Category Archives: gaming

It’s almost RPGaDay time again; the time of year when folk all over the blogs and social media do their bit to spread positive waves about role-playing games and generally share their experiences of playing, GMing, and thinking about games.

As always, I’ll be making an attempt to follow along with the daily posting schedule. This usually results in life getting in the way, and all of my answers arriving in unwieldy lumps towards the end of the month.

Perhaps this year will be different?

Question 31: What do you anticipate most for gaming in 2018?

In terms of the gaming community, I’ve no real idea as I basically just noodle away doing whatever gaming is available and pay very little attention to the wider gaming fellowship beyond what passes before my gaze on Facebook or the occasional blog.

Personally, I’m very much looking forward to getting my hands on new Runequest, new Stars Without Number, and also a game about language called Dialect.

Going to attempt to run Lamentations of the Flame Princess at some point as I have a scenario in mind that I want to try out, with a view to some future vague attempt to get it published maybe.

More space games, more super-spies, more all round fun and mayhem. Just keeping the momentum going really.

And reminding Stephen Herron that he needs to publish more stuff for Broken Rooms.

Question 21: Which RPG does the most with the least words?

The original Recon game from RPG, Inc was about forty pages long iirc, and that certainly seemed to pack a lot in to very little.

I get the impression/seem to remember that a most of the early stuff had a very low (initial) page count, and that later editions seem to sprawl a little bit more – extra system, more background, general mission creep.

Continue reading →

(In which everything gets left to the last minute and I do a couple or three round-up posts instead of one a day)

Question 14: Which RPG do you prefer for open-ended campaign play?

As my games tend towards endless sprawl, I’m happy for any system to be used for on-going campaigns. Case in point, the supers-in-Berlin-1950s game I’ve been running for a while, I already have it in my mind that I can step forward to the 60s at some point and keep the same world rolling along. Then the 1970s and ever onward.

Given the number of times I’ve done this sort of thing I suppose the correct answer is ‘superhero games’. They provide me with my preferred vehicle for building worlds, histories, legacies.

Question 15: Which RPG do you enjoy adapting the most?

I don’t really enjoy adapting them so much as I sometimes feel compelled to adjust or throw away any bits and pieces that annoy me.

There was a fatigue system in Runequest 3rd Edition, for example; couldn’t be bothered with that at all.

Continue reading →

Question 13: Describe a game experience that changed how you play.

Easy cop-out answer: Every gaming experience promotes change or else what’s the point, eh?

Alternatively, I guess playing Fiasco, although that didn’t so much ‘change how I play’ as it made me want to play more games that had that kind of vibe: building scenes, collaborating, creating epic-ness out of very little.

Also, there have been a few over-planned RPGs in the past that have gone so badly off track that I always tell myself from here on out I’ll just set up the general environment and then wing the rest. That sometimes works. I can often stick to that style. For a while.