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Gaming 44% · Life 33% · Writing 11% · Crafts 6% · Nature 6%
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sometimes. . . . . postscriptumbeing a recount of the RPG modalities I have experienced, and the differing levels of experiential curation required of the GM therein. short pickup gamesI love running at my local game shop's RPG nights because I love the struggle. People often buy a ticket for the night without checking Discord to see what games are on. They just show up and get given a seat. I affectionately term these people as 'stragglers'. Con games also belong in this category1. In this…
If you tell your players they're in a murder mystery, but the murder doesn't occur until halfway through the session, you're going to have some problems. I ran Slow Sleigh the other night and it could have gone better. Here's some thoughts. what?First, some facts. I had 6 players. I made all of them pick from the backgrounds supplied in the book. Players included my brother, who's played troika once before one guy from my biweekly B2 game who is an extremely committed chaos-monger two strangers…
I thought it would be easy enough to bang out a random encounter procedure for Sky-faring in Troika!, but it has morphed into collections of tables for random barges, their crews, those crews' motivations, sky-beasts, their lairs and proclivities, various tables for loot, and et cetera. WHoops. In order to have something out for Tuesday I'm going to leave here the first segment of my D66 table for Gold Barge modifications. Bio-engineered SPIDER SILK LAUNCHERS. Range: 6 tactical squares. On hit,…
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy drawing maps as much as you do, but there is a special joy to be found in adapting real world locations into gaming material. Often the peculiar geographies of the real world will outstrip your own imaginings. Herein are map generators and archives that I've used, plus a collection of real life locations I consider ripe for adaptation. tools and repositoriesAn honourable mention first of all to watabou's procgen arcana. Note that if you use these tools for your…
In a push to make my writing as efficient as possible, I have hobbled myself by editing my words before they get the chance to land on the page. I participated in another friendly short story competition at my partner's workplace, and decided it would be a good exercise to countermand my writer's block by writing in 'stream of consciousness' style, but sadly found the stream had dried. It was only when I started writing in meter that the words seemed to spill out easily. I think the focus on…
This is Golden Barges based on the damage tables from Troika -- namely those for Small, Modest, Large, and Gigantic creatures. The main concept is that travel distance is rolled against this very table, but with 2d6 rather than 1. 1.0 bargewrightsBarges come in 4 classes: small, modest, large, and gigantic. Barge Luck is determined as it is for PCs in Troika! Barge Stamina is 2d6 plus 6 for Small, 12 for Modest, 16 for Large, and 24 for Gigantic barges. 1.2 stamina and damageOne point of Barge…
Soundtrack The Monks of Brink groan continuously. In my first days here I observed how they produce such deep, resonant vibrations. They spend a full minute to inhale before they harden their guts and purse their lips in unison. The resultant rattle of their chests and throats issues and rebounds throughout the high and lonely halls of dying Brink. As twelve begin, another twelve are halfway to expelling the last of their air, while another dozen suck in as deeply as they can in preparation to…
the Referee Skills Review is about playtesting soft skills in the same way that rules and modules get playtested. My aim is not to tutorialise, but to review based on actual experience from play. Relevant links to educational content will be linked where I can find them. Quick one. First, I feel like it's worth talking a little bit more about why I'm doing this little series. The first reason is that I think soft GMing skills are far, far, more vital to a fun session than the system or content…
what?I submit that the most gameable number is 12. I ask you: Why are there 12 months of the year? 12 zodiac signs? 24 hours in a day? 12 inches to a foot? 12 Apostles, 12 tribes of israel, 12 gods of Olympus? Why do people all over the world still count like this?1 Why are there secret societies dedicated to the proliferation of a duodecimal numeral system? from Wikipedia: The number twelve, a superior highly composite number, is the smallest number with four non-trivial factors (2, 3, 4, 6),…
My lord, it is Frigedaeg, and we are in high spring. Last night Eostre's Moon was bright and full, and all through Wulfwald the feasting tables are being set. Before I speak of the Wulfashéafdu, some news from the realm: Ingrid of clan Gunnbeorn and Varghoss Sigurdsson have been betrothed, and neighbouring Gnupburg is expected to undertake a full month of celebrations and feasting. Thegn Olaf Gunnbeorn will proclaim the exact date of the wedding once his pet priest, Kjartan, has deduced the…
More excerpts from rules for fantastic mountaineering campaigns. the climberThe climber is represented on paper by an itemised inventory, their level, a list of completed climbs, and three statistics: stamina, luck, and cool. climber creation Write your name at the top of a bit of paper. Write "IN HANDS" and two underlined blank spaces beneath it; "ON HARNESS", and two more blank spaces; "IN BACKPACK", and an empty list numbered 1-12. record the climber's saves, determined by rolling 1 die and…
Some excerpts from WIP rules for fantastic mountaineering campaigns. First, from the introduction: to the refereeIf you want to run a mountain exploration adventure, first put these rules away and dream of a Mountain. Dream of vast glaciers aglimmer and soaring curtains of impassive stone; dream of queer inhabitants clung to skyborne walls and huddled in the shadowed subterrain; and most importantly, dream of wondrous, gloried snow-crowned summits, and the fantastic treasures they could hold.…
