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.
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
The healing power of children’s laughter is undisputed. I was reminded of this on a recent opportunity to escape my quarantine, since coronavirus shut down cities across the United States. I went to the beach and was moved to tears by my friend’s willingness to touch me, and because of the intensity of joy radiating… Continue reading Guest Column: The Healing Power of Playing Make Believe
My home group finished our season of Impulse Drive this week. We played it entirely via Zoom, character keepers in Google Sheets, rollforyour.party for dice, and Pinterest. It was my first successful run at playing a tabletop RPG online. I learned a lot about online play, and I’m looking forward to the next online experience.… Continue reading Impulse Drive: That’s a Wrap!
