RPG Bloggers

Book Review: A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix from Kobold Press

Kobold Quarterly — Fri, 24 May 2013 07:01:21 +0000

A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix Paul S. Kemp 352 pages, Angry Robot Paperback, $7.19 ISBN 978-0857662538 A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix is the second tale of these intriguing “heroes.” The first book, The Hammer and the Blade, introduced our world to Egil and...

[...]

Epiro: Episode 106 from Points of Light

Points of Light — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:02:00 +0000

CastIola (wood elf monk 3)Perseus (human paladin 3)Yllian (high elf wizard 3)Corvus (human ranger 3)Randy (wood elf druid 3)The characters had been hiking across the Goathills for about an hour, searching for wherever it was the wights that had attacke...

[...]

Discussion: What Makes You NOT Want To Play In A Game? from Reality Refracted

Reality Refracted — Fri, 24 May 2013 04:00:00 +0000

Second discussion for this week, but it's something that's been on my mind a lot today. We all have things we don't like. Maybe it is just a genre or some aspect of a genre that you don't like, or maybe it is something bigger and more personal. We all ...

[...]

WHAAAARRRBBBLLLEEEGAAARRBBLLEEE!!!!! from The Fine Art of the TPK

The Fine Art of the TPK — Fri, 24 May 2013 02:16:00 +0000

Indeed, we do. I have now been re-gainfully employed for 4 months now. The catch? A long commute and mandatory 50-60 hour weeks. Needless to say, this blog isn't the only facet of my life being neglected. My gaming group apparently broke up while waiting for me to get...

[...]

D&D Next DM Advice (Tome 214) from The Tome Show

The Tome Show — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:54:24 +0000

Mike Shea joins us in this episode to dispense advice with us on DMing a D&D Next playtest group. Enjoy! Sponsors: Noble Knight Links: Mike’s Lazy DM book Download Standard Podcasts

[...]

Castles & Crusades Witch from The Other Side blog

The Other Side — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:32:00 +0000

The Castles & Crusades Witch Castles & Crusades is often called the Rosetta Stone of RPGS. Actually that is not to bad of a claim. Here is my Witch class from The Witch, converted to C&C. I used the S&W versions and an old d20 version of mine to help fill in some...

[...]

Reaper Bones: Kobolds are they dogs or dragons? from roleplay-geek

Roleplay Geek — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:10:00 +0000

The next milestone of this marathon painting challenge is the kobolds. Just like the Giant Rats I painted last time, these are one of the monsters in my Monster Mini Box: Level One and are a classic low level minion and dungeon pest.Lots of peopl...

[...]

CoC Blocking! from HeroPress

HeroPress — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Bill Cavalier, The Dungeon Bastard, has strong opinions on DMs who want to run Call Of Cthulhu as a change from Dungeons & Dragons!

[...]

D&DVD Of The Week: Genghis – The Legend Of The Ten (2012) from HeroPress

HeroPress — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Locked in a civil war with the rebellious Hulin tribe, the hordes of Genghis Khan (aka Chinggis Khaan aka Temujin) are stricken by plague and so a ten-man squad (an "aravt") is dispatched into the mountains to retrieve The Great Physician, a renowned h...

[...]

What coming to me in the Fall; Dwarven Forge from Bat in the Attic

Bat in the Attic — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:32:00 +0000

So I got confirmation of my order from the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter. So here what coming to me in the fall.First off I ordered five sets plus the stretch goals. I looked at the various layouts and my experience with the stuff that my friend Dwayne mad...

[...]

What Do You Want More Of? from Reality Refracted

Reality Refracted — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:24:00 +0000

Quick, non-gaming related post today.First off, I apologize about the sporadic nature of the blog lately. I've had a lot going on, and it's made keeping focus on the blog a bit harder than normal. This should resolve itself, and I'm going to try to get...

[...]

Buy this Axe from Hill Cantons

Hill Cantons — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:55:00 +0000

Thanks to the generous helping layout hand of Mike Davison, next week I will finally be releasing into the wild By This Axe, my mercifully short and (hopefully) easily digestible 12-page set of rules for running Medieval and Fantasy battles on the tabletop and/or with pen and paper. Yay...

[...]

Creating The World Of Tomorrow: Putting the SF into Sci-Fi Pt 2 from Campaign Mastery

Campaign Mastery — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:30:57 +0000

In part one, I looked at techniques for extrapolating from the world of today into a future world where technology has changed. These techniques have served me well in both fiction writing and developing sci-fi oriented game settings. In this second part, I will be examining some core technologies...

[...]

Vampires vs. Liches Pt 5: Experiment Prep! B/X Liches are B/S from Dice Monkey

Dice Monkey — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:00:13 +0000

Here is where I see these experiments beginning to fall apart. Companion & Master Set levels present a massive scaling problem. Note that both of these Liches are underpowered by B/X standards and I haven’t [...]

[...]

en garde! from Blog of Holding

Blog of Holding — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:22:30 +0000

If I had been reading Strategic Review 1.4 in winter 1975, this ad would have caught my eye: EN GARDE! is Game Designers' Workshop's newest, and most unusual game. The 17th Century, with musketeers, and swordfights in the streets, comes alive as the 40 pages of rules, charts, and tables unfold. In...

[...]

The Asylum from Geek's Dream Girl» Dungeons & Dragons / RPGs

Geek's Dream Girl — Thu, 23 May 2013 14:00:38 +0000

Mental institutions are an icon in Western fiction, and they’ve seeped into our consciousness as gamers. But are we adequately prepared to use them well in games? Institutions as a game element are a combination of individual components: architecture, history, conditions, and context/use....

[...]

D&D Encounters: Storm Over Neverwinter (Week 6) from Dungeon's Master

Dungeon's Master — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:30:10 +0000

Last week the PCs travelled to Helm’s Hold, a cathedral turned hospital dedicated to helping those inflicted by the Spellplague. A safe haven for those in need, the doors of Helm’s Hold are always open. However, when the PCs arrived they found the cathedral locked down. After finally...

[...]

Monsters of Sin Now Available from Kobold Press

Kobold Quarterly — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:15:04 +0000

Avarice, gluttony, and wrath. The seven sins dangerous enough to be called deadly are now collected under one set of covers, with all errata and some expanded text to make these Sin Monsters as complete and dangerous as they can be. The Monsters of Sin Collection includes 21 new monsters...

[...]

New Post-Apocalyptic Supplements From Fishwife Games from The Savage AfterWorld

The Savage Afterworld — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:07:00 +0000

The merry mutants over at Fishwife Games has been busily churning out some new settings and scenarios for your post-apocalyptic RPG games, including their biggest setting yet -- the town of Minco! Their materials are system-generic, so you can easily f...

[...]

Gaming Inspiration: More Visuals! from A Life Full of Adventure

A Life Full of Adventure — Thu, 23 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

I think I've said it before, but the GI Joe cartoon has some of the neatest locations. There always seems to be a Cobra hideout in some tropical jungle or idyllic island. The cartoon takes us to deserts and polar ice caps. I really like the inspiration...

[...]

Centaur and Goblin Character Classes – Leveling Creatures Old School from Dyson's Dodecahedron

A Character for Every Game — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:52:16 +0000

Setting the wayback machine to the very origin of the hobby, the game encouraged players to play whatever they really … Continue reading »

[...]

Don’t Forget about Oklahoma from The Other Side blog

The Other Side — Thu, 23 May 2013 12:14:00 +0000

I have seen the damage tornados do close up. It's not pretty.So our thoughts are with Oklahoma, but thoughts alone are nothing.DriveThruRPG makes it easy to donate money to the American Red Cross.This one of my favorite charities along with Docto...

[...]

Daily Cosplay from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:44:00 +0000

He's going to cosplay your head into the ground!

[...]

When Worlds Collide from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:43:00 +0000

The Hershel Space Observatory found two galaxies in the act of colliding. This helps us understand the nature of how elliptical galaxies came to be; these galaxies are generally populated by older stars and the odd shape of the galaxy defies the norm. ...

[...]

Finally! Cooking Star Trek Style from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:40:00 +0000

It looks NASA has decided to take another page out of the Star Trek book. You've all seen it, an ensign in the mess hall walks up to the wall, orders his food, there's a wooshing sound, a door opens, and bam! He has dinner . . . though they alway...

[...]

Armor Up from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:37:00 +0000

Karl Franz

[...]

Torn Asunder from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:36:00 +0000

Seems some fellow in Minnesota was remodeling his house. After removing a section of wall he discovered a great deal of papers used for insulation and what nots . . . this was pretty common some decades ago, I remember pulling a wall out of a house my ...

[...]

We’re the Millers – Wolverine – Movie Preview from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:33:00 +0000

Okay, this is definitely worth a look see, a whole new take on crossing the border with the drugs theme, and with Jennifer Aniston as a stripper, well there you go. And then there is Wolverine!! This is movie trailer #2.

[...]

Dragon Caves from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:31:00 +0000

[...]

The New Timecop from The Troll Dens

The Troll Dens — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:30:00 +0000

It looks like the old Van Damme movie, Timecop is coming back to the big screen. Universal is behind the movie's return. I seem to remember that the film had some really cool twists at the end, good sci fi and time travel in it. Its a cool theme regar...

[...]

New Magic Item: Armadillo Throne from Tower of the Archmage

Tower of the Archmage — Thu, 23 May 2013 10:00:00 +0000

"Bring them forward" The queen ordered. Her fancy orange coat draped artistically over the ridged arms of the throne, and her black nails tapped impatiently. The all female guard snapped to attention as the companions stepped forward, and bowed before ...

[...]

GM Advice: Solo Adventures from Raging Swan

Raging Swan — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:24:02 +0000

It’s game night — snacks are laid out, drinks are in the fridge, the minis are selected, the dungeon map is ready and you’re rearing to go. There’s just one problem — life happens and only one player shows up.Art: William ...

[...]

Wednesday Night Writing Exercise: Infestation from Exchange of Realities

Exchange of Realities — Thu, 23 May 2013 08:00:17 +0000

This is the beginning of a very bizarre idea that popped into my head today. The idea itself doesn’t quite make it into the text, but the character it created does. The door was opened by a man whose suit and loose tie gave me the impression that he was, in fact, the man who had [...]

[...]

One Page Dungeon Contest Status Update from Alex Schroeder: RPG

Alex Schroeder — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:55:47 +0000

Google Spreadsheet is my friend…

[...]

Gnasty Gnolls: Cultists and Guardians in AGE from Kobold Press

Kobold Quarterly — Thu, 23 May 2013 07:01:37 +0000

Gnolls have slaughtered their way to gaming infamy, and they are a favorite of gamemasters (GMs) and players alike. This article can be used by GMs to round out this age-old monster, or players can use it to create new characters. The following gnoll variant is formatted for AGE—though you...

[...]

[Let's Look At] Mutants & Machine-Guns: A Gonzo Post-Apocalyptic RPG, Part 2: Character Creation from Questing GM

Questing GM; A Borneon Gamer — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:41:00 +0000

Several weeks ago, I was delighted to find a couple friends of mine in my hometown have been up to something exciting, and I thought what better way than to launch a new series of posts to revive this long-dead blog. [Let's Look At] is where ...

[...]

Setting the tone from Observations of the Fox

Observations of the Fox — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:57:00 +0000

If time is like a river, flowing from one point to another inevitably from the start of creation to the end, then everything in reality is just flotsam and jetsam caught in the current. Every element of reality swirls into contact with other elements at one moment, perhaps remaining linked for the...

[...]

EN World Review – Rapture: End of Days by Joe Sweeney from NEUROGLYPH Games

Neuroglyph Games — Thu, 23 May 2013 03:34:59 +0000

Many welcomes and greetings to you, my Gentle Readers and Fellow Gamers! Well, it has certainly been a terrible week of storms, and I’m sure that many of you are as disturbed and saddened as I was by the terrible tragedy in Moore, Oklahoma. That tornado was of epic and terrifying size,...

[...]

[God-Machine Chronicles Actual Play] GMC Test Drive from Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer

Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:23:57 +0000

Last weekend, my gaming group was able to take the new GMC rules out for a spin. I had two players in on this playtest, Mappy and Silver Countess, who put together their characters in about 30 minutes or so. They’re both old hands at the new World of Darkness system so most of character...

[...]

Wandering Monsters: Because Good Is Dumb from Points of Light

Points of Light — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:27:00 +0000

I look at this list of monsters, most I am aware of, none I have used, most I would not use (at least, not as presented), and I cannot help but think that there are more pressing questions than what creature type to best shoehorn them into.For starters...

[...]

Game Life Balance Min-Maxing from Game in the Brain

Game in the Brain — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:06:00 +0000

+Mark Knights Post about Game and Life Balance.My Ideal time to play is weekdays, in the evening after work Philippine Time (which is the same as Singapore, China, HK, and Perth; work hours is usually 9-6pm). Unfortunately because I'm studying Chi...

[...]

Table Top Drop from The Geek Life Project » RPG

The Geek Life Project — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:53:34 +0000

I just stumbled upon this today on Google+. I think it’s pretty damned good idea. It’s sort of like the Humble Bundle for RPG’s. It’s pay what want and it goes to charity. That’s a pretty cool idea. So just go on over and check out Table Top Drop. Good games. Good...

[...]

Reader Tip Request: How do you handle split parties? from Roleplaying Tips

Campaign Mastery — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:48:31 +0000

Reader Tip Request: How do you handle split parties? Today, I’d like your advice and tips on how to handle split parties. Daniel S. writes: “How can I make everyone happy when groups are split in their decisions for destinations and plans?” One tip I have is to go around the table...

[...]

[Gamex 2013] Fate Core Games A-Poppin’ from Spirit of the Blank

Spirit of the Blank — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:43:00 +0000

Robo Force in action.We still have a couple days to go before Gamex this weekend, and there are a bunch of Fate Core games on the skedge (that's short for "schedule" -- like I said, only a couple days left, so I don't have time to type out "schedule"),...

[...]

Hell Freezes Over from The Looney DM

The Looney DM — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:28:00 +0000

Every DM has a player who they feel will never take certain actions. Like the player who enjoys their smashy barbarians and fighters who you'd never expect to play a pacifist cleric. Or the one person who doesn't want to roleplay. Or ...

[...]

My next PFS character is here! from JP on Gaming

JP on Gaming — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:38:00 +0000

And now a little commission for myself! Woohoo! He is going to be a priest of Razmir, the living god of Golarion! I went with a simple dirty grey-white scheme and a white mask - as most of them wear. This character has yet to play in the campaign... or...

[...]

Designing a OSR Heartbreaker – The Framework from Roles, Dice and Fun

Roles, Dice, and Fun — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:57:48 +0000

I my last post I stated, that I wanted to a D&D retro-clone heartbreaker, and so I do – and have actually done – and with this design diary I want to reflect upon my design choices and bit by bit reveal the rule set. At first I have for the last few years been […]

[...]

Microlite74 Special Version I Now Available (FREE) from RetroRoleplaying: The Blog

RetroRoleplaying — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:44:00 +0000

When I announced this project, I figured it would only take a week to ten days to do as the material was written. All I had to do was strip out the campaign specific information (aka the "product identity") and reformat. Unfortunately, seasonal allergi...

[...]

Review: Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum from The Other Side blog

The Other Side — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:15:00 +0000

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum Oh I have have been looking forward to this book and doing this review for a while. Regular readers here know that I LOVE Celtic myths. I filled Ghosts of Albion with them, the Witch has them as well and there are plenty of posts here about...

[...]

Watching Wednesday: Tome of Horrors Complete from Ravenous Role Playing

Ravenous Role Playing — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:59:46 +0000

I’m finally back on track this Wednesday to showcase a Kickstarter effort in the role playing arena. The one I’m going to talk about is more miniatures! Yep. You may have already seen this one since it’s been going since May 1st. However, I wanted to get word out about this...

[...]