When it comes to the coolest-looking, most innovative RPG design I’ve seen in the last decade or so, it’s gotta be MÖRK BORG. The books and folios are riots of color, unconventional fonts, unexpected use of metallic inks, and brain-hurting layouts. They basically go against everything they teach you when it comes to conventional print … Read more
I don’t buy that many secondhand RPGs, so my pool is limited. Looking over my collection though, one game stands out: Star Wars 2nd Edition by West End Games. I picked it up for cheap at BoggleCon, a regional convention in Wind Gap, Pa. back in the late 1990s. It was part of a lot that … Read more
Star Wars: Saga Edition is my favorite licensed RPG. My Shadows of the Force campaign ran for a number of years and took place during the Knights of the Old Republic era. The campaign pitted the heroes against a pirate fleet and a resurgent Sith threat (of course). It was a great time to be … Read more
Let’s see, in 20 years I’ll be 71 … so yeah, the answer will still be Dungeons & Dragons. Hopefully, it’ll be with the Blackrazor Guild, but if not, there’s always the grandchildren and their friends. More important, I think, is how we will play these games and what opportunities for community we’ll have in … Read more
My all-time favorite con module is “Barbarian Lives”, which was the featured module for the RPGA Dungeons & Dragons Open at GenCon in Milwaukee back in … 1998? 1999? A three-round event, the D&D 2nd Edition scenario rewarded role-playing, with people voting on who should advance to the next round. The story itself was a … Read more
Forge of Fury is my favorite published adventure, for sheer playability through two generations of gamers. The first time I encountered it, the Forge of Fury formed the foundation of our dwarven Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition campaign. We all played dwarves intent on reclaiming the forge for our clan, eventually re-establishing a hidden dwarven … Read more
At this point in #RPGaDay2023, you’d probably guess my favorite game system is Savage Worlds or Dungeons & Dragons 5e, and you’d be right. So let’s talk Fate instead. Descended from the earlier Fudge role-playing game, the earliest incarnation of Fate I played was Spirit of the Century. A pulp-y game of capable people ready to … Read more
Many years ago, the Blackrazor Guild was one of the most prominent (and notorious) adventuring guilds of the Free City of Obsidian Bay. The guild’s adventurers fought in wars against the orc despot Turrosh Mak, did their best to repel the invasion of Obsidian Bay by the Scarlet Brotherhood (they failed), and accidentally flooded the … Read more
The games I wished I owned are the announced, but never published, supplements for The Day After Ragnorak. I loved Ken Hite’s “Conan the Barbarian: 1948” setting when it came out in 2009 (a tagline I stole from an RPGnet review at the time; it’s accurate). The basic setup is that in the waning days … Read more
My favorite convention purchase is Savage Worlds: Explorers Edition, which I got at GenCon 2007. At the time, I think I had the 2nd edition Savage Worlds hardcover book, which was a standard RPG format. It didn’t particularly excite me or my group; I bought it more out of curiosity than anything else. The Explorers Edition … Read more