Thursday, October 29, 2015

Review of: The Sun Below -- Sleeping Lady

I don't often do reviews on this blog but a recent product gave me an opportunity to promote what I think is an excellent Numenera adventure (not to get ahead of myself) and generally talk about the third-party environment for MCG systems.


Thursday, October 22, 2015

The Table Dynamics of A Halloween Horror Game in the Cypher System

It is the season for people to try to sneak a little horror into the RPG campaign.  Maybe this will be part of of the ongoing storyline, a one-off side story, or even a completely separate one-shot.  If you are thinking of having a horror-themed story, I want to offer some advice to help you get the most out of your session.


Monday, October 12, 2015

Strange vs. Weird

Inspired by the recent discussion of the terms "strange" and "weird" on the excellent Misdirected Mark podcast, I wanted to add how I see the distinction playing out in RPG (particularly adventure) design.  I will link this directly to some of the differences between Numenera and The Strange.

Monday, October 5, 2015

The Upcoming Ennies 2016 Thunderdome

I was thinking about what the Ennies might look like next year.  It is a little over 6 months away from the submission deadline.  Already, it is clear that this year will be incredibly competitive.  There will be products that do not make the finals that would have competed to win just five years ago.  I don't know whether this is a kickstarter effect, piggy backing on the growing prominence of board games, or (most likely) some combination of these factors but it does look like a new golden age of RPG products.

I am guessing as to which of these products will be nominated for which category.  I am not sure in some cases whether the product is an adventure or a setting -- for example.  I am just guessing.  There are also some titles I include that look like they may miss the deadline for release - but I am going to be inclusive to illustrate the level of competition.  Of course, this only includes the books that I have been following.  I am sure there are many that I am missing.

Just consider these two categories:  best rules and best setting.

Best Rules

Call of Cthulhu 7th
Cypher System Rulebook
Delta Green RPG
Fantasy Age
Feng Shui 2
Heroquest Glorantha
Mutant Crawl Classics
No Thank You, Evil!
Paranoia RPG
Star Wars: Force and Destiny
Time Watch RPG

Best Setting

13th Age in Glorantha
Call of Cthulhu 7th
Delta Green RPG
Dracula Dossier
Dragon Age Core Rulebook
Heroquest Glorantha
The Fall of Delta Green
Lankhmar (Savage Worlds)
Last Parsec
No Thank You, Evil!
Mutant Crawl Classics
Paranoia
Time Watch
Titansgrave
Vampire:  The Dark Ages 20th
Worlds Numberless and Strange

Even if many of the products slip past the deadline, this is going to be a crazy competition.

What have I missed?  I would like to know what else I should be paying attention to.