By Brent on 23 June 2011
I’ve been listening to a series of lectures on historical castles, and it’s changed how I think about castles in an RPG setting. Debate about castles rages, naturally, so take all this with a grain of salt, but: Castles were not just fortifications. Indeed, fortification was a relatively minor element of their function. Castles were homes and symbols of power. Many of them were built to look imposing, and were actually hard […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 21 June 2011
D&D 4th Edition makes death rare. A player-character can be knocked unconscious, and one can be dying, but actual character death is generally uncommon. Character death is a big driving force for players, and provides the primary dramatic tension. Death is always scary. For a long time, the possible death of your character (usually via poor Hit Point rolls and good monster Hit Dice rolls) created […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 18 June 2011
(I’m really unhappy with the way this blog post turned out. But I can’t think of a better way to write it, and I’d rather have it released than sitting in my drafts folder for months. So, here you are.) Last night, as I waited on yet another piece of software, I looked in on the Four Winds Tavern, a freeform IRC channel gamefiend of At Will runs on his 4eAtWill.net IRC server. Folks were conversing, […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 17 June 2011
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I finally finished my Dark Sun adventure. I was so excited that I looked around for other half-finished adventures, and found one. But it wasn’t half-finished. It was 99.9% finished. Literally, I just had to update some stat blocks and I was done. So. If you’re interested in holding off a war party of hobgoblins, then tracking them to their underground lair, check out The Hobgoblins […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 14 June 2011
I pay artists. If you’re an artist, and you’re charging money for your work, please read this post. I love artists. But they’re often, well, frustrating to deal with. I’ve had to terminate my relationship with too many artists. Here’s how to avoid that for your clients: Figure out what you will and won’t do. Communicate that. This is obviously important for taboos like sex or violence towards […]
Posted in Miscellaneous |
By Brent on 5 June 2011
RPG geekery to follow. Just finished reading You Are In The Tarrasque over at Daily Encounter, and it has me thinking about how to use the Tarrasque in a game. For those unfamiliar: in D&D, the Tarrasque is a massive, dinosaur-like engine of destruction that wanders the world annihilating things. Imagine a feral dragon with a stick up its butt and a hatred for the world. Its purpose is to rampage through cities, destroying them. The danger here […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 1 June 2011
I’ve been talking with the great folks on the #4eDnD channel at 4eatwill.net about storytelling in RPGs. (Yes, another role-playing post. It’s been on my mind.) One chatter was telling us about the plot he was pulling his players through, and we were advocating for more player choice. Everyone agreed. Great. But it got me thinking: what if the players don’t want a lot of choice? There are […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 28 May 2011
Growing up, I always wanted to be a writer. (Queue 5-minute reverie about Goodfellas, which is exactly what I want to talk about. The reverie, not the movie.) When I was a kid, I’d read a great book and think, Man, I’d love to be a writer. Just sit there at my desk and write. Mug of tea next to me, open window with the breeze gently blowing the curtains. Even when I started writing seriously […]
Posted in Self-improvement |
By Brent on 26 May 2011
So, @gamefiend opened up an IRC channel: #4eDnD at 4eatwill.net. Background: I love IRC in my bones. Perhaps my first major online experience (certainly major; not sure if it was first) was my involvement in the Sci-Fi Channel’s IRC servers, where I spent most of my time. Literally. Those were my friends back then. Anyvay. I left, years passed, and @gamefiend started up #4eDnD. I love gamefiend, love the games he ran […]
Posted in Role-playing |
By Brent on 25 May 2011
Nearly a year ago, I decided to celebrate the release of D&D 4E’s Dark Sun campaign setting by writing and publishing a Dark Sun adventure. I got the writing part done okay, but not so much the publishing. I created a conspiracy, a set of characters, and some tough monsters. I got about 80% done, then stopped. I let other things get in the way. It’s embarrassing. So now it’s time for me to rectify that mistake. […]
Posted in Role-playing |