Jackson Hobbit v RIFTS Psionics
Here is a pair of entries for the second round of the Thought Eater DIY RPG Essay Tournament.If you're new to the contest, it's like this: these two essays are not by me--they're by a pair of anonymous...
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Princess of the Silver Palace by...a lot of people
So here's what we did:You know that old TSR module Palace of the Silver Princess? Y'know...When she came it was as exile, descending from tempestuous night in a silver ship. She fled the collapse of...
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Der Giftschrank
So over on the 99% Invisible podcast* they have a whole episode about the history and functions of Der Giftschrank--"the poison cabinet"--which is not a low-hiss goth-industrial band (ok, probably by...
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Maze of the Blue Medusa is now available for pre-orders
click to enlarge259 pages--full color--7.5" w x 9" h--that's bigger than Red & Pleasant Land so you can see the detail in the maps.Go to http://gum.co/motbm-pre to buy the Hardcover + PDF bundle,...
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Elven Snowflakes v Better Than Dracula
Here is a pair of entries for the Thought Eater DIY RPG Essay Tournament.If you're new to the contest, it's like this: these two essays are not by me--they're by a pair of anonymous DIY RPG writers who...
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Why There's No Tabletop RPG Theory
Video games get Bartle Types, we get this guy.Theory Is InevitableVideo games make a lot of money, and now even boardgames do. Money means colleges create majors in the thing that makes that money....
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Jeff Grubb's Genius Subplot Rule
Your keynote speakerOk, one thing that gets discussed in most superhero game books but is chronically hard to actually wedge into a game is subplots.Modules generally have villains and scenarios laid...
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The Frightful and The Trailer
Look a trailer:Ok, now to some FASERIP:Veterans of the Stadt's General Enforcement Squadron Anti-Malefactor Technical Key Unit: Nonlicensed Superhuman Terrorist Watch Elite Reich Kommandos...
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I Want Them To See The Wolverine Coming
Ok, so.The specific example Robin Laws uses here is really really really really not helpful because it brings in a bunch of side issues.So don't read this article and respond to the specifics of the...
View ArticleCasablanca Orphan
Here is an entry for the Thought Eater DIY RPG Essay Tournament.If you're new to the contest, it's like this: this essay is not by me--it's by an anonymous DIY RPG writer who was assigned to write...
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Lovecraft, Nerds And The Uses of Ick
You might not like Lovecraft, but chances are you like something Lovecraftian--like this or this. So, one more time, let's talk about Lovecraft....Imagine someone loved, someone you know the story of:...
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A Mere Wrecca
Participants in- and gawkers at- the tabletop RPG scene will have noticed a theme in commentary on D&D and its ilk: Played in the default style, D&D doesn't come out like Tolkien, and this is...
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Melville, Freud & Lovecraft (Thought Eater)
Here is an entry for the Thought Eater DIY RPG Essay Tournament.If you're new to the contest, it's like this: this essay is not by me--it's by an anonymous DIY RPG writer who was assigned to write...
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David Foster Wallace Correlating The Mind's Contents
David Foster Wallace talking about an early bout of suicidal depression--as quoted in David Lipsky's Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself......it may be what in the old days was called a...
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Kill A Church
"the only Christianity they defeated was the last piece of Christianity within themselves. Which is a very good beginning, of course"--Erik Danielsson in Black Metal Satanica, 2008Short PreambleToday's...
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The Lacuna: Winners Advance to Thought Eater Round Three
The winners of the second round of the Thought Eater DIY RPG Essay Contest are in...sourceFerris Bueller as RPG beats Lovecraft Was A Bad ShrinkTolkien Was A Bad GM beats The German...
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Four Projects, Three Castles
Project One:Remember Red & Pleasant Land? Winner of 2 gold and 2 silver Ennies the Indiecade judges' award and an Indie Rpg Award?Well that went ahead and won another award: the Three Castles...
View ArticleBe Good.
The picture that sticks with me I heard about second hand--the rescue workers in Orlando going in to the club to pick up the bodies, many fallen where they stood, and all the victims' cell phones still...
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Basically yeah the devil makes work for idle hands
Assumption 1:Online communities produce good stuff when a large number of people who wouldn't otherwise meet can trade ideas with a minimum of noise and abuse. (Note that abuse and criticism aren't the...
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The City of Suffering
It is the City of Suffering, the City of Pain. No-one likes it, and it's universally (though never publicly) acknowledged to be a bad idea. Or a collection of them.The streets are dark, the night an...
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