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By Trask on June 24, 2009  |  Comments 1

Gen Con Bankruptcy Update

This is something of formality, but I thought everyone might like to know that the Gen Con bankruptcy is now over. Strictly speaking the main part of the bankruptcy completed several months ago, but there were some small issues, minor debts and various other items that kept the bankruptcy filing open. I am happy [...]

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By Trask on February 25, 2008  |  Comments 0

Random Post:
DM Inspiration: The Encyclopedia of Occultism

I am constantly on the lookout for new and exciting ideas for my game. History, current events and my own twisted imagination provide fodder for my campaigns and modules. Last year, I came across a book of such immense value to any role-playing gamer that it now has pride of place on my bookshelf.
I speak [...]

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By Trask on June 17, 2009  |  Comments 5

Review: Underground Penal Housing and Sentient Reptile Persons with Severe Acid Reflux

“Underground Penal Housing and Sentient Reptile Persons with Severe Acid Reflux” arrived today and I am thrilled to be the first reviewer. As everyone knows this is
the latest release from DVOC (Don’t Violate Our Copyright, the leading game company). Breaking from previous role-playing traditions, this game focuses on maintaining balance and fairness among the players [...]

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By Trask on June 14, 2009  |  Comments 10

Advice for the Aspiring Role-Playing Blogger

I started blogging about role-playing games as an adjunct feature to a game scheduling site I was building. The game scheduler was a total failure, but I enjoyed the blogging so much I kept it up. I have been at it now for 18 months and have no plans to stop.  I now am arrogant [...]

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By Trask on June 12, 2009  |  Comments 0

Ex-Illis Melee Rules Explained in Detail

Ex-illis the interesting software-driven tabletop miniature game released a bit more information about the nuts and bolts of the system, notably melee combat. The explanation is chock full of interesting tidbits about how combat hit and defense scores are calculated and what some of the on-screen icons represent. It is a bit long but worth [...]

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Livingdice.com Changed Hosting Providers

Everything looks ok so far, but please drop me a line if you see anything odd or malfunctioning on the site.
Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Random Post:
Trask Reviews DragonFire Lasercrafts Role-Playing Accessories

Greetings!
Occasionally, when the mood strikes me, I review gaming related items. I try to stay away from reviewing the latest “Wizards of the Coast” book releases, since they are reviewed to death on other sites. I like to find unusual items of interest to gamers and raise their profile a bit. That is the case [...]

RPG Blogging Takes Time and I Do Not Have Any This Week

Just until next Monday. I have too much going on over the 4th of July weekend and the preceding days to do any sort of blogging.  I am working on some interesting posts for next week, including  an interview with the creators of a new RPG under development with some unique game mechanics, a book [...]

Tankfest 2009–A Tank Convention

I had to post about this because it is just interesting and generally makes me sad I no longer live in the UK. The Tank Museum in Dorset, UK is doing a weekend event of historical education, reenactments  and most importantly, driving around in World War II era tanks. I am not biggest fan of [...]

Advice for Gamers Attending Origins Game Fair 2009

Which, sadly, does not include me. There was a brief moment a few months ago when I considered attending both Origins and Gen Con, but the harsh economic realities quickly quashed that idea. So, Gen Con yes, Origins no.  Which is quite annoying because there was some interesting stuff I wanted to check out this [...]

Role-Playing Games Designed for Busy, Adult Gamers

I am a busy adult. I have a full-time job, a wife and all the things that associated with maintaining a modern household. I do not have children, but many gamers my age have some. All of this combines in a perfect storm to destroy my gaming opportunities.
It got me thinking about the underlying design [...]

A Nagging Feeling that 4th Edition Is Not Scaling Well At Higher Levels

I have been playing 4th edition for over a year and lately I have this nagging feeling that the power differential between NPC monsters and PCs is out of balance.  Difficult, even lethal combat encounters are part of any role-playing game, but  4th edition Dungeons and Dragon’s NPCs seem to grow statistically more dangerous (that [...]

Friday Link Fest

Perhaps not a fest, perhaps more of an intimate cocktail party, since I only have four links worthy of posting. This list runs the gamut from a funny post on a serious site to 3.5 OGL monster tools and the ethics of blogging. Quite the assortment.
Arcane Legions, an interesting take on collectible miniature games [...]

On-Demand, Custom Role-Playing Games: The Future of RPGs

I believe that the current business model for role-playing publishers of selling books or PDF files is inefficient and does not satisfy the changing demands of the gaming consumer.
For many years, publishers produced games using a base rule book and supplement business model. Gamers purchased the base book, liked it and then purchased supplements as [...]