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Gaming

2021

Nine Tips for a Legendary Campaign
··3991 words·19 mins
Articles Ttrpg Gaming Gm Tips Writing
So you’re getting ready to kick off a campaign for your gaming group? Before you even get started, ask yourself: are you looking to create a campaign that will simply be fun, or one that your players will be talking about for years to come?

2019

Running Invisible Sun: The Shadows of Her Eyes
·1624 words·8 mins
Articles Gaming Ttrpg Invisible Sun
Last Tuesday, I wrapped up a two-month introductory adventure for Invisible Sun. It was my first time running the game, and all my players were new to it as well. One other had also backed the original Kickstarter, but this was his first opportunity to play.

2018

Numenera Discovery and Destiny: Lightning Round Review
·792 words·4 mins
Articles Gaming Ttrpg Numenera
Numenera Discovery and Destiny in their slipcase cover Numenera Discovery and Destiny are here, and they do not disappoint. As always, Monte Cook Games nails the production quality, with some beautiful volumes filled with incredible art.
Saddle Up! We're on our way to the Ninth World.
·369 words·2 mins
Articles Gaming Ttrpg Numenera Geeklycon
This July, I’ll be running my first convention game of an RPG at GeeklyCon. I’ve been a DM for many years, but my focus has been running long term campaigns for my friends.

2017

Nine podcasts to help you escape the horror of our dying republic
··1026 words·5 mins
Articles Podcasts Culture Horror Gaming Writing Politics
Let’s face it. Things are bad right now. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, it’s hard to be happy about anything at the moment, unless you’re, I don’t know, a bridge troll, I guess?

2015

How Magic the Gathering Saved Dungeons & Dragons
·346 words·2 mins
Articles Gaming D&d Tabletop Magic Pathfinder
Ryan C. Burch has published an interesting piece on Geek Speaker about how Wizards of the Coast used principles from Magic the Gathering to save D&D from itself. His contention is that 2E was inaccessible to most gamers, and that TSR had made management decisions that had seriously hampered future development.
Five Room Dungeons
·156 words·1 min
Articles Gaming D&d Ttrpg
This article from Strolen’s Citadel is easily the best piece of practical advice for a DM that I’ve found. Dungeon design is difficult to get right. Despite what the swollen published modules may lead you to believe, shorter crawls are almost always better.

2013

The Strange: Monte Cook Keeps It Weird With New RPG
·424 words·2 mins
Articles Numenera Ttrpg Monte Cook Kickstarter Gaming
I’ve recently written about Monte Cook’s game Numerera, and by all accounts, the game appears to be enjoying some success, or at least significant buzz. Many creators would be content with that and simply double-down on that product.
Exploring the Ninth World: A Few Thoughts on Numenera
·1281 words·7 mins
Articles Numenera Ttrpg Gaming Reviews Monte Cook
Welcome to the Ninth World As I’ve been running my D&D campaign, I’ve become interested in the alternative role-playing systems that came about after my initial foray into gaming. It all started because I was looking for inspiration for fun rule tweaks I could incorporate into my games that would foster more role-play and streamline combat.
The DM’s Adventuring Kit
·2627 words·13 mins
Articles Gaming Featured Reviews D&d Ttrpg
I recently wrote about my return to Dungeons and Dragons, and promised another post where I would share what tools our group is using to facilitate our long-distance games. It’s really critical to make sure that game groups are well organized, or many campaigns will fizzle out due to the amount of work involved.
Rolling Them Bones Again
·3838 words·19 mins
Articles Gaming Personal Ttrpg
I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons again for the first time in over ten years. It’s been a lot of fun, and challenging as well. When I started playing again, I elected to start by being the DM for my group, which is quite a bit of work, but very rewarding.
Drunks & Dragons
·205 words·1 min
Articles Podcasts Gaming D&d
I was randomly searching the iTunes podcast directory a few weeks ago and stumbled across the Drunks & Dragons podcast. Essentially, it’s a series of recorded gaming sessions between friends playing through their first campaign.