Games

Delta Green: Eyes Only and Targets of Opportunity available as PDF

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I love Delta Green. I rarely get to run it, but Delta Green and its sequel, Countdown have more than earned their place on my game bookshelf. This is thanks to its modern horror take on the Chtulhu mythos and compelling scenarios like “The Night Floors”, in which a certain play dooms an entire apartment building.

Achtung! Cthulhu Kickstarter

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A few years ago I picked up Weird War II by Pinnacle Entertainment Group to supplement my The Day After Ragnarok book with World War II Savage Worlds rules. The rules were fine — it helped with the demolitions skill and gave me access to an armory of guns and vehicles — but just wasn’t weird enough for my taste. The history of the weird war was pretty much the same as the history of our war; the weirdness was at the edges and never infected the larger narrative in the way that, say, Delta Green did.

Scaring up Zombie RPGs

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The release of the trailer for World War Z inspired me to read the book of the same name before the film’s version could burn its way into my brain. It was well worth it; the book’s a fantastic read that provides a wide-ranging, highly personal view of the Zombie Apocolypse. It also inspired me to see what the current state of Zombie RPGs is for a possible Knights of the Dinner Table column.

Star Wars RPG Roundup: Dec. 2012

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It’s been a good year for Star Wars fans. Disney bought Lucasfilm, and announced that a new trilogy — with some of the original actors, but without George Lucas directing — will kick off in 2015. We also saw the return of Star Wars gaming with a slew of new releases from Fantasy Flight Games: The Star Wars card game, expansions for the X Wing miniature combat game, and finally a new Star Wars role-playing game.

Writing the Game: Pen and Paper Journaling

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RPG Blog Carnival logoThis month’s RPG Blog Carnival topic is “Writing the Game”, and it got me thinking about my own efforts to get return to “pen and paper” preparation. I say “return” because most of my game prep is digital; sure I have printed books I refer to before and during the game, but even those have PDF equivalents. Going analog with my Pathfinder campaign isn’t realistic; the game is so complex, and so many resources are digital, that writing out adventure notes and stat blocks just isn’t efficient.

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Elder Sign: Omens (App Edition)

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A tentacle-faced monster spreads its wing.

Fantasy Flight Games made its name creating huge, sprawling board games with hundreds of fiddly-bits and robust game mechanics that take hours to play. Fans who buy Arkham Horror or Mansions of Madness know they’re getting their money’s worth … and that there’s no way the game will fit in their pockets. With the Elder Sign: Omens app for iPhone ($3.99), Android ($3.99) and iPad ($6.99), they’ve taken a different approach: create a lightweight, fast-playing game that’s as atmospheric as its predecessors but can be played anywhere.