Category: From the Editor’s Desk

I’ve played RPGs for about 34 years, so considering all the people I’ve played with over the years, it’s hard to pick and choose a few people out so many great gamers. They’ve all brought different perspectives and skills to the table.

However, of people I have never played with, I would love to play with Ken Hite, who I knew back in my freelancer days but never had a chance to play with. As the master of the Cthulhu mythos, a great historian and an amazing game designer, playing with him would be blast.

As well, although he’s no longer with us, it would be great fun to play with Robin Williams, the king of comedy, the master of improvisation and an avid role-player. It would be an experience I imagine that one would never forget.

And finally (since three is the ideal number of players), our GM would be D. Vincent Baker, the originator of Apocalypse World and the creator of a new way of playing games. I think it would be a fun game.

Although there are entire books written on the subject, I’ll focus on the three keys to what I see as a successful campaign.

First off, it needs to actually play out fully, in other words, end properly. Too many campaigns are started and never finished, usually through no fault of anyone, it just works out that it never really ends and there’s no satisfying conclusion, which is really what constitutes a successful campaign to me. Running a campaign through to the end when you’re in high school and have lots of time to play is simple, but as you get older, it becomes a true challenge. As a result, my campaigns have gone from being completed in under a year to sometimes carrying over multiple years, with breaks in between.

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 13 2016 – What Makes a Successful Campaign?”

Currently, I am running the Three Kings Achtung! Cthulhu adventure using my own homebrew system. This followed a lengthy campaign in the Warhammer Fantasy role-playing game universe, and prior to that we played some Trail of Cthulhu. My horror bent has been driving our games for a while, so it might be time for a change of palette.

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 12 2016 – Game I’m Most Likely to Play Next”

We’ve all had strong influences at one time or another. For gaming, most of my life was spent playing with friends and family who either came into the game around the same time as I had, or on their own had come into gaming generally around the same time or much later. As a result, I usually had as much or more experience than those with whom I played. That was until I moved across the country to a completely new city where I knew no one and had no established gaming group.

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 11 2016 – Gamer Who Most Affected The Way I Play”

I’m constantly surprised in games by my player characters’ actions, so this is tough to single out one instance, but there is one time that a player shocked me enough that it stands out among the rest. We were playing Daring Entertainment’s War of the Dead campaign (though I rejigged it a bit) and the players had escaped a cruise ship of undead only to be standed at sea on a modified fishing boat with a dozen other survivors and a handful of private military operatives (long story). Things had calmed down (as much as they can) and everyone was taking stock of themselves and each other. That’s when one of the PCs, a retired firefighter who had rescued his adult son and grandson, was out on deck and noticed one of the other passengers coughing a bit and trying to hide it.

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 10 2016 – Biggest In-game Surprise”

Apart from the actual game itself, what is involved in my ideal session? This has evolved over time and, although I have less time than ever, my expectations are higher than ever.

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 9 2016 – The Ideal Session”

We have a wide range of options to devour books these days. While we used to be at the mercy of the publisher’s decision, thanks to Kickstarter, we now often have the choice of getting our gaming books in hardcover, softcover or digitally – or all three! So what’s your preference?

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 8 2016 – Hardcover, Softcover or Digital?”

Undoubtedly, RPGs have given me greater confidence in everything. I was the typical geeky kid, bullied and pushed around until I found RPGs. Then, developing confidence through the games, I felt I could conquer everything and soon conquered my bullies and enjoyed a great childhood as a GM, running games for my friends, writing adventures and developing new RPGs. This completely changed my life and I owe where I am today all to RPGs.

This is another weird one as it doesn’t appear specific to my own gaming group, but any gaming group. I could google to find some neat examples, but I’ll focus on my own experiences.

Continue reading “#RPGaDAY 6 2016 – Most Amazing Thing a Game Group Did For Their Community”