Questing for Tabletop Adventure Games
This is an excerpt from the upcoming Adventure Hour! It is also part of an effort on my part to make content more "evergreen." Follow the design process and receive the finished game as a gift on the Patreon. The Belly of the Fishy Beast dungeon was recently remastered for Patrons only. 🙂 Knowledge and … Continue reading Knowledge and Perception (with examples)
Two monsters? Or two heroes? I'm a minimalist. It's not the "only own 100 items" nonsense, nor the "I don't buy food except beans and rice" type. It's this: "Keep the best, cut the crap." Since coming back the States six years ago, I've accumulated more and more stuff. Games, clothes, documents, random tech garbage, … Continue reading Minimalism
Found this on the cover of the instructions for a game from called "WORST CASE SCENARIO: Game of Surviving Life." I just think it's funny. Imagine this in front of Dungeons and Dragons, Shadowrun, or Call of Cthulhu game... When a life is imperiled to a dire situation is at hand, safe alternatives may not … Continue reading Goofy game introduction
"I regain my divine spell slots" versus "I assemble the ritual components and pray at the plant tree to harness my mystical, mushroom goddess-given magic." In role-playing games, players take on one character, designated as “their character.”* The GM then gives information about the situation that the character and other characters are in, finishing with … Continue reading Focus on the World: Actions, not Choices
"They call him the Face Stealer. When you speak with him, you must be very careful to show no emotion at all. Not the slightest expression, or he will steal your face." Many times, gamers think of the rules of games before their settings. We think of trading wheat, sheep, and ore before we think … Continue reading Focus on the World: Rules and Laws
This is THE image that got me into teaching on Outschool. It's the header for a D&D class based on Legend of the Sleepy Hollow created by Megan. She made this Outschool venture possible for me by showing me it can be done. 🙂 This is an interview with Megan Hardy, the highest reviewed gamemaster … Continue reading An interview with Megan Hardy, Outschool DM Legend
Chris McDowall has talked about matrix games, making his own space-y version. I've talked about them and made my own based on a novel series I enjoyed when I was even younger. Chris and I talked about dubbing them "open strategy games" to avoid confusion about that 1999 movie and explaining what a matrix actually … Continue reading Open Strategy Games – Guiding Principles
"What we have here?" I mean, it's basically a list, but of the meta-game variety. "Customers can have whatever color car they want, as long as it's black."Henry Harrison Ford. In running fantasy games as a service (yes, that's right, click the link and sign up), that's the kind of "entrepreneureal" focus I want in … Continue reading Playing with Youngers: Menu
"Hey look, I'm Picasso!... You uncultured swine!" The name "Dragonslayer Adventures" has been dropped in favor of "Adventure Hour!" Rules here! Thinking more about running games for kids online as my Outschool classes are about to start up again with the school year (sign up here, folks!). First, a word from the wise: Characters grow … Continue reading Adventure Hour! – Winning and Retirement
Plutocracy - noun government by the wealthy.government by wealth. I moved down to Arizona. Milwaukee to Phoenix took 28 hours. I had a long time to think while on the drive. 🙂 While driving, I saw a sign very much like this one: "Construction - Traffic Fines Double in Work Zones" The idea is simple: … Continue reading Plutocracy
