So, it’s probably impossible for me to explain to strangers why I love Molly Grue so much. And by strangers I mean anyone who doesn’t pay rent inside my head. My first introduction to The Last Unicorn was the animated movie. I’m probably 8 or 9 years old and my encounters with fantasy are mostly …
Atheism and World Creation
Hoo-boy. I'd like to acknowledge two things right off the bat. One, there is going to be some imprecision in terminology in this post because I am not making a philosophical argument about theism or atheism and so I'm not concerned with fine points of atheist vs. agnostic vs. whatever. That has its place but …
My Thoughts on Matrix Resurrections.
So, I really liked the new Matrix movie. I thought Resurrections was well-made and interesting. The first and second act were stronger than the third. And I only say that because the third act felt a bit like a victory lap at times (I'm okay with that, it just wasn't as compelling as the lead …
NaGaDemon – Day 3
I've never been much for systems that use "succeed at a cost" mechanics. I prefer the binary of pass or fail when it comes to skill checks most of the time. Largely, both have to do with stakes. What is lost if you fail? What is gained if you succeed. What might be the consequences …
Thinking About Cyberpunk: Shotgun Introduction
I’ve been inspired lately to write about cyberpunk. For me, cyberpunk is usually Shadowrun, but I think I want to write about cyberpunk more generally. I thought about starting with my shadowrun “mood board” but I realized that no one would ever take me seriously again so instead I’m starting with a random shotgun blast …
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Fallout RPG: Welp.
So, I've gotten my notification that I'll be receiving my Fallout RPG stuff on Monday. It will be nice to get the items I ordered. And the PDF version of the book is now for sale on Drive Thru RPG. I have not received an update to my PDF - and I'm not spending another …
Fallout Friday: Judging A Book By Its Errors
My experiences with the Fallout RPG so far have been an interesting mixed bag. On the one hand, I've enjoyed the 2d20 system more than I expected. The core of the system is quite clean and easy to pick up. The combat rules are pretty straightforward. The give and take of player control over their …
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Fallout Friday: Don’t do Chems, Kids
Never mind. You should. At least in the Fallout tabletop RPG. Just a short rant about chems. As it turns out, and as usual, the dangers of drugs are vastly underrepresented in gaming. And the benefits are - conversely - amazing. Chems instantly change the complexion of a scene. The most basic chems in the …
The Scope of History
Seriously… I do need to write about Fallout; so, I’m going to institute (see what I did there) Fallout Fridays for the foreseeable future. I just have other stuff on my mind. One of those things is worldbuilding. Specifically, history. I’m working on my own gaming world again – my little fantasy child that grew …
Legends & Lore
I know I said I was going to be writing about Fallout - and I have some more content to come - but I've also been trying to work on another project involving a fantasy game and... well... I want to talk about mythology and religion. I'm a big proponent of internal consistency. It's a …
The Rhetorical Gamer 