Character Building: Swords Without Master, Christmas Edition!

First things first, if you haven't played Swords Without Master, you need to. It's a sword-and-sorcery RPG that draws on the roots of the genre, and it's the most evocative game I've played, fantasy or non-fantasy! Here's what you need to know, first and foremost: it's a game of perilous deeds, mighty Rogues, and wondrous adventures. And we're going to create a character for it, a very...special character. After all, it is the Christmas season...

Game Stories: Dungeon World

Surprise! I'm not just talking about board games in this series! As I write up these posts, I know that I don't want to stray from my RPG roots, and those roots are what this post is about. So welcome to Dungeon World, a game about something that I call "pulp fantasy", filled with larger-than-life heroes and villains in a fantastical setting. It's the Powered by the Apocalypse game which is the most widely-known in the RPG community, for good reason--it's a really fun game that riffs off of familiar fantasy adventuring with style.

Game Stories: Friday

Like I said previously, I'm going to be making more Game Stories posts about the big picture of a game. I want to talk about how all the mini-narratives of a game come together to create the overall experience, tying theme and gameplay together. This week, that means talking about Friedemann Friese's Friday, a solitaire game about helping Robinson Crusoe off of the deserted island so that you can get some peace and quiet.

Game Stories: First-Stage Recap

This week, Game Stories changes things up a little.

DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNH!

I've done six posts in the series, talking about the narrative elements of various games, and I think it's time for a bit of a refresher, because I want to move on to some big places here. Today, I'll go back over the first part of the series, summing up what we've learned so far about narrative in games. Then, I'll talk about where I hope to take this series.

At the Table: Edit Your RPG

Today, I'm going to come down with some pragmatic thoughts on roleplaying games. It's a topic that might seem odd to some RPG players: editing. Normally, that's a word you only see in the contexts of filmmaking or the great American novel, but I think it has a place when you're playing at the table. I also think that most groups engage in editing anyway, but they might not realize it. Read on, and you can learn how to use it better!

Game Stories: Betrayed by Turkey

I'd love to say that I just woke up from a massive turkey coma, but the reality is that I was wonderfully and willfully kidnapped for a fantastic weekend with one of my buddies and his extended family. (No, really. There were like 20 people in the house!) I was sorta too busy having a good holiday weekend to get a post out. Ah, well.

Stay tuned next week for another installment of Game Stories!