Trust in Post-Apocalyptic Campaigns
Post-apocalypse settings vary widely, but the matter of who characters trust is always important.
Latest
Low-Stress Community-Building
Throwing people together into a game is not always the best way to build a gaming community. Socializing in a no-pressure environment is a great alternative.
Stretching A Licensed Setting
How your campaign interacts with canon is important, but there are other ways to think about licensed settings.
Post-Apocalypse Verisimilitude
Before you build out plans for your post-apocalyptic campaign, think about what you want from it.
The Individual v. The Collective
What does a player character do when they have to choose between what is right and what is expected of them?
A Review of the GODS TTRPG
Arkhane Asylum's GODS follows a path less taken.
Stoicism & The Art of Gamemastering
The Stoic philosophers have something to say about players destroying the best-laid plans of gamemasters.
Choosing A Published Campaign Setting
It can be easy to get excited about a new published setting, but it pays to evaluate it before bringing it to the table.
What is Setting First?
There is no One True Way to play tabletop RPGs, but Setting First is oriented around three particular approaches to play.
Overview of a Long Campaign
Eighty-two sessions into a Degenesis campaign, I reflect on how I’ve run the game so far, what my players and I have learned, and what the game has given us.
After Play Review: Paleomythic
Paleomythic combines tight, elegant mechanics, clever character differentiation, and just enough but not too much worldbuilding.
On the Arcane Nature of Tabletop RPG Books
Why is it that there is no moral panic about computer RPGs in the way that there was in the early days of tabletop roleplaying?
brain food
Games Without Frontiers: Running A Long-Distance FRP Campaign
Before the Internet gave us the pleasure and torture of instant connectivity, I ran many an adventure with the help of the US Postal Service.
brain food
In Praise of Human Artistry
There are some things a human artist can provide that AI tools just can’t match.
brain food
You and Your Characters Need Status
As GMs and players, we can use our understanding of the role of status to inform the creation of NPCs and PCs.
games
The Once & Future Twilight: 2000
The new Twilight: 2000 seems to be tailor made for me, but I do wonder when I’ll get to run it.
brain food
In Praise of Informed Subjectivity
Give me a subjective review based on actual play, not another faux-objective review based on just reading the rules.
gamemastering
Gamemaster Goodies From UJ
Links to posts on TTRPG worldbuilding, managing campaigns, running sessions, and thoughts on tabletop roleplaying as a hobby.
brain food
Setting, Indie Games, Art, & Mental Health
Why are we drawn to play tabletop RPGs, what can we learn from Guillermo Del Toro, and how do roleplaying games boost our mental health?
settings
The Jumbo Shrimp Rule
Just like our world, a tabletop RPG campaign wouldn't feel real without a few absurdities.
games
Verisimilitude & Violence
My understanding of believability in roleplaying games, particularly with regard to violence, has shifted over the years.
settings
Eclipse Phase Remixes The Future
The Eclipse Phase setting can prompt thoughtful gamers to explore their assumptions about political, social, and economic structures in a context of wild adventure.
gamemastering
Murdering The Alternatives
On the benefits of making room in my life for tabletop roleplaying by eliminating something else.
settings
Misadventures in System Selection
How to not pick a game system that fits your favorite setting, and how to do it right.