RPG-a-Day 2021: Weapon

A male adventurer wields a black sword covered in stars

My World of Greyhawk campaign started over 30 years ago, with the seeds being planted in my college campaign at Lock Haven University. It’s continued, on and off, ever since. During that time, it’s featured a number of unique weapons, a few of which I detailed below. Blackrazor: The legendary, soul-sucking sword inspired the name of my … Read more

RPG-a-Day 2021: Tactics

Long ago, my gaming group came up with a list of tactics for the Blackrazor Guild, our notoriously chaotic adventuring company in the World of Greyhawk setting. Full frontal assault Spring the ambush, fight your way out. Party member as bait. Stake out a cow. Don’t Split up the party; you’ll just have to chase them down … Read more

Blogworthy: Productivity, Inverted Controls, Sea Shanties, Iggwilv, The Mummy

Looking to improve your workflows, streamline your life, and de-stress your life in the new year? Check out “The Ultimate Guide To Productivity Methods“, Pocket’s round-up of productivity methods including “Eat The Frogs First Thing in The Morning” and “Productivity 101: How to Use Personal Kanban to Visualize Your Work”. Vegetarian Eggs Benedict with Spinach … Read more

Game Day: The Great Campaign Purge of 2020

Everyone keeps things. Some people keep a lot of things … and, as we learned from Fight Club, the stuff we own ends up owning us. While I’m far from a minimalist, I do think it’s possible to keep too much stuff, and it’s good to be mindful about what you keep, and what you throw … Read more

Blogworthy: Believing Virus Myths, NASA Worm, Stargate RPG, Kool Aid Man, Skyrim Mods, Mars Rover, Galactic World Building

Why smart people believe coronavirus myths talks about a phenomenon I’ve seen too many times to count: Otherwise intelligent people retweeting or re-posting questionable content without thinking it through. Case in point: people stating as fact that individuals are getting reinfected with COVID-19. There are certainly cases where people who have had the disease test … Read more

Blogworthy: Floating Worlds, Tome of Beasts II, Data Detox, Savage Frontiers, Backpacking Tips

A map of the World of Greyhawk

Artists Creates Floating Worlds In Test Tubes – Rosa de Jong creates tiny models of buildings, trees, and geographic features that float on sculpted, rocky islands in a test tube. Think Avatar’s floating islands meets the traditional ship-in-a-bottle models. Greyhawk CY 576 by Anna B. Myers – Thanks to funding from her Patreon, cartographer Anna B. Myers released a refreshed … Read more

Blogworthy: Smart Star Wars Soldiers, Witcher Timeline, Pulp Magazine Archive, Stem Cell Robots, Ice Safety for Giant Monsters

An armored warrior walks out of a sunset.

The Mandalorian Is the Only Smart Soldier in the Star Wars Galaxy – The Angry Staff Officer at Wired.com explains how everyone’s new favorite bounty hunter and his ally, the former Rebel Alliance drop trooper Cara Dune are the first on-screen soldiers in the Star Wars universe to use reasonable, intelligent strategies and tactics. Here’s why writing things … Read more

Weather in RPGs – Advice, Generators, and Tables

An example of weather in RPGs - lightning strikes down from clouds over the ocean. Darkened land can be seen to the right.

Bad snow storms and extreme weather scuttled many a Game Day over the years. They throw our RPG gaming lives into chaos, and while being able to fall back to Roll20 can help the game go on … it’s useless when it comes to shoveling snow or bailing out the basement. Just as a Nor’easter … Read more

Game Day: Setting Sail for Saltmarsh

Adventurers battle an aquatic humanoid while a giant octopus attacks a sailing ship in the background.

My gaming group’s preferred campaign setting is the World of Greyhawk. We adventured there for years with our Blackrazor Guild campaign, but while we’ve walked (and been kicked off of) the streets of Greyhawk, battled the humanoid invaders of the Pomarj, and sailed the waters of the Vohoun Ocean, there’s plenty of Greyhawk we’ve haven’t seen. This is … Read more

Blogworthy: Coffee Naps, Spocking Currency, Western Oerik, Dragonfly on Titan

A Canadian five dollar bill ... modified to look like Spock.

Scientists Agree: Coffee Naps Are Better Than Coffee or Naps Alone: Drink some coffee. Take a 20-minute nap. Wake up feeling more refreshed than ever. Bank Of Canada Urges ‘Star Trek’ Fans To Stop ‘Spocking’ Their Fivers: People keep transforming Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s seventh prime minister, into Star Trek’s Spock in honor of the late Leonard … Read more