RPG Bloggers » Game Design

Ancient Scroll’s Secret Room: Deceit and the Mutants in the Desert from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Sat, 26 May 2012 11:00:11 +0000

I love deceiving my players. Playing with their senses – sight and sound, social prejudices… This is a type of adventure with the intent to confuse players. It uses certain stereotypical thought and can be reduced to a simple principle in most survival scenarios in post-apocalyptic...

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D&D Next – initial thoughts from KORPG™ Games » Roleplaying game (RPG)

KORE rpg — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:13:19 +0000

Play-test! So I finally got the play-test materials downloaded after apparently having something wrong with my account – my guess is that, because I created the account last night (during the initial play-test download deluge) it didn’t get...

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Friday Knight News – Gaming Edition: 25-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:00:03 +0000

Greetings and welcome to another Friday news roundup here at Game Knight Reviews. Another busy week stuffed full of crazy goodness. Thankfully there’s gaming to really put everything else in perspective, right? Last weekend I participated in the City Wide Gaming Event in Colorado Springs, CO,...

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Equipment and Contraband from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:37:00 +0000

One thing I had mentioned in the last post is that fire-arms are tightly regulated and controlled. In a game beyond a dungeoncrawl it would mean getting fake papers or contacting a black market dealer to get good firearms.But as a dungeon crawl this wi...

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A brief overview of the common organizations in the corporate systems from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:43:00 +0000

Standardization is a big part of society in the Rupert-Furlcorp Systems. Poverty and corrupt bureaucracy are the other two major components. The corporation itself has a large contingent of high tech security guards under its payroll, ...

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Hog-Swamp: A backwater world from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Wed, 23 May 2012 17:17:00 +0000

Hog-Swamp is a small rocky world, abandoned by the mining fleets some 60 years ago. Its gravity was boosted, an atmosphere was applied. So in that regards terraforming stuck pretty well.Half the planet is a morass of toxic water a few inch...

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Playtest “D&D Next” Like A Pro from Critical Hits » Roleplaying Games

Critical Hits — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:00:15 +0000

With the open playtest of the new iteration of D&D coming tomorrow, I wanted to offer some of my advice on playtesting and giving feedback.

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The Gassy Gnoll: To Sleep– Perchance to Get Back My Dailies… from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:26 +0000

Sleep. It’s something this gnoll will get less and less of as the temperatures rise. Too much fur I guess… traps the heat and there’s only so many layers to strip off before you’re embarrassed to death or arrested. But my drowsy state has raised an interesting point in my...

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The lesson of 4E – apply it to your game from KORPG™ Games » Roleplaying game (RPG)

KORE rpg — Tue, 22 May 2012 21:19:29 +0000

Breaking all the rules of blogging again, I’m once more going to link to the article that spawned this post early: Things That Kinda Ruined 4e DnD Go read it, it’s worth the time… Back? Excellent. Not a bad summation … Continue ...

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The Rupert-Furlcorp Systems from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:55:00 +0000

This is the sci-fi setting I run in NGR.The bustling worlds of the federated humanity stretch across tens of thousands of worlds. Wonders of technology, large starships boasting impressive lasers patrol the naturally occurring wor...

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Midgard Bestiary from GMS Magazine

G*M*S Magazine — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:45:45 +0000

This pdf from Open Designis 109 pages long, 1 page front cover, 2 pages editorial, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD and 1 page back cover, leaving 103 pages of content, so let's check this out!

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RPG Review: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games, Part II from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:00:45 +0000

Three decades ago I was introduced to 1st edition D&D. More weekends than I can count were spent in imaginary places as a fighter, thief, cleric, or magic-user. (I loved the monk and the bard, but never had the opportunity nor the inclination to play either.) Eventually I also picked up the...

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Attrition System Complete (For Now) from of Pedantry

of Pedantry — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Attrition For Overland TravelThis system abstracts the rigors of travel by calculating an attrition value that is applied as hit point damage for characters traveling overland. The primary factor for determining attrition is climate data, namely, te...

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Advantage and Consequence from The Rhetorical Gamer

The Rhetorical Gamer — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:03:35 +0000

Last week I was a little self-indulgent in my posting and also quite unproductive. With the impending revelation that is the D&D Next playtest starting this week, I’m worried that I’ll have a lot to write about next week as well… ...

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Advantage and Consequence from The Rhetorical Gamer

The Rhetorical Gamer — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:03:35 +0000

The Importance of (Peer) Review from of Pedantry

of Pedantry — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Did you look closely at the previous post's system for attrition? Did you plug in some numbers to test it out? Did you find out where the system works and fails? Did you notice how incomplete it is?The post only details hot weather effects on attrition...

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Supplement Review: Monsters of NeoExodus: Chanting Queen from LPJ Design from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:00:33 +0000

Do you ever have one of those moments where you slap your forehead and wonder why you didn’t think of something first? As cliché as that sounds, I have to say that I think Monsters of NeoExodus: Chanting Queen is one of those brilliant “oh duh!” concepts that is deceptively simple...

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Feedback Loops in Game Design from Observations of the Fox

Observations of the Fox — Sat, 19 May 2012 23:21:00 +0000

Every now and then something comes along that makes you think.And every now and then someone puts a idea into an elegant graphic that's easy to grasp.Quite often it seems that Daniel Solis is involved in one of these two events.(Click to Enlarge)I've t...

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Walkabout Core Mechanism from Observations of the Fox

Observations of the Fox — Sat, 19 May 2012 02:12:00 +0000

Time do get a bit of work done on Walkabout, beyond merely drawing pictures for the setting.The whole mechanism in Walkabout is based around the concept of drawing tokens from a bag. This is designed to be shamanistic in its feel. Not derived from any ...

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Friday Knight News – Gaming Edition: 18-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:06 +0000

Wow. I love it when short weeks take more energy to get through than long ones do. That’s what I get for taking off a couple of days for my birthday I guess. However, I got a copy of DCC RPG in the mail (quite a b-day present!), got to see The Avengers one more [...] . . . → Read More:...

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Sci-Fi and NGR from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:05:00 +0000

One thing I built specifically into NGR was its ability to work well in a sci-fi game, and I have my own "mud and despair" sci-fi universe I like to putter around in.The only changes I really make are let players know there is no mana, no magic and no ...

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Hell on Eight Wheels: Fourteen – Traits from Observations of the Fox

Observations of the Fox — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:38:00 +0000

In Magic: the Gathering, most of the creatures traditionally have a single trait defining their race (eg. Elf, Dwarf, Goblin, Merfolk, etc.), some of the more recent sets have creatures bearing two traits, one of which is the race while the other might...

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D&D Next Idea: Cast Any Spell in 10 Minutes from Blog of Holding

Blog of Holding — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:57 +0000

Mike Mearls talks about plans for the Wizard in his latest D&D Next article, Balancing Wizards in D&D. One of his ideas is that using a scoll would require expending a spell of that level to use; so the idea is that scrolls wouldn't increase overall power, but they would allow for more...

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The Gassy Gnoll: Three (Plus) Elements of Comedic Necromancy (May of the Dead) from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:00:21 +0000

The Gassy Gnoll isn’t much of a comedian. Sure, he can occasionally come up with a witty quote or spontaneously create bad puns like joke grenades (that usually fizzle), but that’s about it. Farting on stage isn’t much of an act, no matter how much movies like Jackass try to make...

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Hell on Eight Wheels: Thirteen – Abilities from Observations of the Fox

Observations of the Fox — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:03:00 +0000

What is the point of a special ability if it isn’t special?Abilities need to have some kind of significant impact, otherwise players won’t bother using them, and they might just forget to use them. If abilities aren’t used, there isn’t much poi...

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Hell on Eight Wheels: Twelve – Teams from Observations of the Fox

Observations of the Fox — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:31:00 +0000

Getting back to work on Ho8W; it’s been a while since I’ve looked at this, so it’s probably good that I start on a completely different part of the rules. I’ve been thinking about the ways in which skaters are differentiated. This seems to be t...

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Attrition: New Design Ethos, or, Why Your Design Has Been Found Lacking from of Pedantry

of Pedantry — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:33:00 +0000

I've been kicking around the concept of attrition for overland travel for a while now. Let's re-establish the current foundation for this system.Attrition accumulates per day, according to a base value added to a temperature/humidity factor. The next d...

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RPG Review: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games, Part I from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Tue, 15 May 2012 11:00:26 +0000

A few months back I had the pleasure of interviewing Joseph Goodman of Goodman Games. In that interview, he talked at length about the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game (DCC RPG) that was coming out and now that I have it in my hot little hands I want to work my way through it [...] . . ....

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Ancient Armory: Brain Wrap from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:20:00 +0000

Brain Wrap is a thin -- but dense -- heavy metallic foil. When this material is wrapped around the cranium, it has a profound dampening effect on mental mutations."Brain Wrap" is actually a lead-osmium alloy, pressed into thin sheets and stored as roll...

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Why Saving Throws Hurt the Game, Why They Are Needed from of Pedantry

of Pedantry — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:40:00 +0000

The moments that call for a saving throw represent the pinnacle of tension in D&D. They lie at the crossroads of defeat and success, of life and death, and can be the culmination of an evening or a year's campaigning. So why are we rolling a die at...

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What the 2e PR can tell us about 5e from Blog of Holding

Blog of Holding — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:44:14 +0000

When I got that giant box of D&D stuff in the mail, one of the first things I did (after reading the original owner's game notebook and the In Search of The Unknown module) was settle down with a random Dragon issue I'd never read before: Issue #121, from 1987. There's a hilarious article by...

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Combat in RPGs from Greyhawk Grognard

Greyhawk Grognard — Sun, 13 May 2012 01:53:00 +0000

A question to the audience.Do different styles of combat require different combat mechanics? Or is it possible for a single game system to portray widely disparate forms of combat coherently and in a way that make them workable against one another?Cons...

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Friday Knight News – Gaming Edition: 11-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:50 +0000

Happy Friday everybody! Next week is my 42nd birthday (too many candles or the fire department will show up), which means I will be as old as the ultimate answer to the ultimate question of “Life, the Universe, and Everything” according to Douglas Adams. Yes, the answer is 42, though we...

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Cheating is the natural state of play for those cheeky little gits called kids. Here’s why that’s okay, and why you should embrace it. from Troll in the Corner » Role Playing Games

Troll In The Corner — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:04:30 +0000

Cheeky Little Gits I’ve spent a fair amount of time lately creating games for kids, and playing games with kids – primarily my own two girls who are 6 and 9. I’ve come to the conclusion that the natural state of gaming for children ...

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App Review: Player Minion from Goathead Software from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Thu, 10 May 2012 11:00:21 +0000

Though I’m late in coming to the 4E party, I’ve been enjoying my time and am currently playing my 2nd and 3rd 4E campaigns with Jason, Mark, and the rest of the gang. When I came into Mark’s campaign, I was given a 4E character sheet printed from the old Character Builder that was...

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Describing NPCs from Raging Swan

Raging Swan — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:07:25 +0000

One of the books I’m occasionally reading at the moment is the classic Treasure Island. On the very first page the author (Robert Louis Stevenson) does a terrific job of describing one of the characters. This is how he described the pirate: “I r...

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Supplement Review: New Paths: The Expanded Spell-less Ranger by Mark Radle from Open Design from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:00:44 +0000

Way back when the D20 craze started, I seem to recall there being plenty of new classes in book after book. But of late, we’ve seen more and more adventures, settings, and other things, with fewer classes. (Maybe it’s just me?) That changed recently however with Open Design’s new...

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kickstarter posters shipping this week! In the meantime, run a barony! from Blog of Holding

Blog of Holding — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:00:28 +0000

GameSalute has been busy. They're doing shipping and fulfillment for my project as well as the Dwimmermount, Sunrise City and Empires of the Void kickstarters, as well as some others. Still, Dan at GameSalute says he'll begin shipping the posters this week. Thank you all for your patience! Around...

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Savage Menagerie: Cortella (AKA "Brainblabla") from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:32:00 +0000

No. Enc.: 1 (1d4)Alignment: ChaoticMovement: NoneArmor Class: 8Hit Dice: 6Attacks: SpecialDamage: SpecialSave: F3Morale: 12Hoard Class: VIIThe Cortella is a large, immobile, gooey, brain-shaped creature. It is about 5 feet from end to end and 4 feet ta...

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Getting Past the Holocaust from Greyhawk Grognard

Greyhawk Grognard — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:19:00 +0000

One of the things I think is lacking in most post-holocaust RPGs is the "fish out of water" element. That is, most such games, like Gamma World, have the player characters come having grown up in the setting, many with mutations, etc. I think such sett...

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Pathfinder Monk Remake from tenletter » rpg

tenletter — Sun, 06 May 2012 14:47:09 +0000

Revision 1.01: Flurry movement is now limited to a single speed of movement; previously it allowed for movement up to double the monk’s speed. Additionally I added Dodging Monk and Swift Target insights (that grant Dodge and Mobility feats respectively). Lastly, the Total Defense action may...

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Creighton’s Corner: Encounter & Adventure Design from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:00:35 +0000

When considering adding an adventure or encounter to a campaign a GM should always view it from his players’ perspective. A GM should already know the general interests of the participating players (Know Your Players). However, while a GM may know if a player prefers combat over role-playing or...

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Authorial Voice from Greyhawk Grognard

Greyhawk Grognard — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:28:00 +0000

I'm not a big fan of "consensus".I think, especially in creative endeavors, that following a single driving vision is preferable to having something designed by a committee. Some folks are going to like it, some folks aren't, and that's okay. It's the ...

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Ancient Scroll’s Secret Room: Isolation, Desperation, and Cthulhu Avoiding the Creepy Town! from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Sat, 05 May 2012 11:00:31 +0000

Recently I was thinking how to create a story where the PCs feel isolated. You know the kind of story I’m talking about, where the PCs stumble upon a long, forgotten village in the middle of nowhere to find shelter from a storm… Really I was thinking about how to avoid this tired old...

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Friday Knight News – Gaming Avengers Edition: 4-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:15 +0000

Sure, it’s Friday. That automatically bumps today up a notch on the “doesn’t-suck-ometer,” right? But when you also have a movie like The Avengers released on a Friday, that blows the scale out of the water. At least I hope it does. Early reviews for this superhero slugfest...

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Persuading people for fun and profit – redux from The Omnipotent Eye

The Omnipotent Eye — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

I listened to an episode of the Happy Jacks RPG Podcast when they talked about how to convince another PC, while still keeping that free will. I liked the idea voiced there and decided to put it up here for keeping. When you want to persuade another P...

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Tweet RPG – your daily dose of adventure fun! (Guest Post by Sam Richards) from Game Knight Reviews

Game Knight Reviews — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:00:52 +0000

If you want to join fellow RPG fans in shaping exciting narratives on one of the most popular social networks on the web, then Tweet RPG is definitely for you – get some fun, free, follower-defined adventures in your timeline today! On a hot summer’s night, bereft of sleep and pondering a...

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Neoclassical Geek Revival 2012 Printing Sign-Up from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:54:00 +0000

So I believe I finally have a print ready version of Neoclassical Geek Revival for 2012. Much like last years printing I will only be making a print run of hard cover bound books, on nice paper with silk ribbons, the whole nine yards.See here for...

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Ask The Readers: Fancy dice? Yay or nay? from Stargazer's World

Stargazer's World — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:20:04 +0000

A lot of players shy away from certain games because they use “fancy” dice like Fudge dice, non-standard polyhedral dice, dice with funny symbols instead of regular numbers or something like that. In a way, I can understand that. Usually roleplayin...

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From Hell’s Legion: The Secrets from Unofficial Games

Unofficial Games — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:37:00 +0000

Yin blew dust off the ancient clay tablet, and read aloud its ancient text by flickering candle light, his stuttering monotone accompanied by the slow and steady drip of water from the cavern above. "On the 37th day of the alignment of the monkey...

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RPG Bloggers » Game Design

Ancient Scroll’s Secret Room: Deceit and the Mutants in the Desert from Game Knight Reviews

D&D Next – initial thoughts from KORPG™ Games » Roleplaying game (RPG)

Friday Knight News – Gaming Edition: 25-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Equipment and Contraband from Unofficial Games

A brief overview of the common organizations in the corporate systems from Unofficial Games

Hog-Swamp: A backwater world from Unofficial Games

Playtest “D&D Next” Like A Pro from Critical Hits » Roleplaying Games

The Gassy Gnoll: To Sleep– Perchance to Get Back My Dailies… from Game Knight Reviews

The lesson of 4E – apply it to your game from KORPG™ Games » Roleplaying game (RPG)

The Rupert-Furlcorp Systems from Unofficial Games

Midgard Bestiary from G*M*S Magazine

RPG Review: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games, Part II from Game Knight Reviews

Attrition System Complete (For Now) from of Pedantry

Advantage and Consequence from The Rhetorical Gamer

Advantage and Consequence from The Rhetorical Gamer

The Importance of (Peer) Review from of Pedantry

Supplement Review: Monsters of NeoExodus: Chanting Queen from LPJ Design from Game Knight Reviews

Feedback Loops in Game Design from Observations of the Fox

Walkabout Core Mechanism from Observations of the Fox

Friday Knight News – Gaming Edition: 18-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Sci-Fi and NGR from Unofficial Games

Hell on Eight Wheels: Fourteen – Traits from Observations of the Fox

D&D Next Idea: Cast Any Spell in 10 Minutes from Blog of Holding

The Gassy Gnoll: Three (Plus) Elements of Comedic Necromancy (May of the Dead) from Game Knight Reviews

Hell on Eight Wheels: Thirteen – Abilities from Observations of the Fox

Hell on Eight Wheels: Twelve – Teams from Observations of the Fox

Attrition: New Design Ethos, or, Why Your Design Has Been Found Lacking from of Pedantry

RPG Review: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games, Part I from Game Knight Reviews

Ancient Armory: Brain Wrap from The Savage AfterWorld

Why Saving Throws Hurt the Game, Why They Are Needed from of Pedantry

What the 2e PR can tell us about 5e from Blog of Holding

Combat in RPGs from Greyhawk Grognard

Friday Knight News – Gaming Edition: 11-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Cheating is the natural state of play for those cheeky little gits called kids. Here’s why that’s okay, and why you should embrace it. from Troll in the Corner » Role Playing Games

App Review: Player Minion from Goathead Software from Game Knight Reviews

Describing NPCs from Raging Swan

Supplement Review: New Paths: The Expanded Spell-less Ranger by Mark Radle from Open Design from Game Knight Reviews

kickstarter posters shipping this week! In the meantime, run a barony! from Blog of Holding

Savage Menagerie: Cortella (AKA "Brainblabla") from The Savage AfterWorld

Getting Past the Holocaust from Greyhawk Grognard

Pathfinder Monk Remake from tenletter » rpg

Creighton’s Corner: Encounter & Adventure Design from Game Knight Reviews

Authorial Voice from Greyhawk Grognard

Ancient Scroll’s Secret Room: Isolation, Desperation, and Cthulhu Avoiding the Creepy Town! from Game Knight Reviews

Friday Knight News – Gaming Avengers Edition: 4-MAY-2012 from Game Knight Reviews

Persuading people for fun and profit – redux from The Omnipotent Eye

Tweet RPG – your daily dose of adventure fun! (Guest Post by Sam Richards) from Game Knight Reviews

Neoclassical Geek Revival 2012 Printing Sign-Up from Unofficial Games

Ask The Readers: Fancy dice? Yay or nay? from Stargazer's World

From Hell’s Legion: The Secrets from Unofficial Games

Midgard Bestiary from GMS Magazine