In the earliest of the 1980s, as I approached the yawning abyss of adolescence, I discovered Basic Dungeons & Dragons, and it rang a note in me that I’d always been listening for. Here then was a game that would allow me to step outside myself, to be something great and heroic, to be someone valuable and significant, to be a person that was not [Read the article]
So you want to be a superhero gamer. You want to run, punch and fly faster, harder and further than ever before. You tire of being constrained by mere dungeons and battlemats, and want to create a character that is entirely the product of your own imagination, not the product of race plus class. You want a system that doesn’t skimp on the details yet [Read the article]
A few years ago, I was sitting at work in the jail as a new-hire. I was talking with a couple of guys about gaming and they brought up that the next edition of game XYZ was coming out. The game was taking an entirely new direction, offering all these new, cool options, mechanics, and support. “Radical! I can’t wait to try it out! Tell [Read the article]
Fortune Cards. You’ve probably heard of them by now. You may even been sick of hearing about them. My synopsis will be brief. Coming in February, from Wizards of the Coast, are packs of player character enhancement cards. They’re packs of 8 cards, for $3.99. Each card gives a small benefit, similar to the bonuses provided by twitter for D&D Encounters or by some utility [Read the article]
Part 1 is here. Run by the convention organizer, this Champions RPG was set in the Marvel Universe, featuring X-Men tangling with Brotherhood mutants. The GM, a great big guy with sleepy eyes, split the eight participants into two groups (good and evil), then took each group aside and assigned the actual characters. Given the size of our group, he had wisely enlisted an associate [Read the article]
Since my last article, I’ve had a chance to look over the Fate 3.0 SRD (system reference documents), and I’ll say this: it has a lot going for it. And I’m not just saying that because it’s free. Really. The specific SRD I was referencing was Spirit of the Century, and while I’m not certain how complete of a picture it gave me, it looks [Read the article]
I have a confession to make: I’ve been cheating on you. I know, I know, you thought we were monogamous, but I have to say – I have more than one blog. In fact, you aren’t even my first. AND, you’re not my latest. Let me explain… Over a year ago I decided to jump onto the Adsense bandwagon. For those of you who don’t know, [Read the article]
Note: A few years ago, I went to a gaming convention somewhere in Connecticut with my dear friend Dave, and had the opportunity to play a few games I’d never played before, which is why conventions exist. If you go to a convention and only play inside your comfort zone, you are totally missing out. In the Shadowrun game, I played Samson, an enormous rock-headed [Read the article]
*This article was presented in two parts, with Part 1 describing the construction of the adventure and Part 2 providing a report of how the adventure played out.* PART 2 Realizing the players were relatively new to the game, I spent some time during the introduction explaining to them their characters, the foundational rules of the game, how combat runs, which one is the [Read the article]
*This article will be presented in two parts, with Part 1 describing the construction of the adventure and Part 2 providing a report of how the adventure played out.* PART 1 When three members of a death metal band come looking for a 4E Dungeons & Dragons game, you’d better be ready to deliver. Sure, one of them was my son, but that didn’t leave [Read the article]