Whether you’re fighting your way through a dungeon, running from zombies or ending Odin, there are narrative tricks—and player limits—to keep in mind when combat springs up. This is by no means an exhaustive tool-kit, but the best kits are built by continually trying new techniques to craft a more compelling story. Yours might [...]
When the Gay Outweighs the Geek – An Unexpected Encounter with Homophobia
12 May By 11 Comments
I had a sudden encounter with homophobia in the relatively recent past. It kind of came out of nowhere, and, ironically, I didn’t know about it until afterwards. Dealing with it, however, reminded me that it’s still out there, even amongst gamers, who I think of as some of the nicest and most accepting people [...]
The DM’s Little Helper – 4 Ways My iPad Has Improved My Game
5 May By 4 Comments
When my housemate got an iPhone, I played with it a little (when he wasn’t looking) to see what it could do. Seemed pretty cool, I thought, but it was too small for my tastes, and I had no desire to pay $50+ per month. Besides, I reasoned, I hated cel phones; I carry an [...]
For the Love of Money: Adventure to Dice Castle
1 May By 1 Comment
MLV helps budding RPG freelancers decide just how much work they can do, and do well.
The Gamer Agenda – Bringing Non-Gamers to the Gaming Table
28 Apr By 3 Comments
My good friend Sam (short for Samantha) doesn’t game. We’ve tried to get her to game for years, but she’s always been very resistant to the idea. Her husband games with us, and we met her through my husband, who certainly games. She teases us a little about being geeks, and we tease her a [...]
Insomniacs and Psychosaurs: An RPG Girl Double-Fisted Review
26 Apr By 1 Comment
Don’t Read This Book, Edited by Chuck Wendig Evil Hat Productions, May 2012. 200 pages. Formats: Softcover, Kindle, ePub, iBook. Softcover ISBN: 978-1-61317-012-0. *Copy provided by publisher. Don’t Read This Book has Stephen Blackmoore, Richard Dansky, C.E. Murphy, Josh Roby, Matt Forbeck, Laura Anne Gilman, Ryan Macklin, Monica Valentinelli, Will Hindmarch, Greg [...]
PAX East 2012: Part 2 – Picking the Brains of Wizards and My Tolkien Obsession Pays Off!
21 Apr By 3 Comments
So, from my last article, you might be thinking that all I did at PAX East was play D&D. And you’d almost be right. I did find time to cruise around the Expo Hall a couple of times, most memorably when I walked up to the Turbine booth just as someone said, “So who here [...]
The Man Behind the Curtain: Daniel Solis
19 Apr By Leave a Comment
Daniel Solis is one of the masterminds of role-playing game layout. In his day job at Third Degree he’s the associate creative director; by night and weekends, he designs games (Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple, Happy Birthday, Robot!) and finds new way to apply his layout skills to building the best architecture for gaming [...]
