My weekly gaming group took a break from our regular Dungeons & Dragons campaigns to play Fiasco … in space! Fiasco (Amazon/Indie Press Revolution ) by Bully Pulpit Games is a role-playing game of ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control. It’s a role-playing game for 3-5 players and no game master inspired by movies such as Fargo, A Simple Plan, and The Way … Read more
In 2008 I wrote, “Beware the Megadungeon”, a post about delving into depths of the sprawling deathtraps known as megadungeons. At the time, the Blackrazor Guild was just coming off of a prolonged — and frustrating — foray into the legendary ruins of Maure Castle. What started off as a fun side adventure turned into a … Read more
The many names of spells and how to change them: Tenser’s Floating Disc. Bigby’s Crushing Hand. Mordenkainen’s Mansion. Named spells defined Dungeons & Dragons from its earliest days while hinting at a greater world. Jeremiah McCoy talks about how to bring the magic of such signature arcana to your campaign. If You’re Gonna Fail, Fail Spectacularly: Troy Taylor talks about … Read more
After the end of our long-running Obsidian Frontier campaign, we decided to venture to a little-explored region of Greyhawk: the Archbarony of Blackmoor. Inspired by Dave Arneson‘s legendary campaign setting of the same name (one of Dungeons & Dragons first-ever settings), Blackmoor promises a mix of ancient magic, weird technology, and the strangeness of the Egg of … Read more
After four years, 53 episodes, and over 200 hours of gaming, we closed the book on our Obsidian Frontier campaign for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Begun as one of two playtest campaigns for 5th Edition, we had so much fun with the campaign — and the game — that we transitioned from “playtest” to “ongoing” campaign … Read more
My son and I spent the day at PAX Unplugged. Held at the Philadelphia Convention Center from Nov. 30-Dec. 2, 2018, PAX Unplugged in a three-day event dedicated to offline games: card games, board games, role-playing games, their various iterations. We took advantage of PAX’s Kids Day and based on the number of children I saw … Read more
November is done and with it, Nuketown’s first-ever turn at hosting the RPG Blog Carnival. Inspired by the “All These Worlds” line from 2010: A Space Odyssey Two, the carnival explored all manners of world-building, from new planets to undersea realms to stellar frontiers. In total eight blogs contributed 15 entries to the carnival. The Expanding Frontier kicked things off “Expanded … Read more
Several years ago the Gamer Working Group — my lunchtime gaming crew — chose to playtest Numenera. I created the wandering town of Walkabout for what I expected to be a short campaign, but alas, the game never really clicked with the group. That was largely because of the lack of literal world building; the game was all … Read more
The Refuge of Durak is a pocket dimension that served as an oasis of law for the planar explorer known as Durak the Rigid. An archmage and planar explorer, Durak held to his moral code in any situation, steadfastly embracing his ideals even in the face of absolute chaos. Durak the Rigid’s home — the alternative material … Read more
The Ghost Walk Star Cluster is located at the edge of the galaxy and is known for its spectacular views of dying stars, it’s just-ignited protostar nebula, and the gossamer strands of illuminated gas that inspired its name. Approximately fifty light-years across, the Ghost Walk Cluster is composed of approximately 20 stars, most of which … Read more