attacks of opportunity

2011-08-02T11:10:00.000-07:00

Minions, Inc.

2010-11-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Minions, Inc. is an Apocalypse World hack for playing henchmen in the costumed aggression industry. When it comes time to choose a costumed aggression placement firm, choose a name you can trust. Choose Minions, Inc., the world leader in Henchplacement.It is a game that is inspired by the Venture Bros., The Tick, The Incredibles, and just about every bit of evil overlord/super villain/mad

How to Host a Dungeon: Clash of Civilizations

2009-11-07T11:19:00.001-08:00

Last month, Ben, Jonathan, and I got together for a playtest of How to Host a Dungeon: Clash of Civilizations. This is gigantic multi-player How to Host a Dungeon variant. I'm just getting around to digesting the learnings now.For a while I thought I'd just junk this whole idea. The things I like about How to Host a Dungeon solo play feel dull in group play. Counting my Dwarven population to see

Atlantis 2037 First Thoughts

2009-10-22T11:44:00.000-07:00

I'm taking part in a contest called Two Games One Name. The idea is to give two designers one name and a divergent mechanic to work from, then see what they come up with. Josh Roby and I are supposed to each design a game called "Atlantis 2037". Josh will be designing a game that can be played while travelling. I'll be designing a game with fiddly componetry. At home I have an Anchor Pocket Atlas

Now the Vehicle Battle RPG is called Blacktop!

2009-08-30T12:09:00.001-07:00

Blacktop is going to be the name for my automotive combat RPG, at least in the time being. I've written up a prospective table of contents for the game, listing out all the stuff I foresee putting into the game.IntroductionCharacters (who fights)Passion: why you driveTraits: what makes you better at driving and fightingRelationships: your place in the world of BlacktopThe World of Blacktop (where

Car Wars Reboot Design Goals

2009-08-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

I’m designing a Car Wars reboot. That’s to say, I’m writing a post-apocalyptic automotive combat role-playing game. Skeptics prepare to be wowed!Here are my design and publishing goals:It will have a freely-available versionRPG portion will be fully compatible with all editions of Car Wars vehicle design and combat rulesWill also include its own vehicle design rules, which will be somewhat

Rebooting Car Wars

2009-08-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

Steve Jackson Games’ Car Wars is a great classic that’s massively overdue for an overhaul. SJGames tried to overhaul it a few years ago with a new, streamlined rules set, but their approach wasn’t successful, for a bunch of reasons that I won’t go into here.Why does it need an overhaul?The first reason is accessibility. If you want to play it today, you have to buy it piecemeal on eBay, or back

How to Play Misery Bubblegum

2009-08-25T12:59:00.001-07:00

Misery Bubblegum is an awesome game by Tony Lower-Basch. It’s about high-school relationship drama. Its home page is here: http://www.museoffire.com/Games/MiseryBubblegum/. I believe you will soon be able to buy it at Indie Press Revolution: http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/home.phpBut people find Misery Bubblegum hard to play, and the rules that come with the game aren’t that helpful. I

make a game of this picture

2009-04-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Here's something we haven't done in years: design a game based on this picture, found on the Paleo-Future blog in the post "Computer Criminals of the Future (1981)".

Sexy Deadly

2009-02-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

Sexy Deadly is a game that Johnstone Metzger, Lance Allen, Joe MacDonald, and I created for Jared Sorensen's Indie Game Design Challenge. It's available for $1.00.Now we've got a free supplement:The supplement, Seducing New Targets, includes:A full demo with pregen characters and objective for Sexy DeadlyVengeance is my Name, a deathmatch supplement for Sexy DeadlyCommando Squad, a WWII commando

Sexy Deadly

2008-12-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

Coming soon, from Joe MacDonald, Lance Allen, Johnstone Metzger, and Tony Dowler.

Boardgamegeek'd

2008-11-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Marketing is most often defined as creating demand for your product. To a lot of people that means artificially drumming up demand for your product through hype, buzz, advertising, or some other means.But the simplest form of marketing is often to tell the right people that your product exists. I've found Boardgamegeek.com to be an invaluable resource for doing that, which is why I think every

Idea Mine: Tutankhamen's Meteorite

2008-11-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

In the diadem of Tutankhamen there is a prehistoric gem whose origin has mystified scientists since it was discovered. Analysis of the ultra-rare stone, which must have had incredible value when it was set, shows that it is, astonishingly, more than 90% pure silica glass, and with an age that pre-dates any known glass-producing civilization.The true story, ferreted out by scientists in 2006, is

Dungeon Gerrymander

2008-11-03T12:34:00.001-08:00

Cyclone

2008-11-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

Secret project:Playstorming got me this far, but what now?I think I'm playtested into a corner.

Gerrymander your Game

2008-10-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

That Republican isn't very happy that I took her Cuban base to form a new congressional district.I don't know anything about political redistricting, but I know what I like.Games written with a didactic purpose typically suck, but The Redistricting Game is loads of fun. You play a political consultant assigned with redrawing the political districts so one party (or both, see below) can screw the

What Class was Saint Paul?

2008-10-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

When I was in junior high school and we made games, our trick was to make character classes of whatever we thought were the important types of people in our world. When we made our Teenage Role Playing Game (TARP), the classes reflected high school stereotype of rocker, skater, jock, and nerd. When we made a science fiction game it was scientist, soldier, pilot, and space knight.In Principia, the

For the Love of Dungeons is Published!

2008-10-27T09:05:00.001-07:00

I just published a book of dungeon maps, For the Love of Dungeons. Go ahead and check it out!

Assembling the Game!

2008-08-12T18:40:00.001-07:00

How to Host a Dungeon is back from the printers and in the assembly plant!Some of the graphics didn't come out in the print run as nicely as I'd like, so purchasers be warned! I will, however, replace your copy from the second printing if you're dissatisfied.Update: And here's how to find it! Come to the Forge Booth at Gen Con. I'll be there much of the day giving demos of the game as well.

Playing Star Wars with Principia

2008-05-10T14:20:00.001-07:00

Principia is a good system for games where the characters are embedded in a social order under stress. I've been playtesting Principia in it's default setting a lot. I was thinking about alternate settings for a game at Go Play NW, and Star Wars just kind of jumped out at me.When you set out to run Principia, your first job is to find a pressure point on the current world order and push. Make

Go Play NW 2008 is Coming!

2008-05-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

Go Play NW 2008 pre-registration is almost done!Go Play NW 2008 is our home-grown role-playing game convention. This year it's going to be held at the Watertown Hotel in Seattle's University District, May 31 - June 1. You can find out more and register at the Wiki.Last year we used an ad-hoc game sign up system where people simply showed up, offered games, found players, and played. This year

For the Love of Dungeons

2008-04-23T12:10:00.000-07:00

I've been playing a lot of old-school D&D this year and enjoying it tremendously. This has given rise to a little "secret" project that's slowly coming to fruition. Here's a little preview:Update: to my surprise, this map has turned up on Hand Drawn Maps and been referenced on Metafilter. Go map!Update: For the Love of Dungeons is published!

The Otus/Elmore Rule

2008-04-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

I was just reading Ed and Joe's blog Esoteric Murmurs, and found a post back from the end of February linking to a discussion about "how best to experience weird fantasy in a [D&D] campaign" on a forum called Knights & Knaves Alehouse. Ed calls attention to a particular suggestion made by a forum member called Kellri, the "Otus/Elmore Rule": The Otus/Elmore rule: When adding something new to the

Go Play NW 2008!

2008-03-18T14:38:00.000-07:00

I should've announced this here a while ago, but we're holding our second annual Go Play NW event this year May 31 - June 1.Go Play NW 2008 is a gathering of role-playing gamers and game designers where we get together, play some games, renew old acquaintances, and make new friends. For more information, see The Go Play NW wiki. Also, here's the registration page. Because of our new location, we

Why Tomb of Horrors is the Best Module Ever

2008-03-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

Over on Story Games, JBR made some very pointed observations about Tomb of Horrors. So I feel compelled to explain why I consider Tomb of Horrors to be one of the greatest D&D modules every written. Everything I need to make this defense is contained in the first hallway of the dungeon.WARNING: SPOILERS ENSUE!First of all, any given party is either going to examine everything carefully or they’re

small idea: playing against stereotypes

2008-02-26T01:21:00.000-08:00

Over in the Story Games forum, user komradebob started a thread asking for some more stereotypes to use in a game crossing Space: 1889 with Miss Schiffer's School for Young Ladies of Quality (Meguey Baker's game in development). Apparently characters in YLQ have a nationality, which gives them bonuses on certain tasks; these bonuses are based on stereotypes of those nationalities. Three examples

What's Going On?

2008-02-21T09:13:00.000-08:00

Wow this place is quiet.Maybe it's because God invented January to test us and the devil invented February to show he could test us better. A pox on those two months of dreariness and dark.So here's what I've been up to in game and design lately:I'm still refining and updating How to Host a Dungeon. It's gotten some nice praise from quarters I never would have expected. Plus Ben Lehman won't let

What They Didn't Tell you About Reign

2007-12-28T21:18:00.000-08:00

Reign, by Greg Stolze bills itself as a fantasy RPG of lords and leaders. The game features company rules reminiscent of Ars Magica. These rules are built so you can play PCs who are the principle figures in an organization, like a guild, estate, kingdom, or band.The company rules are really cool and let you do things like manage your company’s troops and money, fight other companies, and carry

Planet Thirteen News Page is UP

2007-12-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

I've just added a news feed to the Planet Thirteen Games Front Page. I'll be posting small news items about my games there, rather than clutter up Attacks with them. I'll be still be posting here regularly when I want to talk about design.

Dungeon Game update DOH!

2007-12-08T10:22:00.001-08:00

Oops, I just realized there were a couple of mistakes in the How to Host a Dungeon rules that make it rather hard to play propertly. I've fixed them now. doh!Also, I'm going to add a news feed to Planet Thirteen soon so that minor news updates to my games don't have to posted here on Attacks.

Advanced Dwarven Dungeon

2007-12-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've just posted a new version of the Dwarven Dungeon Game, with a new name, How to Host a Dungeon. Plus I created a How to Host a Dungeon page. You can find the latest version of the game there, plus some Dungeoneering and Dungeon design resources. I've added a host of new monster flavors and dungeon features to the game. The procedures are slightly streamlined, though I have artfuly preserved

From the Division of Lonely Fun*

2007-11-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

Today I worked out a little solo play dungeon creation game using tracing paper, tape, different colored pens, and Go stones.The game uses a mix of random tables, mechanic interactions, and player choices to drive the evolution of the dungeon environment. Dungeon history is divided into epochs. In the Dwarven epoch, for example, a large Dwarven city dominates the dungeon. in the Age of Monsters,

What's Broken on the Principia Web Site?

2007-10-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

So according to the stats log, the error page for the forums is the fourth most hit page on the Principia/Magicians of England Web site. I can't figure out why this is. No one's alerted me to a problem. Have any readers here run into the problem? I fully expect the forums for an unreleased game to be quiet or even silent. However, if the reason that no one's posting is because there's a problem,

Magicians of England Available as Download

2007-10-03T20:56:00.000-07:00

I posted about Magicians of England in a Story Games thread about novels we'd like to see made into RPGs and got a few requests for more information. Rather than hold back, I just went ahead and posted the full rules of Magicians of England as a free download, as well as some play aids, etc.Magicians of England is a story game of gentleman (and woman) magicians in Victorian England. It's my

GM-less Doctor Who Reboot Dogs in the Vineyard Variant

2007-09-28T14:48:00.001-07:00

Get together with some friends.Decide who will be the Doctor.This is a reboot of Doctor Who. It keeps the premise of the original series, but the details are up for grabs. For example, there may or may not be Daleks, and they might be different from the TV series. The Doctor is (probably) a Timelord, but this might mean something different in your game than in the series.Everyone takes a sheet of

Principia is on Hold

2007-09-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

I've been working on Principia for several months now. Because of the many things going on in the rest of my life, I just can't think about it any more. I'm taking a break from Principia and game design in general to focus on other things.

Principia Has a Web Site

2007-08-15T16:24:00.001-07:00

The Principia Web Site is now live. There's a quick description of the game, some actual play links, and a bit more. I'll probably have playtest stuff there in the near future too.

Story Games Situation Book Project

2007-08-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

It looks like I'm going to be editing The Story Games Situation Book Project. The Project is a for-charity book of RPG-ready situations; characters, conflicts, and conundrums that are ready to explode into action.We've already some generic interlocking plot element lists. I'm planning to do a two page write up based on the court of Queen Elizabeth I, complete with historical characters and

gaming the system

2007-08-10T08:08:00.001-07:00

So last night I was playing Burning Wheel (which has been kickass fun so far except for my damn dice), and I had the opportunity to make a skill roll that would help me advance something. I puzzled over helping dice and challenge types needed to advance. At one point, Thor (GM) says to me, "if you really want to game the system..." and then pointed something out to me. And now today I'm not

Playtest Friday: Thrilling Tales of Adventure

2007-07-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Jason Lutes brought the prototype of his awesome pulp adventure board game Thrilling Tales of Adventure over for our playtest Friday session this week. This is the second time I've played this game, and it is surely awesome.Thrilling Tales features a mechanic where you simultaneously play a globetrotting pulp hero solving plots for heroism points AND a nefarious villain, setting up plots and

Principia Milestones

2007-06-28T16:06:00.001-07:00

Principia reached an important milestone in my creative process today (though it's one I wish I'd reached a month ago). The rules document is now concept complete. This means that everything I think needs to be in there is in there. A few sections are merely skeletal, but to my knowledge there's nothing missing.There will still likely be changes, additions, and subtractions, but it's all downhill

I want to go back to Grade School

2007-06-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Proposed Video-Game School Gets $1.1 Million Boost All Things Considered, June 21, 2007 · The MacArthur Foundation board announced Thursday it will fund a $1.1 million grant for a brand new middle- and high school in New York. The curriculum revolves around teaching kids to make

It's not Called Mathematica Anymore

2007-06-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

The good folks at Story Games have helped me come up with a more descriptive name for my game. The new name is Principia: Secret Wars of the Renaissance.Principia is now rules complete, which means I won't be making any more mechanical changes except to fix problems that come up in play test. Now I'm fleshing out the content, adding secrets, factions, and adventure hooks. Everyone's gotten really

Mathematica Design Journal

2007-06-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

The form of Mathematica is solidifying. My planned Gen Con release is starting to look achievable. It's now mostly a matter of filling in the gaps. Here's what the game is about in a capsule:Mathematica is an over-to-top alternate history steam punk Renaissance game where Leonardo Da Vinci builds giant spider war machines and Machiavelli commands a cabal of vampire spies across Europe, or

Worldwide Collaborative Game

2007-05-23T11:57:00.001-07:00

World Without Oil is a game/collective think tank. It depicts a world when the oil starts to truly run and a global oil shortage has begun. The rules are simple: Image yourself in this world and then tell the community how it has affected you. You can do this through blog, video, forum, photos, or even ... missions. Yes missions. I can't really explain them, you just have to see them for

How Game Design is like Haiku

2007-05-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

I realized last night that game design is like Haiku. So this is one of those statements of the obvious, but constraint makes you more creative. I am currently working on a cannonball run style driving game. I decided to use cards for one of the fortune mechanics. As such I needed 4 categories. My original 4 categories were:Drive, Navigation, Mechanical, and Face (as in ATeam). But those

Now we need an RPG Summary Site

2007-05-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

I have been ranting about needing reference sheets for some time now, but in the context of RPGs. I see that someone is already doing it for board games and so far, they are really nice.I will be attempting to use these sheets in the near future, but already I am very excited. Now we just need a site that is dedicated to doing rules summary sheets for RPGs. Hmmm. I am doing a website redesign

Friday Playtest Forum #1

2007-05-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last week we kicked off a little experiment, our Friday afternoon play test forum. A lot of us have games that need playtesting, but we have no more evening time available. I wasn't sure that anyone would show up on a weekday afternoon, but we had an excellent turnout. Sam showed up early and we tried out a tactical war game that he and Trey have been working on. Phil and Trey showed up a little

Brass Goggles: Steampunk blog

2007-05-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

...and while I'm posting links to other blogs with inspirational ideas, I should also link to Brass Goggles, dedicated to "the lighter side of Steampunk" according to their subtitle. The blog itself often features handcrafted steampunk-style creations, but also links to other steampunk-styled art - books, films, games, images, anything to do with steampunk. We haven't done any steampunk-style

Paleo-Future: Y2K Postcards (ca. 1900)

2007-05-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Through The Morning News today I found a link to the blog Paleo-Future: A Look into the Future that Never Was. Looks like a good source for pulp/retro-style sci-fi ideas for games. The particular post linked to in the title above has some promotional postcards from around 1900, made by a German chocolatier, that purport to depict life in the year 2000. The posts are labelled by decade, so you can

You've got Wiki

2007-04-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

A while back Brandon made a wiki for Attacks of Opportunity. Not we've got some content on there, so go take a look. Our Actual Play links are now collected there. In future, I think we'll also add links to our various rules hacks and other gaming projects.

Game Design Gossip

2007-04-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

I promise not to make this a habit, but I thought I would post a little gossip along with a little speculation on my part. Recently, Luke Crane (of Burning Wheel) and Jared Sorensen (of Memento Mori) met up with Peter Atkinson (formerly of WotC) in Seattle. No one will talk about why they are meeting, but I think I have figured out why.I was listening to a podcast over at Pulp Gamer (boy I am

Castles of Tuscany

2007-04-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

Castles of Tuscany ("castelli toscani") is a cool site about castles and other fortifications in the Tuscany province of Italy. It has clickable maps of the region that show where the castles, towers, and fortified cities are, and pages for each with some photos and information about them. Some of the pages include a basic plan of the fortification or map of the town, and also links to other

Agon: Shadowrun Conversion

2007-04-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a series of posts on RPG.net about converting Shadowrun to the Agon system. Stop by and share your two cents if you like.http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=7125959

Creating Better Characters

2007-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reading a great book about writing, Stein on Writing, and I've run across a LOT of material that's relevant for gaming, especially in the area of characterization.Stein's view is that what makes great stories is great characters, and his book is full of practical advice to writers on how to create better characters. One passage in particular that caught my eye is this one.There are

The Alternate History One-Shot Contest

2007-02-22T22:18:00.000-08:00

Previously posted on Story Games...I currently need to design an awesome alternate history one-shot to run at Go Play Northwest. Despite the fact that I've got a file full of alternate history ideas, I kind of want to mix it up a bit and also find out what other people think is interested. So I propose this: let me know what alternate/awesome-ized/lasersharked peice of history you'd like to see

Mechaton Rules Blitz 3 & 5

2007-02-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

Move Attack Move - Represents a “fly by” attack, extreme maneuverability, or firing on the move. Requires a mech to have 2 movement attachmentsThe mech may use one die (white or green) to move, then attack as normal, then another die (white or green) to move again. Line of Sight, Artillery, and Spotting - Represents the fact that Artillery has an unlimited range but knowing precisely where a

Mechaton Rules Bitz 4 - Alternate Chassis

2007-02-12T13:31:00.000-08:00

As everyone knows, the Mech is the most efficient chassis for war machines, construction drones, and a host of other applications. Nevertheless, a few other chassis types are commonly encountered, including:Power Armor - Power armor uses mech technology concentrated in a suit worn by a single individual, enhancing their motions with incredible strength. Power Armor gets only 1 white die and can 1

Mathematica Playtest is Available

2007-01-31T17:37:00.000-08:00

Mathematica has reached the playtest stage. The first post mentioning Mathematica was made here Dec 17, 2002. At the time I didn't think it was anything I'd develop any further. But the idea came back a couple of times after that and I eventually submitted it to Matt Snyder for his "Gamer for Hire" contest (a contest that John Harper's idea 44 eventually won). Matt's comment on Mathematica

Mechaton Rules Blitz 2 - Initiative Defense

2007-01-31T11:26:00.000-08:00

Initiative Bonus – Represents an awareness of the battlefield, aiming, finding a mech’s weak spot, or even finding the best route from here to there. A mech with multiple initiative dice may “hold” an initiative die rather than use it. After rolling, held initiative can then be applied to as a +1 bonus to any rolled die on a one for one basis. If a mech is attacked

Mechaton Rules Blitz 1 - Bounties!

2007-01-30T11:42:00.000-08:00

We have now played Mechaton on two occasions and I now feel the need to start adding to it. I am going to post one new rule a day. Some of the rules are mechanical and some are meta. Please let me know what you think or just tell me to stop it.Meta Rule Proposal 1: Bounties!Declaring Bounties – Represents a willingness to trade your own success for the destruction of another. At the

Universal Game Rules

2007-01-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a question for the group: What are the game rules that you find yourself continually saying, "Its too bad this game doesn't have ." It doesn't have to be something that happens all the time, but it should be pretty common.FormatGame RuleGame NameComments (when its used, the context, or just why you like it.)Example:Fan MailPrime Time Adventures (PTA)There are always times I want to

The Future of GMing

2006-11-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

While this is a little rough, the News at Seven (edit) totally blows me away. While I don't see this type of thing replacing a good GM, I definitely think that as a game aid, there is a lot of potential here. Combine it with a more intuitive software Gaming Table (this is what currently exists) and some good "off the shelf" gaming modules and I think that RPGs could expand its base a lot more

Go Play Northwest

2006-11-16T00:37:00.000-08:00

In the great city of Seattle, Washington, at a moderately nice hotel, there shall be a weekend of those games we like to play. We (a committee of five that includes myself, John Harper, Tony Dowler, Phil LaRose and Mike Sugarbaker) are currently scouting locations and generally trying to finalize a time. Right now, we are heavily leaning towards one of the following weekends:June 1-3June 8-10June

Mathematica Power 19

2006-10-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

Mathmatica is slowly emerging from the fog. Rather I should say it's emerging rapidly from the fog not unlike a dreadnought bearing down upon a lowly fishing vessel. I need to move fast to keep up with the ideas. System is not my bailywick, so while I think I'm quite capable of designing one that I'd love, I'm going to steal one I really like, The Solar System (AKA The Shadow of Yesterday).So now

Mathematica Incarnate

2006-10-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

Several of my game design obsessions are starting to converge and it is good: Mathematica (discussed here and here, Campaign Stakes, and Renaissance England spy drama.Mathematica is a game about the war of ideas set in renaissance Europe. But in this renaissance Europe, ideas are made starkly incarnate. This is a world where we might see Michelangelo building giant clockwork war machines,

Now Playing: Burning Empires

2006-10-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had our first play session of our Burning Empires game last week. Preparation and play involved a lot more rules futzing than I'd like, but I'm hoping this is a temporary phase as we get into the game. BE does so much that's new and different that I'm finding it a little hard to adjust my mindset. Nevertheless I am hugely enthusiastic about BE, and I'm hoping it lives up to my expectations. It

Attacks plays TSOY

2006-10-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

You know, we're doing all this great gaming, and we have a gaming blog, but we're not blogging about our gaming on our blog. We've had some really get-down-and-funky awesome gaming moments over the last year, and we should talk about them here. I'm going to make a quick digest of some of the discussions we've had about our games elsewhere.Our group typically plays 5-6 sessions of a single game

Going for the Throat and the Social Contract

2006-09-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

I was recently listening to episode 16 of the Durham 3 and they briefly mentioned that when they play they know that they can really go for throat and there are no hard feelings. From experience I know that this is not always the case.The Social Contract (in Forge Parlance) is defined as - "All interactions and relationships among the role-playing group, including emotional connections, logistic

In This RPG...

2006-09-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

In This RPG... the random RPG situation creator.In this RPG... The PCs are avant-garde missionaries (and former lovers) who, with snarky blog entries, fight off unwanted advances for control of the town in a story ripped from today's headlines.In this RPG... The PCs are a bloodthirsty mob of caped crusaders living in this very town who, with wire-assisted martial arts, fight treehugging hippies

Will Wright Talks about Gaming, Art, and the Scientific Method

2006-09-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a very cool summry of a Will Wright Talk at BAFTA--very interesting and to the point.In other art forms, we find deep expression (Illustrative slides of important works in other media), but games are kind of like this (Slide of big Conan style dude with giant blade, luridly titled DEATH SWORD) (Laughter). They're kind of a popcorn experience, disposable entertainment. I'm not saying that's

Verge: Reprogrammed

2006-08-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Verge is the best cyberpunk game you haven't heard of. Go. Read. Get excited. Play. It rocks very, very hard. I'm going to put this in the queue for our local group, probably for some time next year (it's a long queue).Also, Adam Dray (the author) is a cool guy. I heard that he once threw a knife into heaven. Opponents beware.

Creative Agenda: Ron and Levi hash it out

2006-08-08T16:41:00.000-07:00

Argh! It's a game theory post! Run for the hills!!!Ron and Levi are having an awesome conversation about Creative Agenda over at le Forge. It's a step-by-step Q&A that really lays out a lot of the gnarly Forge-theory stuff in a way that (I think) is easy to digest.Plus it includes one of my favorite Ron thingies:[[[Character + Setting] = Situation] + System] x ColorAnd Levi says this great thing:

A Summer on the Long Tail

2006-07-23T13:47:00.000-07:00

Marketing is the use of lies, tricks, and misrepresentations to get people to spend money.The people at Big Game Company X don't care about what I care about, they just want my money.I need a smooth, extroverted, streetwise friend to do my marketing for me.What I do isn't marketing."Crowdsourcing", "Web 2.0", and "The Long Tail" are meaningless terms marketers made up to make what they're doing

Agon

2006-07-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

Now for a bit of shameless self-promotion...My game Agon will be released at GenCon this year. It will be available for purchase online after that. Agon is a competitive RPG (similar to Rune or Capes) about ancient Greek heroes and their battles with fantastic monsters, beasts, and men. Unlike most RPGs, you keep score, and it has an actual winner at the end.You can download some sample pages

How to make a Narrative Electronic Game

2006-07-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to make a good electronic narrative rpg?On the face of it, moving from face-to-face to electronic gaming we lose a lot of what's really great about role playing. Computers are very good at mechanistic resolution, but poor at interpreting narration. That's why they can do a good job of processing D&D style combat, but are lousy at open-ended narration. A computer is nearly useless

You can be Anything I've Already Decided you can be

2006-06-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

The other day I shelled out for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I'd been hearing a lot about how open ended the game was, and I was dying to try it. Sadly, I ended up very disappointed, and the reasons why are, I think, instructive for game design.In Oblivion you start out as an apparently blank slate. The game does a great job of gently easing you into your character as your own choices and actions

Generic Goal Types

2006-06-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

I need to decide on some good, basic Goal types. What types of things do people want? What sorts of things are people willing to have conflicts about? Please offer alternate names and additions (or even subtractions) to my list:Stuff - Material DesiresStatus - Class President, Popular, FearedKnowledge - A bit of information, a new skillBelief - What I believe to be rightControl/Influence - The

Explaining Conflict Types

2006-05-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

In working on my current game, I have decided to use Conflicts as the center of each scene (ala PTA.) We started to define those Conflicts a bit last night, but I wanted to throw it out to the group to see if I could get some nice clear descriptions of the different Conflict types and the scenarios that they would cover. Here are the 6 conflict types we came up with along with my (brief) view

Ninja Death Theatre

2006-05-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Back in the day you had to come up with something fun to role-play EVERY DAY. We’d meet before class and discuss the idea. At lunch we’d play it. One game that had a good run of sessions is one I call Ninja Death Theatre, and I think it’s an idea that’s due resurrecting.You are a ninja. Here’s a map. You are here. You must get there.Why am I standing at the edge of a huge Japanese garden? Why is

Don't Waste Those Rolls, Use 'em

2006-05-18T15:26:00.000-07:00

Gamers like dice. Gamers like rolling their dice, at any old time, regardless of whether they're actually engaging the game mechanics. But gamers hate to "waste good rolls." What to do about that?Presenting: Fortune at the Beginning (FatB). Roll your dice first, and record the results. Then start playing. When a conflict arises, choose a result that will support your desired outcome and use it: "

IIEE

2006-05-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Vincent offers up a nice explanation of IIEE, or "Intent, Initiation, Exectution, and Effect." A simple but important concept.Clinton also has a good version in the TSOY text.

Friend Map

2006-05-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

So I don't know if people are at all interested in this, but the above link is to a "friend map" so we can see where everyone is. If people are interested then someone who knows how should add the link to the side bar.When you add yourself, drop a comment here just to say that you did it. If you don't mind of course.

Magicians of England Play Aid

2006-05-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

I just finished up a play aid that I've been working on for Magicians of England. It's still a bit rough around the edges, and the pdf conversion is not the best, but I think it's near 90% there. It provides a flowchart for creating characters and other plot elements in the game, with a big list of sample characteristics on the back. These are meant as inspiration, not as a confining list. I

"Deep In the Game" Gamehacks Contest: D&D

2006-04-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Paging Brandon..."Gamehack any edition of D&D with a new set of rules which change any one, or more, of the following:- Changes Creative Agenda- Changes tactical emphasis of play- Changes how players can input- Produces methods to improvise oppositionEmail the details in 2 pages or less, (font not smaller than 10 point, smarty-pants)."Full details over on Chris's blog; the header above is linked

Shadows Of White Wolf

2006-04-24T00:36:00.001-07:00

So I'm trying to adapt The Shadows Of Yesterday (first edition) system to the White Wolf:Mage scenario. I'm actually surprised by how little work I think I'll have to do, provided I keep a lot of the Magic System as is and just change the name of the "Spheres" to "Secrets".This goes on to raise the question, is making a game specifically to lure players comfortable with the Legacy Systems (d20,

Magicians of England Actual Play Report

2006-04-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

Last week I ran Magicians of England Playtest #2 with Pat and Phil. Magicians of England has been previously discussed here. I was trying out a new, more streamlined plot twist mechanic, which worked out pretty well, and we also solved some of my problems with how to incorporate magic, which was awesome. I’ve included mechanics notes in square brackets.Pat played retired Colonel Eustace

City of Lost Wolves

2006-04-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Check it: John Harper'a RPG Stranger Things goes all steampunk in this actual play report by Bailywolf from the Forge."... riffing a background for the character, we came up with Cogspace- the stereoscopic shadow-play virtual reality compu-mechanical system running through the City. When someone says 'bandwidth' they mean the width of the actual band running the clanking and clattering Babbage

Journal of Boardgame Design

2006-04-17T20:28:00.001-07:00

Blogger.com just put a board game design blog, Journal of Boardgame Design, up as one of the Blogs of Note. It's a pretty insightful read. Personally, I've gravitated towards more boardgame-ish mechanics in my RPGs and I see a lot in this blog that is helpful.

A Feminist Gaming Manifesto

2006-04-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

Matt Wilson is my hero.http://rpgtalk.net/msw/weblog/148.htmlNo, this doesn't fit with the charter of this blog, but it's important stuff. I know we have a lot of readers in the gaming blog-world, and I think this deserves wider exposure. Check it out. Talk about it.UPDATE: Part Two of the manifesto is up now:http://rpgtalk.net/msw/weblog/163.htmlGood stuff!

Man of Science, Man of Faith

2006-04-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

I just spent the last two weeks watching the first season of Lost. I’ve always been a huge fan of drama where the nature of reality itself is something of a mystery: Lost, X-files, Foucault’s Pendulum, Kafka, Marquez, Illuminati, and so on. So I started thinking, what’s a good set of mechanics for existential mystery drama?The characters’ lives are entangled with the unexplained. Things happen

The AoO Wiki is almost ready

2006-04-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hey all. I have finally managed to install MediaWiki on my domain and have started to set it up for an AoO wiki. However, before I post the link, I am hoping someone here has some experience with MediaWiki and can help me both secure it and set it up a little better. It is basically all just default settings and I suspect that there are important anti-spam and what not things that I need to do

Campaign Stakes

2006-03-24T15:45:00.000-08:00

Something that's of great interest to me that I haven't heard people talk much about is campaign stakes. Campaign stakes are an essential part of many campaigns (and in many cases, a point of dysfunction), yet few games have any sort of mechanic for dealing with them. My current side project is about providing processes for creating campaign-level stakes and supporting them with game

The Five Fists of Science

2006-03-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

You'll love this:FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE GNwritten by MATT FRACTIONart & cover by STEVEN SANDERSMay 17 • 112 pg • FC • $12.99True story: in 1899, Mark Twain and Nikola Tesla decided to end war forever. With Twain's connections and Tesla's inventions, they went into business, selling world peace.So what happened?Only now can the tale be told-- in which Twain and Tesla collided with Edison and Morgan

AoO Wiki?

2006-03-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

I was thinking that AoO needs a wiki, if only for idea storage. We have so many good topics that have come through here and once they drop off the front page, they are basically gone.This isn't my area of expertise, but it would be great if we could record these ideas in the wiki and also reference them in the blog. That way the key comments can be incorporated into a page about the

Attacks in KoDT

2006-03-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

The Web Scryer column in Knights of the Dinner Table comic #113 mentions Attacks of Opportunity as a game design blog to watch, along with stellar company such as Vincent Baker's anyway, and Monte Cook's journal.We're like, famous, or something. Rad.Thanks, KoDT! We love you, too.

How many In Game Resources do you want?

2006-03-18T22:17:00.000-08:00

The gamist portion of a RPG boils down to resource management. You have a limited number of resources that you can bring to bear to get what you want. The GM (if applicable) and your fellow players also have these resources.Resource examples: D&D: Hit Points, Spell Slots, Attack Bonus, Damage Bonus, Defense Bonus, Skills, etc... PTA: Card Draws (Fan Mail, Traits) Capes: Debt, Story

who do you design for?

2006-03-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

So here's a question for designers out there. Who's your audience? Do you design a game only with the goal that it's something you'd want to play? Do you design not caring at all if anyone else would like it? Assuming you've done more than one, how much does your audience change from game to game?Here's one more thought, as I ramble on and avoid going back to my Milton paper. Mark Twain once

Spore Gameplay Video

2006-03-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

If you want to get your mind blown again and again by gaming incrediblenss, check out the Spore Gameplay Video. I guarantee you that you'll have at least three "they made a game that does THAT?!" moments in this video. Watch the whole thing.Update I think it's worth calling out something that he says in the last few minutes. He mentions how in most games, there's a "sandbox" mode that acts as a

No Game Design is an Island

2006-03-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Matt Snyder points out that Designing a role-playing game alone is impossible. Yet because of time constraints and the limitations of RL (rest-of-life), I rarely talk about my designs with my immediate group. Maybe we should consider a monthly Attacks meetup for the Seattle crowd and talk about what we're working on. Would you all show up for something like this?