As you’ve probably noticed, our gaming group’s preferred incarnation of the FATE system is Strands of Fate. SoF resembles other Fate games in many respects, but differs in its approach in a couple of ways, ways that I feel improve the Fate experience. Author’s Note: For a comparison of differences, click here. For me, the difference that really sets SoF apart from it’s contemporaries is [Read the article]
I’ve never thought of myself as an “Old School” gamer. I’m not nearly old enough to qualify. What I have been doing is following their blogs, puzzling out for myself what it is about the new-school that seems to offend. . . and why so much of what they have to say makes an odd kind of sense. It wasn’t until recently, however, that I [Read the article]
Step 1 – Don’t Prepare Now, I know you’re busy with work or school or kids, so you don’t always have time to prepare for your sessions. That’s okay because it’s your first step to running a great improv session. Remember, the less you actually prepare, the better off you will be. Now, I’m not saying don’t prepare anything; create monsters or NPCs or dungeons [Read the article]
In our previous article we spoke about the importance of having a city’s purpose planned out in advance, even if it’s just a few sentences. Now we’ll each of our five facets of purpose, and talk about what each really means to our game. Our first facet of purpose was size. When designing cities quickly, say at the game table while playing, this is our instinctive [Read the article]
A while back, I ran 2nd edition of my RPG (we all have one, right), when my buddy, Sam (of the former RoleplayingPro.com) pulled out a pun that stopped me in my tracks. Let me explain… The PCs are fighting vampires in modern day New York, atop a skyscraper. Sam goes out onto a ledge, baiting a vampire to follow him. The slightest mistep means a [Read the article]
This part of character creation (in my opinion), is the fun part. It’s where I get to personalize my character and really make him stand out. I know, we thought we did that with both of the last two articles (here and here), but that just shows how cool Strands of Fate really is. In this article, we continue with the second half of our [Read the article]
You don’t become the Lord of all Devils by waking up early and dreaming real hard. In the realm of the Infernal, you have to plan for centuries, keep ten steps ahead of your enemies, and above all else, never let your opponent realize that they’ve already lost. Asmodeus is the Lord of Nessus and acting Ruler of all other Arch Devils in Baator. He [Read the article]
In Chris’s articles, he describes the path our group is currently on. We’ve been playing in Eberron using 4th edition D&D. Although our game has started well, and everyone has been relatively happy with the experience, there are enough of us that think Fate can give us more. I was a big proponent for this change until it hit me, “Oh crap, I have to [Read the article]
This series is an extremely subjective report about gaming conventions. Despite the temptation to be second person dictatorial (“You must, you should, you shall”), I’m going to keep this first person apologetic (“I did, I think, I was”), because I really can’t tell you what your convention time will or should be. In part 3, I consider running games at conventions. I’ve never been particularly [Read the article]
The Chimera, once thought impossible to tame, has become a challenge to a few brave souls. Few have mastered this talent, as many others have fallen to the beast, or been horribly mauled. However, those who are successful in dominating this beast gain a fiercely loyal companion. Prospective riders must be present at the creature’s birth/creation, and must take part in its training (anywhere from [Read the article]