I got to see the first episode of Torchwood last night when it screened on Australian screens – and more importantly, my screen – last night. Hmm. Not quite as good as I’d hope the first episode would be. Still, it’s early days. I’m just trying to get over the Welsh accent Gwen has – it’s not one I hear very often at all. Boy, … Continue reading Torchwood – Everything Changes
I picked up two new games in Melbourne on the weekend. One of them was Pillars of the Earth, which I daresay we’ll play soon enough. The other was Colosseum, which is the one I want to talk about now. The game is by Wolfgang Kramer and Markus Lübke. I’m not familiar with Lübke’s work, but Kramer is the designer of Princes of Florence – … Continue reading New Game – Colosseum
For me, it began in 1994, when I first introduced myself to Magic: the Gathering. In those days, we didn’t realise how big it was going to be. Sure, it was getting a lot of chatter, but we weren’t quite aware that in a couple of months, Legends would be released and there wouldn’t be enough to go around. It was unthinkable for a game. … Continue reading Wizards’ online presence – a personal view
The situation… the King of Amber, ruler of the one true world of which all others (including this one) are but Shadows, is dying. He has five children, but the problem is this: the birth order is confused. Some are illegitimate. All want the throne. With his death, chaos is unleashed. Sibling will fight sibling until the throne falls to one of the five children. … Continue reading An Amber DRPG Throne War – Session Report
Back in the day… the day being 1986, my first year at high school… I was introduced to a little boardgame called Talisman. It was D&D as a boardgame! Cool! We played a lot of it back then, and I mean a lot of it. I have the distinction of being the person who started the Talisman Craze at my school, which saw a lot … Continue reading Talisman 4th edition endings
Apart from seeing Othello, the other thing I did in Melbourne last weekend was visit Mind Games and Minotaur Books. This was mostly depressing, since I didn’t actually have much money (I got paid yesterday). I had enough for one purchase… that ended up being the new Laurell K. Hamilton book, The Harlequin. And I bought it from Angus & Robertson since they were selling … Continue reading The Harlequin
I wrote this as a reply to Mike Mearls’ blog, but it’s worth standing on its own. I learnt the art of improvisation when I ran my Amber Diceless RPG campaign back about 15 years ago. You pretty much had to do it. Of course, when improvisation failed, there were some pretty awful sessions. 🙂 Making situations interesting is great. The more players have to … Continue reading Improvisation, Interesting Encounters and Roleplaying
I went to see the Bell Shakespeare Company’s production of Othello on the weekend. I generally enjoy Bell’s productions of plays, most of which I’ve seen when the company has toured Ballarat. Travelling down to Melbourne to watch it was a first for me. Unfortunately, the experience was not a good one. The trouble can be laid at the feet of the lead actors, who, … Continue reading Othello – Bell Shakespeare Company
I posted about this on EN World earlier today – I really, really hate 5′ wide corridors. Last session of Savage Tide was ruined by their overusage, as I think Craig, Rich and Bradford can attest. An entire dungeon of 5 ft corridors is not fun. It is especially not fun when you have a party of 6 PCs (not unknown in the D&D world). … Continue reading I really hate 5 foot wide corridors
I’m ill. Again. Or perhaps it’s the same cold… just gone into remission for one week and now back again. It’s not too bad, but my nose is spending a lot of time wanting to be somewhere else, and my head feels like it’s made of cotton wool. And it’s not like I can spend time away from work at present. I should be ok … Continue reading Urg.
