When it comes to pen-and-paper role-playing games, one of things that causes the most consternation for non-gamers is the concept of character death and the effect this has on players in the campaign. While those with religious objections may focus on the spell-casting and pantheonic aspects of games like Dungeons and Dragons, I’ve found that … Read more
The mountain dwarf Torthan of Clan Urtcheck, follower of Luc, dwarven hero of the Grand Duchy of Geoff, died at the hands of a vile undead shadow on Friday, Nov. 24. He was momentarily survived by himself, having risen from the grave as another of the undead creatures to threaten his fellow adventurers. They defeated him and his shadow progenitors, as well as the master they all served: the Mad Marquee of Sterich. His ashes remain lost to the world in the dungeons beneath the Marquee’s castle.
It was not the first time death touched him. During an earlier expedition to the Lair of the Eyebiter in Geoff, the barbaric bard fought and was killed by the evil followers of a rebel noble. His spirit could not be bound to the afterlife however, and he willingly allowed himself to be reincarnated by a druid. This resulted in his return to the land of the living in the form of a human.
It’s been a while since I’ve put together a good RPG wishlist, but over last few months I’ve managed to find a few products that have tempted my wallet, including the new urban fantasy book Cityscape and the alternative fighter combat book Tome of Battle by Wizards of the Coast, country and village map packs … Read more
Do we need another version of Call of Cthulhu? Pelgrane Press thinks so: Pelgrane Press has announced that they will be producing an adaptation of Chaosium’s seminal roleplaying game, Call of Cthulhu. The new game, as yet untitled, will be written by Kenneth Hite (Call of Cthulhu, Unknown Armies, GURPS, Star Trek) and based on … Read more
And lo, a great many spammers visit the forums of Nuketown and The Griffin’s Crier, descending like a plague of locusts upon the land. They come seeking page rankings from their great link god Google, and thus, offer endless sacrifices of strange herbs, impossible enhancements and the vast riches of Nigeria. Yet from this plague … Read more
Running play-by-post role-playing games online is a kind of hell. Be it by blog, forum, e-mail, or some sort of real-time hookup, sustaining a game can be near impossible. While I have no hard data on this, my guess would be that only 1 in 10 online games succeed, and that’s probably wildly optimistic. The … Read more
My friends and I ran our first playtest of the combat system in Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition. It was a productive test, and we learned a lot about the game’s mechanics … and how to design a more effective heroes. Here’s what we learned in the first go round, featuring four battle-suited, Power Level … Read more
Movie geeks can film their way to cinematic glory with the first-ever Dungeons & Dragons Fan Film Contest. The film contest is seeking 5-minute video segments dealing with D&D, with the winner receiving video editing equipment, a computer and a boatload of D&D stuff. The deadline is September 1, 2006, which is unfortunate given that … Read more
A few months ago I picked up Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS, partly because I’d heard good things about it, partly because its a kid-friendly game I can play with my daughter, and partly because I’m always looking for games for my DS that are different from the norm. What surprised me … Read more
According to Gaming Report, WizKids is returning to the Clix-mechanic with HorrorClix. It’s a collectible game in which you control a horde of undead and/or supernatural monsters who are either out to protect or eat innocent bystanders (“protect” them? That reminds me of the great t-shirt with the tagline “Cthulhu Saves … For Later!”). According … Read more