Ken Newquist 
Looking back over my Top of the Pile columns, and considering what this week’s might bring, I found that I was in something of a rut — I’ve got my standard comics that I get every month — X-Men, Conan, Ex Machina, Batman — but I haven’t been venturing very far from that core. That’s … Read more
Radio Active reaches a milestone with Episode #50, but it ends up being a fairly quiet birthday with news of a Nuketown road trip, a GenCon update, adventures in parenting with nosebleeds, and a summer reading list. I also run down my favorite Radio Actives from the first 50 episodes, talk about the Wicked Good … Read more
After a week away from home at the Portal 2007 higher ed conference at Gettysburg College, I’ve returned home to an inbox overflowing with games. My Xbox 360 will be seeing heavy action this weekend as I put Shadowrun and Forza 2 through its paces, while my non-video game moments will likely be consumed by … Read more
Interested in teaching kids how to play role-playing games? Then check out the article “Role-Playing Games and Kids” by Katrina Middelburg-Creswell on RoleplayingTips.com. She’s a high school teacher and RPG club organizer in the Netherlands, and her two-part article offers tips on how to organize a kid gaming group and then what sorts of games … Read more
A while back at My Play, Gerald Cameron proposed the idea of the “BHAC” (Big, Hairy, Audacious Campaign), the sort of campaign that’s earth-trembling huge its shear audacity and (I’m assuming) its variance from the norm. He throws out one example: normal D&D campaigns usually have a home town or city … what happens if … Read more
The Star Wars: Saga Edition Role-Playing Game is the third Star Wars RPG released by Wizards of the Coast. Like it’s predecessors, its based on a variant of the d20 engine that drives Dungeons & Dragons. Unlike the previous editions though, this one truly feels like Star Wars. My friends and I (collectively known as … Read more
The headline says it all. I’m reviewing the new Star Wars: Saga Edition as a freelance gig. My review copy arrived Wednesday; my playtest of the game was scheduled for Friday and the game review is due Monday. At the same time, my Knights of the Dinner Table column was due Friday, my next freelance … Read more
Luke took his first tentative step yesterday and naturally (Luke being Luke) he did it on the concrete porch outback. ‘Cause you know, that way he can maximize the chance of really hurting himself. He immediately sat back down again, and crawled to his destination, but he definitely took a step.
Of course, everyone says not to compare your kids to each other, but walking — like talking — is one of those milestones you can’t help but compare. Jordan started walking three days before her first birthday, and it seems like Luke’s following a similar trajectory, given that his first birthday is June 14.
Friday was utterly consumed by an all-day staff retreat at work, denying me my normal lunchtime opportunity to write my Game Day column. But here we go again, one day late, but a little wiser nonetheless as I take some time to look at the new Star Wars: Saga Edition RPG, consider lessons learned during … Read more
Gaming comics top the pile this week as my copies of Knights of the Dinner Table #125 and Dork Tower #36 arrive, augmented by the sword and sorcery (though mostly sword) of Dark Horse Comics’ Conan #39. Rounding out the picks in this pile is the latest issue of Ex Machina, which sees a mysterious … Read more