I’m Mad as Hell, and I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore!
Tweet Editor’s note: While I seemingly rail against Kickstarter creators in this post, I am well aware that many good people are conducting good business on Kickstarter. I also acknowledge that many projects by first-time creators get funded and made because of Kickstarter, and I know these projects might not otherwise see the light of day. Kickstarter is a valuable service to our community and many others. This article is not to attack the concept or all creators, but to shine a light on those who seemingly abuse it. I recently ranted on and on about a very late projects on Kickstarter on the most recent episode of Happy Jacks RPG Podcast. The rant began when I heard a recent episode of the Bear Swarm podcast, where a listener mentioned in an … Read entire article »
Filed under: Alternate Views, General Gaming, Opinion, RPG Industry BS
What RPGs are NOT
Tweet We have a tendency in this hobby to borrow a lot of terms from other creative endeavors. We borrow terms from creative writing, film, television, The problem is, sometimes we start equating our hobby with those other creative outlets from which we borrowed the terms, when ofttimes our hobby is very different. RPGs are not Novels I’ve talked a lot about GMs who mistake table-top RPGs for novel writing, with GMs constantly trying to manipulate the game to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Alternate Views, General Gaming, Opinion
Why I Like Sex in RPGs
Tweet In a recent episode of the Happy Jacks RPG podcast (Season 09 Episode 08), the hosts discussed romance, seduction, and sex in roleplaying games. I was really looking forward to this discussion as I am a big proponent of including these elements in games. While I wasn’t exactly disappointed with the discussion that ensued (the hosts were funny as ever, and their inappropriate banter is a large part of why I like the show), I did feel that there was a lot more that could’ve be said. The hosts only scratched the surface of this topic, and I wish I could’ve been there to add my points to the discussion. However, as I don’t own a teleporter, and don’t live anywhere close to southern California, this article will have to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Advice, Alternate Views, General Gaming, Opinion
Making an Existing Setting Your Own
Tweet I’ve started running an L5R game (you can hear recordings of the session at HappyJacks.org), and some of the things I’ve done with this well-established, long running setting are likely to make some purists a little twitchy. Strangers in a Strange Land L5R is a game of honor and politics, peopled with brave samurai and lofty courtiers. It is — to say the least — a complicated, incredibly detailed setting. Because the setting (for me and the players) was new, uncharted territory, I wanted to introduce it incrementally. I did this by making the PCs sort of outsiders. The most obvious way to do this is to make them actual outsiders who’ve suddenly found themselves in this last. I didn’t want to do that, because it’s a kind of old, hackneyed literary device. Instead, … Read entire article »
The Rogue’s Share
Tweet In the second half of my last article I explained why giving the rogue “weaponized ability checks” would be a bad idea. Basically you’re forcing the DM to choose between allowing all characters to attempt these actions (thereby making the rogue’s special abilities meaningless), or allowing only rogues to attempt these actions (thereby stifling player creativity). It’s kind of setting up a lose/lose situation. To understand what I mean fully you should really go ahead and read the article. I’ll wait. Back? Alright then. Let’s continue. The latest D&D Next playtest packet (released December 17th, 2012) gave rogues a new class feature called Skill Tricks. These allow a rogue character to spend a skill die[¹] when making an ability check that uses a skill they are trained in to gain an effect above … Read entire article »
Filed under: Alternate Views, Opinion
