Essays, actual play, theory talk, and general navel-gazing about story-focused roleplaying, aka “indie” games. And trindie. And OSR. If you’re small and scrappy, I want to talk about what you’re doing! If you’re fighting to grow, I want to talk about what you’re doing! Basically if it’s roleplaying (tabletop, freeform, larp, whatevs) and it’s not the monolith of D&D, it’s in my wheelhouse.
One of the most interesting play-aesthetic gaps in gaming to me is the chasm between how players want to resolve in-game social conflicts. You can prefer natural, normal talking, or you can prefer going to the dice. Maybe some folks don’t feel strongly about social conflict resolution, but I haven’t met them. It should come… Continue reading The Cudgel and the Contract
I’ve run an awful lot of history-themed RPGs and written a few. It’s an area I love gaming in, both taken straight, and mixed with a dose of fantastic elements. Yet I would be doing the topic an injustice if I did not admit there are difficulties, both in subject matter and attitudes. So what… Continue reading Guest Column: Playing With History
We wrapped up a short run at Nathan Paoletta’s Imp of the Perverse this week. Strap on the air tanks and headlamps, we’re taking a deep dive. Quick Overview Imp of the Perverse is a horror game set in the early America of Edgar Allan Poe. It’s called “Jacksonian” but most of the period (1830-1850)… Continue reading Deep Dive: Imp of the Perverse
We started playing Nathan Paoletta’s Imp of the Perverse last week. It’s a funky, specific horror game that evokes Edgar Allan Poe vibes in 1830s-1850s Jacksonian America. Playing the first session reminded me about how hard I find conflict resolution games. Imp of the Perverse is squarely in that camp of design. Conflict resolution is… Continue reading Conflict Resolution is Indie Gaming on Hard Mode
Here’s what I’ve been reading this month. These are (relatively) short reviews! Ideally I’ll run these at some point in the future. Are you interested in seeing a deeper dive about any of these? Let me know in the comments. Electric Bastionland PDF is available at DriveThruRPG Hardcover is available at bastionlandpress.com Electric Bastionland Chris… Continue reading Mini-Reviews for August 2020: Electric Bastionland, Liminal, Vaesen
