKER
- Online since: September 2010
- A great post: Tutorial: Burning starship wrecks (and how to model fire!)
Shaper and Maker is mainly focused on terrain props and prepainted miniatures used in tabletop roleplaying games. The most popular content on the site is various terrain tutorials and galleries, some of which show you how to model more exotic elements like fire or streaming water. The site has also smaller amounts of other content like reviews, gamemastery articles, Savage Worlds materials and photos of non-gaming crafts. For those wanting to have gaming terrain less time for preparations, the site has some printable papercraft terrains and other props.

THE RPG ATHENAEUM
- Online since: October 2008
- A great post: Using the five-paragraph order to guide monster attacks
The RPG Athenaeum discusses most aspects of the tabletop RPG hobby, with emphasis on assisting dungeon masters with creating memorable D&D campaigns. To this end, the site offers more than 180 indexed posts on various aspects of adventure and campaign design, combat tactics, free downloads of adventure settings and gaming tools (such as the popular “100 lists”), an image gallery of painted miniatures, product reviews, and the occasional interview or photo tutorial. Generally, the posts go into greater depth than many other blogs – each averaging about 800 words or so in length. Special effort is directed to the quality of writing; it’s my opinion that, if someone is going to devote their time to reading my content, I owe them clear, concise reading.

TROLL IN THE CORNER
- Online since: March 2009
- A great post: Reality Makes the Best Fantasy: Courtesans
Troll in the Corner is dedicated to all things table top gaming. We love the hobby, we love the industry and we’ll do everything we can to promote it in a positive light!

THE PLAYER’S SIDE OF THE SCREEN
- Online since: December 2009
- A great post: Burning in the New Year
The core of this blog is diversity; in this blog, I share all sorts of insights, explorations, and moments of enthusiasm in my journey through roleplaying games. I’m always coming up with my own spin on new mechanics, old mechanics, and new ways of looking at roleplaying. I even have reviews of games that really catch my interest. To sum up, this blog is about what I love in roleplaying games, because I’m a gamer.

WOMBAT’S GAMING DEN OF INIQUITY
- Online since: September 2010
- A great post: [Got Loot?] The 3 Types of Loot
Nobody warns you that RPGs unfairly tip the scales, pushing more work onto the GM’s plate while the rest of the players seem to have more fun. The Gaming Den of Iniquity seeks to restore balance at the game table by exploring theories, systems, and structures to free GMs to create more awesomeness. Taking disparate ideas and fitting them together in a gaming context gives a new perspective on ways to work with everyone at your table. It’s also a personal reflection on 30 years of gaming, with experiences and anecdotes continuing to collect as time goes on.

RISING PHOENIX GAMES
- Online since: February 2011
- A great post: Sentinels Watching – Old Friends and New bruises
Rising Phoenix Games focuses on role-playing games and helping players and GMs get more out of the game. Between December 2011 and early 2012 we ran a four part solo adventure free from the blog, which included three free battle maps for you to download and play. We are currently building on a series entitled “Inspired in Japan”, since I am living, working and role-playing in Japan.

GAMING TONIC
- Online since: July 2011
- A great post: I Grew Up With D&D, Now I Want to Grow Out With 5E
I started Gaming Tonic to share some of things that I have learned over the last three decades playing rpgs. Gaming Tonic is not dedicated to any one system or genre but to making it easier to run a fun and fantastic rpg. We attempt to change the phrase role-play to cooperative storytelling and believe constructive criticism should offer a solution instead of just negativity. Dedicated to building a community, Gaming Tonic promotes other great rpg sites, giveaways, submission opportunities, and anything related to all rpgs in a positive light that is hard to find on lots of message boards and forums.

LEONINE ROAR
- Online since: February 2011
- A great post: Top 12 Ways to Stop Sounding So Damn Metagamey
Leonine Roar is a D&D blog with a passionate focus: ideas and solutions for both the storytelling and mechanical aspects of D&D 4e. Looking for a kingly balance of crunch and flavor ideas for your D&D jungle? If you want great D&D ideas, advice, tips and entertainment for your game and characters tonight, then you want Leonine Roar!

BETWEEN ARE THE DOORS
- Online since: July 2011
- A great post: “Portable Pantheon 2012″ is released!
“Between Are the Doors” provides resources for Old School Hack–scenarios, new talents and templates, new gods, and other great toys for DMs who want to add depth to this shiny game. I also offer maps, reflections on gaming, adventure reports, reviews, and encouragement. In the background, I continue adapting Old School Hack for science fiction, survival horror, and Cthulu mythos. I’d rather blow your socks off with something totally cool than use a rant to provoke my readers. I like to introduce my material and then let you get to it, rather than spending a lot of time telling you what I’m showing you–so go have a look!

THE BLACK CAMPBELL
- Online since: September 2009
- A great post: Things Fall Apart
The Black Campbell ia a blog dedicated to game advice, reviews, and other miscellenia. I mostly aim my posts for specific games toward smaller games, rather than the traditional D&D focus of a lot of game blogs, an approach that seems to be drawing a fair amount of readers. It has been running since late 2009.

HERETICWERKS
- Online since: August 2011
- A great post: Mini-Adventure One: Zilgor’s Repose
Fun stuff you can use in your game. We produce classic resources for paper & pencil tabletop RPGs. You will find New Monsters, New Spells, Unique Paper Miniatures, Unusual Random Tables (check out Strange Ovum or Damned Things series), and all that sort of stuff you might expect, but we also have our own Settings that we’re developing, such as Wermspittle and the Kalaramar Drifts, among others. We also support Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future, and Rogue Space, in addition to other games whether they are retro-clones or fresh new Indie Games. A lot of our stuff can be ported-over to just about any game, edition or play-style.

GAME KNIGHT REVIEWS
- Online since: September 2010
- A great post: The Gassy Gnoll: Where do you draw the line in-game?
Game Knight Reviews aims to be a site for independent reviews, opinions, and news about roleplaying games. Come each Friday for our huge news roundup of links offering food for thought, tools, reviews, and more from around the web. Come on Wednesdays for the weekly opinion piece by The Gassy Gnoll. Come any other day for a mix of reviews and interviews from across the spectrum of RPGs. Stop on by any time! We’ll be waiting!

LIFE AND TIMES OF A PHILLIPINE GAMER
- Online since: July 2007
- A great post: Character Development Happens In-Game
Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer is a blog dedicated to helping GMs and Players have fun. From GM and Player advice, actual play reports, game reviews and exploration of play styles, this blog encourages readers to go out and explore everything that the hobby has to offer.

STARGAZER’S WORLD
- Online since: August 2008
- A great post: Never Stop Making Games
Stargazer’s World is not focused on just one roleplaying game, but we (an international team of two regular authors and a couple of irregular guest authors) try to cover as much of the hobby as possible. We cover everything from the big daddy of all RPGs to new-fangled indie games. On our blog you find reviews, gaming advice, our thoughts on the hobby and the industry, interviews with the stars of our hobby and much more. We also irregularly write about game design and about the life and times of us RPG bloggers.

ROVING BAND OF MISFITS
- Online since: October 2010
- A great post: How to Create an Interesting Solo in 10 Seconds
Roving Band of Misfits is a blog dedicated to all things D&D 4e. Benoit, the main contributor and founder of the site, has a certain bent towards the arts & crafts side of things, so many of the articles focus on miniatures, Hirst Arts, and making accessories for your game table. That doesn’t mean that there’s a lack of other DM inspiration on the site, though. From “large scale naval combat rules” to “how to describe a scene for your players” to the new “Two Page Mini Delves” series, there is no shortage of stuff to steal for your game. In the past year, there have also been two major expansions to the site’s content. The first is the addition of the podcast “Level Up,” and the second was the founding of the “Game Night Blog Carnival.” The podcast is aimed at players (instead of gamemasters), and the carnival is where participating RPG blogs go “off topic,” reviewing some of their favorite non-RPG board and card games.

THE ID DM
- Online since: March 2011
- A great post: Power Options, Status Effects & Mutual Assured Destruction
For the past year, I have written approximately 80 articles on a variety of roleplaying-game topics. My background as a licensed psychologist influences my writing style and has led me to unique approaches to common topics. For example, I have conducted several research studies on the dynamics of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition combat and powers. I have also had the benefit of conducting in-depth interviews with a variety of individuals involved in the online roleplaying community (Scott Fitzgerald Gray, for example). For the past six months, I have posted a detailed monster complete with backstory and statistics to be used in a D&D 4e campaign. My blog offers insight into relevant RPG topics, suggestions for improving communication around the gaming table and analysis of gaming mechanics that will not be found anywhere else online. It’s been a pleasure to work on the blog during the last year, and I appreciate being under consideration.

MENAGE a MONSTER
- Online since: December 2010
- A great article: The Best Dragon Covers: 101-200
Monsters are my obsession. They are the thread that runs through my love of film, comic books, art, and writing. Ménage à Monster takes that thread and ties it to my love of roleplaying games. Pretending to be Gandalf isn’t what first drew me to Dungeons and Dragons when I was a kid – it was seeing the hordes of slavering monsters creeping through my brother’s copy of the Monster Manual.

GEEK NATIVE
- Online since: August 2009
- A great post: D&D Virtual Table Review
Geek Native is a blog for gamers who are interested in a breadth of geeky news. The blog’s audience are gamers with a high perception score. The site reports on new games, updates from conventions, free to download species and other RPG goodness but it also posts about interesting gadgets, anime, movies that gamers might be interested in and tracks the big news from the world of comic books. Posts range from in-depth reviews, to interviews with famous authors and game designers all the way through to quirky pictures, gossip and videos.

CHEESE SHOP
- Online since: June 2011
- A great post: “For the last time, you can’t play a Ninja!”
I am an old school gamer who has missed playing RPG’s. During the creation of this site and the subsequent posts I have reinvigorated my obsession. GURPS is my system of choice but I have played many and will continue to do so. This blog has helped me get back to the table.

QUIRKY DM
- Online since: July 2011
- A great post: NPCs are idiots
Quirky DM – A Quirky View into Running 4E Games – I’m not a perfect DM. These are the wild ideas in my head to get myself and my game closer and closer. Some are fairly normal. Others … not so much. Is it madness? Genius? The transcripts of a gibbering mouther? You decide. It’s not all insanity. I’m not crazy. Yet. For now, my ideas and I are just a little offbeat. A little quirky. And this is the Quirky DM.

BIG BALL OF NO FUN
- Online since: October 2009
- A great post: How to write an EPIC! adventure
This small, one-man operation is meant to provide new insight and material for table-top rpgs. It runs the gamut of crunchy bits (rituals, monsters, systems, etc) to advice (for DMs and Players) to opinions on the nature of rpgs. It also runs a wide spectrum of game systems, reflecting my personal history, though D&D is the predominant system discussed. I like to pose questions of interest and then try and answer them; instead of simply showcasing a problem I feel a writer should try to fix them as well. In the end, I try to make every article of use for another gamer.

GAMEMASTERS.COM
- Online since: 1995
- A great post: Getting Characters Together: A Dungeon Master’s Nightmare
GameMasters.com has been around since 1995, by far among the oldest RPG sites on the web. It started out as a simple site for a retail location and has evolved into a “catch-all” for gamers. We highly support the local mom-and-pop game and hobby shops and encourage gamers to buy from those locations as opposed to the larger chain stores. We also work with several publishers and distributors to help bring new game information to the masses. If it’s a game that been out there, chances are we have played it, we aren’t called GameMasters for nothing!

GNOME STEW
- Online since: May 2008
- A great post: Deep as a Puddle: Character Development with a Tarot
Written by a team of veteran GMs, Gnome Stew is the most widely read game mastering blog on the planet. We started Gnome Stew because we believe that game masters are under-served in the RPG community. There are few websites and even fewer books dedicated to game mastering — GMs usually get one chapter in a larger work, and that often doesn’t address a lot of what we actually do at the gaming table. Since May 2008, we’ve served up over a thousand system-neutral articles for GMs. Our mission is to help GMs have more fun at the gaming table, regardless of their system of choice, their experience level, or their play style.

GLIMM’S WORKSHOP
- Online since: September 2010
- A great post: Dungeon Delver
Glimm’s Workshop focuses on advice for game masters, discussions of game mechanics, and free material. I use it as a place to share gaming ideas with others people who love games.

NEARLY ENOUGH DICE
- Online since: June 2011
- A great podcast: Episode 6 – with Cam Banks
Our blog (and podcast) is all chat and content and less murky other stuff. We talk about systems, settings, hints and tips, discussions about topics which affect gamers in a myriad of ways and generally have a laugh while we are at it! No topic is out of bounds and we make it our goal to get the cool and interesting people of the RPG world onto our podcast to have a good chat with them! Throw a load of rambling about old vs new and competitions and you have Nearly Enough Dice!

KOBOLD QUARTERLY BLOG
- Online since: January 2008
- A great post: Your Whispering Homunculus: 30 Unsettling Moments
Kobold Quarterly blog is all about inspiration for gamers: articles cover crazed wizardry but also historical weapons and real-world bladesmithing. Kobold Quarterly runs heavy on monsters, NPCs, encounters, magic items, and crunch rather than news and opinion; it’s playable first and foremost.