Dicember 2017, Day 1: The Ragnorak Dice

A variety of different kinds of polyhedral dice.

Tales of a GM is running the 12 Days of Dicember, a project dedicated to dice in all their randomized glory. The question for the first day of Dicember is “Which is your favorite set of dice?” For me, it’s my Ragnarok dice. I bought these Chessex dice at MEPACON 2010 for my The Day after Ragnarok lunchtime campaign. The smokey … Read more

The Three-Page Manifesto, Revisited

A hand-drawn dungeon map and gray dice with red pipes cover typed game notes.

The latest RPG Blog Carnival encourages us to “revisit the past”. Hosted by GameMastery, the kickoff post discusses writing a follow-up or sequel to a prior post. For me, that’s revisiting “The Three-Page Manifesto”. Written in 2008, the column saw me grappling with balancing gaming and fatherhood. At the time my kids were 6 and 3 and my … Read more

Game Day: A Little Bit of Everything

The massive central eye of a beholder examines a goldfish in a bowl.

Xanathar’s Guide to Everything arrived in my mailbox last week, bringing with it a cornucopia of goodness for Dungeons & Dragons. My only complaint about the book so far is I can’t read the entire thing simultaneously. As expected the Xanathar’s Guide (Amazon) includes a ton of content that originated in Wizards of the Coast’s Unearthed Arcana columns. It’s been edited and … Read more

Kickstarting Flash Gordon RPG for Savage Worlds

Pulp serial hero Flash Gordon stands ready for battle; the logo bearing his name appears behind him.

[… must … resist … Queen/Flash Gordon … reference…] The Flash Gordon RPG for Savage Worlds Kickstarter is live. Created by Pinnacle Entertainment Group, the Kickstarter includes the Flash Gordon RPG core rule book (192 page hardcover), the Kingdoms of Mongo campaign book (192 page hardcover), a 32-page adventure, a game master’s screen, new bennies, new dice, cool maps, and even a boxed set that … Read more

Game Day: Illuminated Character Sheets

Drawings of a magic ring, a blue and purple explosion, and a fire elemental.

I get distracted during game sessions. Like many gamers today, I can find it hard to resist the itch to check my phone, rationalizing it with something like “oh, I’ll just look up this one thing and be done with it”. It’s never one thing, and the itch never goes away. It’s even worse with … Read more

Sentinels of the Multiverse (Digital)

A screenshot from Sentinels, featuring a villain with glowing pink eyes grinning menacingly at the viewer.

The collaborative card game Sentinels of the Multiverse is a fantastic mashup of the comic book genre. It can also be fantastically complicated, something the digital version of the game deftly manages. The result is a fun, fast-moving game that riffs on the best ideas from Marvel, DC, and other publishers. Created by Handelabra Games … Read more

My events at MEPACon, Fall 2017

A stack of role-playing game books. A redheaded vampire appears on the cover of one them.

I’m running three events at MEPACon Fall 2017, which is being held November 10-12, 2017 in Scranton, Pa. The first two are powered by Savage Worlds: SG-13, which is a Stargate adventure and The Curse of the Moaning Mists, which is a Pirates of the Spanish Main adventure. Rounding things out is Light Everlasting, an introductory adventure for Hollow Earth Expedition. SG-13: … Read more

Nuke(m)Con 2017

A close-up of a Dungeons & Dragons character sheet. A doodle of a sword, wreathed in flame, appears to the right.

Another Nuke(m)Con is in the bag. Held September 29-October 1, the latest Nuke(m)Con continued a reinvigorated tradition that began in 2006. Family and work emergencies played havoc with attendance this year as a broken water heater, a sick baby, and a super-sized work project kept three players away from the table. A family birthday and … Read more

Game Day: Prepping for Nuke(m)Con 2017

Covers for the D&D Player's Handbook, Dungeon World, Hollow Earth Expedition, and Tales from the Yawning Portal

Nuke(m)Con 2017 is a week away and I’m scrambling to pull together my events. My gaming group’s homegrown convention is being held September 27-30 at a friends house. We expect 10-12 people to attend over the course of the weekend, but any given slot will likely have 5-6. I’m running three games: Dungeons & Dragons, … Read more