The Amber Diceless Role-Playing Game (Wikipedia) I bought the game and its companion book, Shadow Knight back in the 1990s and it’s held a place on my RPG bucket list ever since. I loved the idea of the diceless mechanic, from the attribute auction where players strategically vied for the best character attributes to how … Read more
Exploding dice (a.k.a. “acing dice”) in Savage Worlds is my favorite dice mechanic among the games that I regularly play. It’s led to some of the most epic moments I’ve had at the table and is in keeping with Savage Worlds “Fast! Furious! Fun!” motto. The best part of it is it that it leads to such unexpected results. Even … Read more
Bennies in Savage Worlds, without a doubt. Players typically start with three bennies, which they can spend to re-roll checks and soak damage. Having three bennies at any given time means that players are comfortable with spending them and still having a reserve. I don’t have a problem with people hoarding bennies because I’m liberal … Read more
For many years I lovingly crafted soundtracks for my sessions, occasionally even adding sound effects. Done well, music enhances immersion in the game and kicks engagement into a higher gear. Done so-so, it still adds to the game, but ends up serving as little more than pleasant background noise. Done poorly, it distracts from the … Read more
It varies greatly based on the game we are playing and the campaign I’m running. Typically at the start of a campaign I’ll set out to find art that either matches my vision or helps inspire me. This is particularly helpful when launching non-fantasy game as it helps people grok the tone, atmosphere, and/or vibe … Read more
“Good game.” I can’t point to one particular compliment that stands out from all the others, but any time we have a great session and someone goes out of their way to say “good game”, I appreciate it. A great example of such sessions are “Terror in the Woods” and “Strange Thunder”, two episodes from … Read more
I’m contemplating a return to lunchtime gaming. It’s been on hiatus for quite a while do to an overwhelming lack of time, but I miss it and so do the rest of the Gamer Working Group. As a brief re-cap, the Gamer Working Group consists of a few RPG players at my day job and one … Read more
I struggled with this one until I read the earlier iteration in the originating blog post: “Which RPGs do you enjoy running even if they are difficult for you?” Two games immediately come to mind. The first is Dungeon World, which I ran as a one-shot at Nuke(m)Con 2017 (my gaming group’s homegrown convention). It’s a very … Read more
It’s been an exceedingly long day at work and home, so to avoid falling behind on #RPGaDay2018, I’m going to point to a blog post I wrote about the life and times of the Aeon Harrier, one of the signature starships from our Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic campaign. Its flight through a protostar nebula (a … Read more
As a group we’ve become more tolerant of non-standard character concepts, especially when it comes to the World of Greyhawk. When our Dungeons & Dragons campaign started 20 years ago, we were diehard devotees of Greyhawk canon (there is a reason, after all, why the biggest Greyhawk fan website is called Canonfire). We had holy wars over whether you … Read more