Looking back at the early years of my role-playing and general gaming, there were a number of games that I wanted to play and never got a chance to. Amongst those games were such titles as Rolemaster, RuneQuest, Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Car Wars and BattleTech. At this stage of my life, I have found myself able to dabble in a few of these older … Continue reading Games of my youth… and Rolemaster Express
Balance… is tremendously important to any RPG. If you don’t think it is, then you don’t understand what balance is. It doesn’t help discussions that there are actually two types of balance with regard to playing RPG, both of which get confused for the other if the discussion isn’t precise enough or the idea isn’t understood well enough. To help everyone, here are the two … Continue reading Understanding Game Balance is Important
There are quite a few games I’ve picked up recently that I’d like to get the chance to play sometime in the next few months. It hasn’t helped that there’s a lot of Other Games interfering at the moment – for instance, a big Magic tournament on Saturday, and then the BattleTech league I’m running. Mind you, BattleTech will consume my attention for only a … Continue reading Games to play…
This week, I’m GotW on RPG Geek. I’ll be answering questions about gaming – mostly my RPG gaming – thoughout the week. The thread is here if you want to visit. It comes as I’ve just finished up P3: Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress with a good session today; the group worked really well together, defeating the foes that were thrown at them. I slightly tinkered … Continue reading RPG Geek of the Week
My RPG book collection isn’t that big. Let’s face it, I mainly just play D&D. This is my D&D collection: From top to bottom you can see… SHELF ONE:* Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e SHELF TWO:* Dungeons and Dragons 4E* Battletech SHELF THREE:* AD&D Rulebooks* AD&D 2nd Edition Rulebooks and supplements* D&D 3rd edition* A very small number of d20 System publications SHELF FOUR:* AD&D 1st … Continue reading Not that many books…
I’ve got this sudden desire to run some Traveller. This desire is particularly odd since the last time I played Traveller was back when I was about 13, and that was only for one session in any case. Then I’ve occasionally looked at the rulebooks, but the last time was over a decade ago. In fact, it’s getting closer to two decades. So, why Traveller, … Continue reading Traveller and other games
For the first time in a few weeks, I managed to spend a day at home, doing not all that much. Well, I managed to sort a few Magic cards I’ve had sitting around in piles for a few months and put them in the proper folders (or the proper “extras” box which will go to some deserving soul). I also read one of the … Continue reading A day at home – and a few RPG endings
For those Super Hero RPG lovers out there, the 3rd edition of Mutants and Masterminds has just been announced. My experiences with M&M haven’t been the most happy; there are things about the system I really like, but the damage system irritates me massively. (I’m much happier with a simple hit points system). And there are a few totally broken powers. Con drain, I’m looking at … Continue reading Mutants and Masterminds 3rd edition
I recently ran a session of my Serenity RPG where the players decided to not to go on either of the plot hooks I expected them to, but instead went to an Alliance shipyard to be refueled. For some reason, they didn’t trust Nishka/Niska to give them the fuel without betraying them somehow. Only problem: I hadn’t defined the shipyard at all! Didn’t even know it was … Continue reading Roleplaying the unexpected
The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design has announced the following nominees for the 36th Annual Origins Awards: Card Game The Isle of Dr. Necreaux – Alderac Entertainment Group Martian Fluxx – Looney Labs Poo – Catalyst Game Labs The Stars are Right – Steve Jackson Games Thunderstone – Alderac Entertainment Group Board Game Castle Panic – Fireside Games Endeavor – Z-Man Games Small … Continue reading Origins Awards Nominations 2010
