50 Games in 50 Weeks: Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple
Do simulates a specific fantasy trope: adolescent temple iplgrims who travel the world, helping people and getting into trouble. As limiting as this may appear, it’s easy for folks to grasp and use to tell stories. The system is much more simple than the length of this review implies, and highly story-focused. Your character is represented by two words: an adjective or verb “banner” and a noun “avatar.” The banner represents how your character […]
Upcoming Project: Voidjumpers of Space
I’m careful to avoid announcing new products until they’re evolved enough that I’m sure I’ll be able to release them. I have 38 pages and over 10,000 words in this one, so I’m confident now. I’m working on a SpelljammerTM adaptation for Dungeons & DragonsTM 4th Edition. Its working title: Voidjumpers of Space. First, a few definitions: Spelljammer was a D&D 2nd Edition supplement for running D&D […]
50 Games in 50 Weeks: Searchers of the Unknown
As part of RyvenCon, I decided to stretch myself a little and run a game in a system I’d never tried before: Searchers of the Unknown. Some background is in order: No edition of Dungeons & Dragons has ever been released for free. Moreover, copies of early versions of the game are increasingly impossible to find, except at sky-high prices. Searchers of the Unknown is one of several projects aimed at releasing a free version of the mechanics of early D&D, in this […]
50 Games in 50 Weeks: Hollowpoint
When my first game of Hollowpoint ended, one player burst out, “That was awesome!” and the others agreed that they’d like to run Hollowpoint again a bunch of times, trying different setups every time. So, yes, this is a fun system. Hollowpoint is built to tell stories about Agents on a Mission. These are the kinds of stories where everyone wears a black suit and a narrow tie, and carries a gun. Quentin […]
50 Games in 50 Weeks: Freemarket
As part of RyvenCon, the online gaming con, I played a quick game of Freemarket. Freemarket’s a fascinating system and world, which I honestly had trouble wrapping my brain around. That’s not a complaint or a suggestion that either system or world are deficient; they’re just sufficiently unusual for me to feel lost on mechanics and their consequences. Freemarket is set on a space station, in a post-capital society of plenty. Everyone has enough food and clothing. Matter printers […]
Dragon Age is D&D 4.5
I recently grabbed the Dragon Age Quickstart Guide, and I love this system. Haven’t played it yet, which may change my opinion of course, but I love what I see. Were I to design D&D 4.5, I’d make something very similar to Dragon Age. For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to describe DA in comparison to D&D 4E. Instead of rolling a d20 on tests, you roll 3d6. This gives you a lovely probability distribution curve, […]