“In the Seven Kingdoms it is considered a grave breach of hospitality to poison your guests at supper," spoke Tyrion Lannister in A Dance With Dragons, from George R.R. Martin's popular A Song of Ice and Fire series. He speaks, of course, of the law of hospitality, an unwritten custom that declares that no guest may be harmed after... Continue Reading →
TotalCon is New England's largest gaming convention. We highlight 5 reasons why you must make TotalCon your first con. If you've gone to many cons or even been to TotalCon before, you'll learn something new by listening to this episode. 5 Reasons to Make TotalCon Your First Con 5 - Accessible Size 4 -... Continue Reading →
Where do you put your dead? The remains of those close to you, that you loved while they were alive and still miss in their absence? Your fallen soldiers, civil servants? Dead enemies? Plague victims? Strangers? Halloween is just around the corner and cemeteries and the dead are on the minds of many. Last week... Continue Reading →
I'm going to try something a bit different today: I'm just going to write, stream-of-consciousness, and see how it turns out. I'll be writing about a question that I ask myself: What is the purpose of role-playing? On it's face, obviously, role-playing is a game. It's a leisure activity in which we engage, not much... Continue Reading →
One of the most profound, formative movies I have seen in my life is Apocalypse Now. It's certainly visually, and to an extent, existentially stunning, but it remains part of the cultural zeitgeist because of the pop culture references contained therein. There is one in particular of which I am frequently reminded: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b26BD5KjH0 In the... Continue Reading →
This will be a short post, but something that I think is important to every game: making characters deeper. And I'm talking about PC's here. (Maybe next week I'll talk about making deeper NPCs) No matter how hard we try, our back-stories are not going to be perfectly comprehensive. Often, as a GM, we also... Continue Reading →
This is the second in a two-part series about running published modules. Last week we talked talk about why modules suck. This week, we'll talk about why they're great. Do you have a life? Do you actually have a life outside your roleplaying game? Do you have friends? A hudband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend? A pet?... Continue Reading →
This is the first in a two-part (at least) series about running published modules. Next week we'll talk about why modules are awesome. Fair warning: this week's post was consumed by internet hobgoblins, so I'm writing a bit more off the cuff than usual. It's been a heck of a week for our fearless leader,... Continue Reading →
The Inquisitor is back now after a well-deserved holiday break, and I come bearing gifts: talk about the little nits we pick during our games. This comes at the heels of last week's post regarding how we are all free to choose the rules with which we play. I tend to rely on the wisdom of... Continue Reading →
