A thing of power
Taken this weekend in mid-roleplaying session. I wasn’t even using the die, it just looked good in the light.
Very happy with how this turned out considering it was off my cameraphone.
Roleplaying games you should play: Star Wars
This is the latest in a series of posts looking at roleplaying games I really think you owe it to yourself to play.
Last time out, looking at Ghostbusters, I talked about the wonderful simplicity of the game’s system, and how it could only be betterered by one thing: taking that system and combining it with the greatest science fiction movie trilogy of all time. Well, at least, it was in 1987….
9) Star Wars
Remember how Traveller, well, just didn’t do it for me? Remember how I was essentially seduced by that image of a Luke Skywalker-lookalike on the box? (Damn you, GDW….) Well, it took five years or so, but finally my sci-fi roleplaying prayers were answered in 1987 with the release, on the (gulp) tenth anniversary of the movie, of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game from West End Games.
If Marvel Super Heroes had opened my eyes to how a game system could work with you in creating a setting, Star Wars blew out of the back of my skull. Designed by Greg Costikyan, Curtis Smith and Bill Slavicsek, the simple D6 system in Star Wars expanded on the initial principles of Ghostbusters, and was… Continue reading
Roleplaying games you should play: Ghostbusters
This is the latest in a series of posts talking about tabletop roleplaying games that I highly recommend you play. Last time out, I talked about the dark delights of Call of Cthulhu, the first roleplaying game which needed a statistic to measure your sanity. As I mentioned, regardless of how fun it might be, the subject matter can be a bit of a downer…
… which is why if you are in the market for a supernatural RPG that won’t have you glancing nervously into dark corners, then don’t wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals!
8 ) Ghostbusters
I’ll forgive you for thinking – like so many other high-minded roleplayers before you – that Ghostbusters is just some stupid movie tie-in game. Because on some levels, it’s exactly that. It’s got the hallmarks – very few rules; lots of pretty cards and handouts to play with; an almost cavalier attitude to the oh-so-serious activity of roleplaying.
When you take a closer look though, not only has Ghostbusters got a design that is being emulated by today’s ‘story-driven’ roleplayers, but it’s also got a campaign background that could spawn a million adventures. Not bad for some movie tie-in. Continue reading
Roleplaying games you should play: Ghostbusters
This is the latest in a series of posts talking about tabletop roleplaying games that I highly recommend you play. Last time out, I talked about the dark delights of Call of Cthulhu, the first roleplaying game which needed a statistic to measure your sanity. As I mentioned, regardless of how fun it might be, the subject matter can be a bit of a downer…
… which is why if you are in the market for a supernatural RPG that won’t have you glancing nervously into dark corners, then don’t wait another minute. Pick up the phone and call the professionals!
8 ) Ghostbusters
I’ll forgive you for thinking – like so many other high-minded roleplayers before you – that Ghostbusters is just some stupid movie tie-in game. Because on some levels, it’s exactly that. It’s got the hallmarks – very few rules; lots of pretty cards and handouts to play with; an almost cavalier attitude to the oh-so-serious activity of roleplaying.
When you take a closer look though, not only has Ghostbusters got a design that is being emulated by today’s ‘story-driven’ roleplayers, but it’s also got a campaign background that could spawn a million adventures. Not bad… Continue reading
Roleplaying games you should play: Call of Cthulhu
This is the third in a series of posts looking at ten (or so) roleplaying games, of the traditional pen-and-paper variety, that I’d highly recommend you play. Last time I talked about Marvel Super Heroes and DC Heroes; in this post we’re going for something a bit more spine-tingling….
7) Call of Cthulhu
It seems to me, at least in recent years, that Call of Cthulhu has finally taken a place alongside Dungeons & Dragons as one of the pillars of roleplaying. While it’s always been a great game – and unlike D&D, has never needed to radically reinvent itself – I think sheer longevity, perhaps coupled with the fact that it matures exceedingly well, has given it a near legendary status. It’s well deserved.
I should be clear from the off that I’m no Cthulhu scholar. I’ve played it fairly infrequently in my 20-odd years of gaming, and generally I’ve enjoyed it, although I never wanted to run a game myself. I’ve always been aware of it though, as right from the start Cthulhu had something about it; a sense of being ‘grown up’ for lack of a better term. Continue reading
Roleplaying games you should play: Call of Cthulhu
This is the third in a series of posts looking at ten (or so) roleplaying games, of the traditional pen-and-paper variety, that I’d highly recommend you play. Last time I talked about Marvel Super Heroes and DC Heroes; in this post we’re going for something a bit more spine-tingling….
7) Call of Cthulhu
It seems to me, at least in recent years, that Call of Cthulhu has finally taken a place alongside Dungeons & Dragons as one of the pillars of roleplaying. While it’s always been a great game – and unlike D&D, has never needed to radically reinvent itself – I think sheer longevity, perhaps coupled with the fact that it matures exceedingly well, has given it a near legendary status. It’s well deserved.
I should be clear from the off that I’m no Cthulhu scholar. I’ve played it fairly infrequently in my 20-odd years of gaming, and generally I’ve enjoyed it, although I never wanted to run a game myself. I’ve always been aware of it though, as right from the start Cthulhu had something about it; a sense of being ‘grown up’ for lack of a better term.
If you’ve never encountered it, then as the… Continue reading
A thing of power
Taken this weekend in mid-roleplaying session. I wasn’t even using the die, it just looked good in the light.
Very happy with how this turned out considering it was off my cameraphone. Continue reading
Godspeed, get well and good health
After a false alarm earlier this week, I wake up this morning to read that sadly Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons (along with Gary Gygax), passed away late on April 7th, at 61 years old, falling victim to cancer.
In another part of America, Aaron Allston, who I raved about just the other day as author of many Star Wars novels, plus Champions 5th Edition and my personal all-time favourite RPG book, Strike Force, suffered a heart attack while on his latest book tour. He required a quadruple bypass operation – not exactly an easy procedure – but I’m thankful to say, is on the mend.
After hearing about those two roleplaying icons, it felt slightly spooky to read a blog entry from Jeff Grubb (designer of Marvel Super Heroes, amongst many other things, and now a designer for Guild Wars 2) talking about his health, which in his words is “pretty sound”, but “could be better in many ways”. I’m sure Jeff’s going to be designing for many years to come, but all of this reminds me how far the roleplaying hobby, along with everything that span off from it, has come.
Dave Arneson was born in 1947, so he was approaching 30 when Dungeons & Dragons began to really take off. Thirty odd years later the roleplaying hobby has been an industry, and is now shrinking and maybe changing back into hobby it was, but it gave birth to something else: the computer-based descendants of RPGs, both single and multiplayer. Continue reading
Five roleplaying games I’ve played, and you should too
Five roleplaying games I’ve played, and you should too
I tend to ignore ‘pingbacks’ or ‘trackbacks’, because nine times out of ten they’re from RSS-scrapers who are linking back to where they stole the original content from, so they can die in a fire. However, very rarely, I get a genuine blog post at the other end; even more rarely, I get a blog post I actually take an interest in.
Witness: 100 Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games You Should Play Before You Die, an impressive inaugural blog post on Games Info Depot’s Games Information Blog. (Looks to me like someone’s been reading hints on making catchy blog headlines. Hey, it worked!)
It’s a pretty good list, admit stretched a bit to get to that catchy one hundred figure; as well as a lot of old favourites there’s some new indie stuff in there too, along with a few titles I’d never heard of, so kudos for the research.
No clue why I got linked for Marvel Heroes (sic) though – if you’re after Marvel Super Heroes stuff (thanks, Pedant Man!) then you should head over to Classic Marvel Forever for everything you’ll ever need.
I thought about compiling my own list of roleplaying games that I’d rate a ‘must try’, but me being me, what started as a simple list turned into a long trip down memory lane, and a lot of research into games I’d never even played. Continue reading