You play as one of 3-5 Twin Peaks characters who are trying to solve Laura Palmer’s murder: the options are probably Dale Cooper, Audrey Horne, Donna Hayward, James Hurley, and Sheriff Truman.

Other characters in the show are categorized as Locals, Canadians, FBI, People from Another Place, and Laura Palmer. Depending on the character they will help or hinder the players in some way.

Players may encounter these characters in one of these ways:

• “Someone’s at the Door” (locals)
• “Someone’s Come to Town” (FBI, Canadians, people from Another Place when they manifest physically or possess someone)
• “At One-Eyed Jack’s” (locals, Canadians)
• “In a Dream, or Trance” (people from Another Place or Laura Palmer, encountered in a vision)
• “Blue Rose” (people from Another Place or Laura Palmer, encountered when a player enters another reality or another point in time.)

Now, since I don’t know how the game works yet I don’t know whether those locations/events are spaces on a board, or stacks of cards that the players pull from at certain points in the investigation. I also don’t know what the objective is—ostensibly it’s to solve the murder of Laura Palmer, but because this is Twin Peaks, that seems like less of a victory condition and more of a reason for these characters to be on this journey. Maybe each character has a personal goal they’re trying to achieve whether they know it or not. Maybe the goal is Enlightenment, an insight into the nature of reality and their place in it.

If you want to play a tabletop game inspired by Twin Peaks that actually exists, check out Something is Wrong Here by Kira Magrann.

“Quit 5e now” feels, uh, harsh? I generally think people should play the games they enjoy. However! I see a lot of people saying they want to play “D&D” but the experience they say they want to have isn’t one that 5e is designed to provide. This is a solid roundup of good tabletop RPGs and 13th Age—which is basically “D&D but only the cool parts” and my personal favorite d20-rolling fantasy TTRPG—gets a nice shout out at the 3:41 mark.

“[T]here are games that are actually like what people who have never played 5e think 5e is like. Fantasy, fast and fun is what they’re hoping for; and it’s actually 13th Age with its much more streamlined combat and non-combat mechanics.“

Today I learned that the two most famous figures in the 1950s television quiz show scandals passed away recently: Charles Van Doren in 2019 and his rival Herb Stempel in 2020. The producers fed both contestants answers ahead of time and arranged for Stempel to lose so Van Doren could become the new champion.

The excellent 1994 movie Quiz Show stars Ralph Fiennes as Charles Van Doren, John Turturro as Herb Stempel, and Rob Morrow as Congressional lawyer Richard Goodwin.

Snake Plissken

ATTACK: 16×2
DAMAGE: 2-20 (+2)
INITIATIVE: +4
ARMOR: none
LIFE POINTS: 52 (14)
MOVEMENT : 70′
LUCK: 8
NUMBER: 1
EXPERIENCE: 11

S.D. Bob “Snake” Plissken is a war hero turned criminal on an alternate Earth where the United States is at war with China and the Soviet Union, and in 1988 turned the island of Manhattan into a maximum security prison. As a U.S. Army Lieutenant and member of the “Black Light” special forces unit, Plissken fought in the Siberia campaign and flew a Gullfire stealth glider on a mission into Leningrad. He was awarded two Purple Hearts, and became the youngest man to be decorated by the President of the United States for bravery. After leaving the military, Plissken turned to crime. Police apprehended him in 1997 after he robbed the Denver Federal Reserve Depository. He is widely, though inaccurately, believed to be dead.

Skills:

Revolver – 3

Shuriken – 3

Submachine gun – 2

Commando – 3

Pilot – 3

Street Criminal – 3

Weapons:

MAC-10 submachine gun with rifle scope and sound suppressor
Range: 100’
Damage: 2-20
Defense: Ballistic
Ammo: 5

Smith & Wesson Model 67 .38 Special revolver
Range: 100’
Damage: 2-12
Defense: Ballistic
Ammo: 2

Shuriken
Range: 20’
Damage: 1-6
Defense: Regular
Ammo: 1

It’s convention season again, and once again I’ll be attending Gen Con Online via Twitch! I don’t have any games scheduled, but you can find me on two Pelgrane Press seminars. Once again I’ll join Rob Heinsoo to design a new monster for 13th Age using input from the audience, this time along with the talented Liz Argall and J-M DeFoggi (who developed my adventure Crown of Axis.) Also, last year’s Dramatic Interaction in RPGs Masterclass was one of my favorite parts of Gen Con Online 2020 and I’m incredibly honored to be invited onto this year’s panel!

How to Design a Monster for 13th Age

Register Now

Saturday, 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET

Duration: 1 hour

Location: Twitch

We’ve all run battles where the Completely New Monster The Group’s Never Encountered is actually a reskinned bugbear! But if you want to create a cool new enemy from scratch, join Rob Heinsoo, Liz Argall, J-M DeFoggi, and Wade Rockett as they go through the process of designing a brand-new monster for the 13th Age Roleplaying Game.

Dramatic Interaction in RPGs Masterclass

Register Now

Saturday, 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET

Duration: 1 hour

Location: Twitch

Learn the structures and techniques that turn emotional confrontations between PCs from frustrating roadblocks into rich, surprising moments of human drama. Join Wade Rockett, Cat Tobin and a surprise guest (or two!) as they dispense precious interpersonal wisdom. Whether you’re experienced in Pelgrane Press’ Hillfolk / DramaSystem or looking to infuse play in other systems with satisfying conflict, they’re here to grant your most fervent petitions.

Dramatic Interaction in RPGs Masterclass

Register Now

Sunday, 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET

Duration: 1 hour

Location: Twitch

Yep, we’re doing two of them! One on Saturday, another on Sunday.

It popped into my head again today. I knew it was a sample used in a song, but I couldn’t’ remember what song it was. Instead of dismissing the thought, this time I started hunting for the source.

A search brought me to a forum where, in 2006, someone posted the entire scene and asked forum members where it was from. No one knew.

“Only way to settle this argument is to play Russian roulette. Do you know how to play Russian roulette?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You play Russian roulette this way. I have this pistol. One bullet in chamber. Spin cylinder. Cock the gun. Hold the gun to your head, and pull the trigger. I go first. Good luck.”
(click)
“Now you go. Here is the pistol”
(bang)
“Aha, you lose!”

Searching using additional keywords from that post led me to the 1999 Junkie XL song “Love Like a Razorblade”, which samples the scene.

Of course, that wasn’t where I first heard it! But I could then create a new search string: love like a razorblade sample russian roulette.

That search led me to the site Who Sampled it. There, I learned that the sample came from a 1963 track titled “Russian Roulette” by a company called Audio Fidelity Records. Between 1954 and 1984, they produced thousands of stereophonic tracks for audiophiles. Here’s the track:

From there, it was easy to find the list of artists who sampled the track—and the answer to my question. In 1987, Bomb the Bass used it in their absolute banger of a song, 1987’s “Beat Dis”.

As much fun as it was to track this sample and song down, I’m hoping this blog post will make the search much simpler for other people with this earworm in their heads.

Online tabletop gaming is booming as people look for new ways to connect and socialize while weathering the global COVID-19 pandemic in lockdown. I’ve already run many roleplaying games using platforms such as Zoom, Discord, Slack, Google Meet, and the ultra-simple whiteboarding tool Jamboard.

And now the mighty Gen Con itself is going virtual! I’ll be participating in two online seminars this year—here’s where you can find me:

DramaSystem RPG: Darke and Stormy Nights

Game ID: RPG20187084
Event Type: Role-Playing Game
Start Date & Time: Friday, July 31, 2:00 p.m. EDT
Length: 4 hours
Company: Pelgrane Press
Description: DramaSystem is a game of emotional conflict and interpersonal drama between player characters. In this episode, inspired by the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, two conniving families of American aristocrats—the Storms and the Darkes—seek to control the fortunes of the coastal New England town of Storm Cove. But a terrible, centuries-old curse is about to once again make its presence felt…

Dramatic Interaction in RPGs Masterclass

Event ID: SEM20184248
Event Type: Seminar
Start Date & Time: Sunday, August 2, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Length: 1 hour
Company: Pelgrane Press
Description: Robin D. Laws and guests teach RPG structures & techniques to turn emotional confrontations between PCs from frustrating roadblocks into rich moments of human drama.

13th Age Monster Workshop

Event ID: WKS20184253
Event Type: Seminar
Start Date & Time: Sunday, August 2, 2:00 p.m. EDT
Length: 1 hour
Company: Pelgrane Press
Description: Join seasoned 13th Age designers to build a brand-new monster that takes advantage of the game’s mechanics to deliver some nasty surprises at the table.

I’ll also be at the ENnie Awards and the Black Book v2 Launch Party (w/ Lovecraft Virtual Tour). The Black Book is a phenomenal GUMSHOE roleplaying system character creation tool and I strongly recommend it if you GM or play Night’s Black Agents, Trail of Cthulhu, Fall of DELTA GREEN, and other GUMSHOE games.

See you at Gen Con!

Game sign-ups open Friday, August 10—here are my sessions:

13th Age: Assault on the Dungeon of the Pogonomancer!

Saturday, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
The renegade dwarf wizard Owlbeard and his evil hordes have launched an attack on his former clan. Your mission: find the wizard’s secret lair deep in the underworld, and assassinate him before the dwarves are defeated! 3rd level pregens are provided, and at the start of the session you’ll personalize them with backgrounds, relationships, and a One Unique Thing. Those choices then shape the adventure!

Night’s Black Agents: The Van Helsing Letter

Sunday, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
You are covert operatives waging a bloody shadow war against Dracula and his minions. Now you’ve discovered a letter from Van Helsing himself that reveals the existence of another powerful undead horror. Can you find and destroy the creature before Dracula brings it under his control? A supernatural spy thriller adventure powered by the GUMSHOE investigative system.

I hope to see you there!