Blog Archives
sThis is roleplaying: A bunch of guys sit around a table. One of them—the Game Master—says: “The room is dark, lit only by your flickering torches. In the middle of the room is a squat statue of the Bloated God, carved from an unknown mottled green stone. In his hands is a metal bowl, inside […]
This is the continuation of the ASL Starter Kit scenario S24 that I previously described at Vox Popoli. As you can see Turn 3 turned out to be eventful, as my AT gun revealed itself as soon as one of the Russian tanks presented it with a clear side shot on the right flank, while […]
A Song of Frustration and Fun (But Mostly Fun)
Wednesday , 3, January 2018 Tabletop Games, Wargames 3 CommentsThe multi-dimensional balancing act of wargame design has led to a proliferation of titles. The huge number of variables that have to be juggled in even the simplest of wargames presents a huge number of opportunities for wargame designers to seek out the “sweet spot” in everything from level of detail to movement schemes to […]
There’s an interesting comment over on Playing Dice With the Universe from an aggravated Dungeon Master aggravated at his players complaints of his railroading ways: My only real concern as a 1e DM is the cries of “railroading” when players try to leave the the established play area. We’re playing a game, the context of […]
Classic Traveller: Session Report 5
Thursday , 2, November 2017 Tabletop Games, Traveller 2 CommentsSession characters: Sir Percival Jones, 54577B, Age 30, Scout (3 terms, mustered out), Pilot 1, JOT 1, ATV 1, Vacc Suit 1 Elect 3. He’s cash poor, but, a lucky chap who’s survived 12 years as a scout and the service appreciates it by loaning him a ship. He’s playing Galahad on for a mother […]
You know, I’m not sure what I was expecting to happen when Appendix N finally hit Amazon. But look at these rankings for the major D&D non-fiction works on the market right now: #32,561 Paid in Kindle Store: Empire of the Imagination #74,548 Paid in Kindle Store: Appendix N #197,532 Paid in Kindle Store: Of […]
First edition Gamma World contains an intriguing hex map of post-apocalyptic America. It’s charming, but it consists only of rivers, unshaded triangle mountains, dark triangle mountains, and circles representing former cities of the ancients. There is no key. And there are no instructions on how to use it except for one brief aside in the […]
I didn’t have a particular adventure module in mind when I sat down to run first edition Gamma World. I didn’t have a developed campaign setting. I didn’t really have anything in mind other than that I wanted to see what happened when you took the game as is and then ran it according to […]
After several sessions, we have now played through the careers of two American submarine captains. We both started in April 1942 and then went all the way to the end of World War 2. It never ceases to surprise me, but this game is completely different from the one covering the German U-boats. They fight […]
First Edition Gamma World Session Four: The Battle of Yamtown
Tuesday , 24, October 2017 Tabletop Games 4 CommentsThis session opened up with the gang following up on an old plot hook that’s been mouldering around since the very first session: they wanted to go check up on the Brutorz-riding Commanche tribe to the northwest. The party was tempted to go check out the Cyclops people I mentioned that lived up in the […]
Kate writes in with a question about tabletop gaming: Jeffro, What kind of rpg stuff do you enjoy doing around the table if not character interaction? When you object to characters having motivations, what exactly are you objecting to? That they have any motivations at all, or the type of motivations? Great question! But answering […]
Classic Traveller: Session Report 4
Thursday , 19, October 2017 Tabletop Games, Traveller, Uncategorized 1 CommentSession characters: Sir Percival Jones, 54577B, Age 30, Scout (3 terms, mustered out), Pilot 1, JOT 1, ATV 1, Vacc Suit 1 Elect 3. He’s cash poor, but, a lucky chap who’s survived 12 years as a scout and the service appreciates it by loaning him a ship. He’s playing Galahad on for a mother […]