Worldbuilding and Built Worlds

Part 4 of ? in the Cultivating a Storytelling Mindset series My home group has been playing UFO Press' Shattered City the past several months. It’s a setting-intensive game where the collaborative world-building is a major selling point of the exercise. It’s not exactly in the same vein as Microscope or The Quiet Year: everyone… Continue reading Worldbuilding and Built Worlds

Deciding What To Care About

Part 3 of ? in the Cultivating a Storytelling Mindset series The hardest thing I ever ask of a player is to decide what they're going to care about. Some games tell you what to care about, right? You’re dungeon delvers, so you’re supposed to care about the treasure. Advancement is a strongly implied goal… Continue reading Deciding What To Care About

Characters In Transformation

Ways to think about characterization as you cultivate a storytelling mindset for your RPGs. Part 2 of ?

Teaching Games: Same As It Ever Was

Guest writer Jahmal Brown reveals his can't-miss approach to teaching RPGs.

Vignettes

We're a couple actual-play sessions into Shattered City, UFO Press’ latest Legacy-derived game, and it's delivering an interesting experience. Rather than blow-by-blow whaddaydo whaddayado play, each session is a vignette. There's a clear opening with an explicit situation, a nice little arc with miss-generated complications, and closure at the end of the session. They feel… Continue reading Vignettes