The Deck of Fate: DW Session Report #1

Tarot card from the Rider-Waite tarot deck, also known as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) After having been ravaged by lost players and conflicting schedules my regular group finally got together again last Wednesday. While we had been getting together regularly and playing all manner of board games and one shot RPGs it wasn't...

Categories: actual play, Dungeon World, fantasy, session report

The Pale Forest (My 2012 RPG Geek 24 RPG)

The dust has settled and this year's 24 Hour RPG Competition at RPG Geek is now over. I threw my hat into the ring this time around with a game called The Pale Forest, but with 37 other great entries I didn't expect to win (and I didn't). That honour goes to the much more popular (and presumably handsome) RPG blogger Lowell Francis. If you...

Categories: 24 hour rpg, Age of Ravens, Game Design, RPG Geek, The Pale Forest

Grotesque

In case you haven't noticed, I'm rather enamoured with Technoir. I have rambled on about the game previously, so I won't bore you with another glowing review. Instead I'm going to tell you that I put together a transmission for the game and you can download it right now for free. For those unfamiliar with Technoir and its transmissions, let's...

Categories: Adventure, cyberpunk, Technoir, transmission

Zombie Clocks vs. Attitude

Troll in the Corner is hosting this month's RPG Blog Carnival and, for once, I have something to contribute. This month's topic is horrible gaming sessions, and Ben makes it clear he means both game sessions that did horror right and sessions that went awry. Fittingly, I have experienced both extremes with the same game: Shotgun Diaries. Success My...

Categories: Rambling, RPG Blog Carnival, session report, Shotgun Diaires, Zombies

Cyberpunk Roleplaying with Technoir

I had meant to write this up a couple of weeks back, after doing the session report of my first time playing the game, but ended up procrastinating instead. Better late than never, right? What is it? Technoir is a cyberpunk role playing game by Jeremy Keller and was funded via Kickstarter last summer. I'm really impressed with the overall layout...

Categories: cyberpunk, Jeremy Keller, Review, RPG, Technoir

What does it taste like?

Another redditor and I whipped up this quick table for determining what something tastes like a couple of days back. After having done a Tavern Name Table and a Food & Drink Table all I need to do is come up with a way to generate innkeepers and tavern patrons and I'll never have an empty tavern again. What's it taste like? Taste (d6)Intensity (d10)Sensations (d20) 1BitterJust a hintItching 2SweetSpicy 3SourSlimy 4SaltySubtleMetallic 5UmamiEarthy 6Smokey 7StrongGamey 8Dry 9Fatty/Gristley 10OverwhelmingChewy/Tough 11Crunchy 12Tingly/Minty 13Hearty 14Fermented 15Rancid 16Stringy 17Greasey 18Yeasty 19Mushy 20Gritty...

Categories: flavour, Food and Drink, reddit, tables

Technoir Session Report (Hong Kong)

Over the last few months I have supposed to have been playing/running a Dresden Files RPG in which the player characters uncover a conspiracy involving John Murray Spear's "God Machine". We play weekly, but have only played three or four actual sessions due to player illness, thesis demands and a variety of other commitments and events that just plain...

Categories: actual play, cyberpunk, session report, Technoir

Barbarian Versus

Barbarians Versus. That title sure conjures up a very specific image, doesn't it? An image of muscled brute of a man charging down from the hills, loincloth fluttering in the wind and at least one axe raised above a face tangled in beard. At the bottom of the hills is something, it doesn't matter what. Whatever it is will be destroyed or pillaged....

Categories: Barbarian Versus, Mystic Ages Publishing, Review

Tug-of-Adventure

I have been thinking about adventures as a game of tug-of-war. On one side is the goal, the thing that the adventurers are trying to accomplish. On the other side are the goals of the aggressor or what happens if the adventurers are not successful in their venture. In the middle of all this lies the adventure. Click to enlarge. Imagine if everything...

Categories: Adventures, Game Design, Game Mastering, Rollplay Engine

Heroes Against Darkness: Beginner Friendly?

I have mentioned before that I am on the look out for great free RPGs that have a knack of teaching the basics of role playing to new players. None other than Justin Halliday took a moment to humbly (or at least as humbly as one can self promote, anyway) suggest his own game, Heroes Against Darkness as an option. Seeing as how Justin took the time...

Categories: fantasy, Free RPG, Heroes Against Darkness, Review

The Rollplay Engine

About a month ago I posted about eschewing character sheets in favour of managing everything through dice. I have been mulling the idea over and over the recent long weekend I whipped together a basic RPG system built around the concept. I am tentatively naming the resulting game the Rollplay Engine. It is a silly name, but also a relatively...

Categories: Dice, Game Design, Rollplay Engine, RPG

Food & Drink For Your Random Tavern

Last week I posted this set of tables aimed at generating a random tavern name. I made that table for a spot of fun on a lazy Sunday afternoon and I thought I would enjoy supplementing it with a pair of tables for random food and drink. This interest in tables is a new thing. I don't recall ever making more than a basic table before last week and here I am cranking out another two. I'm finding table...

Categories: fantasy, flavour, Food and Drink, tables, taverns