All Entries Tagged With: "RPG"
Is the Swiss Army Knife Killing MacGyver?
MacGyverisms, creative combinations of disparate components to solve a life-threatening situation is a key component of all RPGs. Since the very first game that pitted a PC against a twisted GM’s plot line, kludged together solutions saved many a player character. Children of the 1980s call these solutions “Macgyverisms” after the show of the same [...]
Questioning Piracy, Part 4 – Pirates Are Still Consumers
(These series of articles involve quotes from posts on a forum website that distributed copyrighted material. With certain exceptions, names and website addresses have been withheld) “I downloaded your game for free and thought it was awesome, but I won’t give you money because I believe in free distribution for all creative content.” No, this [...]
Questioning Piracy, Part 3 – The 1 Per 5 Rule
Third Party Companies are justified in getting a little sensitive about the topic of copyright and piracy, regardless of the details of legality. When Amethyst was criticized on RPGNet (not relating to this topic), I held my hat in my hand to be civil. It resulted in more fans and my hardest critic becoming my [...]
Real Illusions – Metagame Hacking
Illusions in RPGs are a sore spot with me. They offer so much potential, but rarely meet their promise because game masters use them poorly. This article is my attempt to add some reality to your campaign’s illusions. Whether through holography, magic or mental might illusion creation exists across the genre spectrum from sci-fi [...]
Questioning Piracy, Part 2 – The Curtain of Profit
(These series of articles involve quotes from posts on a forum website that distributed copyrighted material. With certain exceptions, names and website addresses have been withheld) When I was younger, I started a webpage where I would post my own homebrew role playing games, of which Amethyst was a sophomore member. I had a donation [...]
Gen Con 2011 Report Part 1
Gen Con 2011 is over and I survived! Normally it takes nearly a week for me to pull my life back together and get this post up, but I am strangely energized. Perhaps it was my decision to limit my backpack’s weight to an absolute bare minimum. Nothing like strained shoulders to sap the strength. [...]
Gen Con 2011 Vendors and Exhibitors List
The Gen Con 2011 exhibitor and vendor link list is completed! Read on and let your gaming budget know fear! If you find errors in the list, please drop me a comment and I will get it corrected. Vendors and exhibitors can submit a small banner and I will update your text link with a [...]
Review: Gaming Paper Adventure Maps: Mega Dungeon 1
Description: 100 unique, highly detailed dungeon double-sided geomorphs which can be arranged in hundreds of different patterns. One side shows unfurnished dungeon rooms for you to fill. The other side has furnished rooms. Together, all one hundred sheets form a massive single dungeon 10 sheets tall by 10 sheets wide. Available at Gamingpaper.com Retail Price: [...]
Ferocious Dust Storms as an Encounter–With Video Inspiration
I live in the Southwest and occasionally we get epic dust storms. They blind, confuse and generally make life miserable, which is why they are perfect RPG encounters. Not to mention the fact, for me at least, I can describe them in intimate detail from first hand experience. To share a bit of that experience, [...]