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 …
Tag: mechanics
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 …
Continue reading Fallout Friday: Judging A Book By Its Errors
Fallout RPG, A new series, Part One
So, I'm two sessions into my Fallout RPG campaign that I'm running. I'm going to start by saying that the "core" of the 2d20 system, the action point economy, and the flow of events in the course of play are all fun. But really, the point of this series is going to be exploring some …
Fantasy with Consequences
I have a problem. It’s a problem with fantasy, storytelling, and by extension, RPGs. I like consequences. This problem takes on a lot of forms. Character continuity, status quo issues, debates about agency and authority… and I’m sure more that I can’t even think of just now. But I’ve been playing some games, watching some …
Shadowrun Sixth World, Part Five
"Risk it all!" That's the tagline for this new edition. In 5e, it was, "everything has a price." I think the design team must come up with a pithy sounding phrase and build mechanics around it. Wouldn't be my choice. But hey, we've reached part five of my assessment of Sixth World (6W) edition of …
Player Determinism
The phenomenon of Player Determinism is a strange one to my mind. I’ve found this post the most difficult to write of the three despite it being the one I’m most passionate about. Perhaps that is the problem after all? As with previous posts, I want to start with a general defining of my terms …
Phase Two: The Rise of DM Determinism
In my last post (sorry for the delay), I wrote about how D&D – played as intended – is a very specific kind of game. I touched on the idea that D&D expects the DM to be the ultimate, but neutral, arbiter of the game. The DM breathes life into the spaces the PCs explore …
Time Passing…
I'm kinda fascinated with the subject of time in RPGs. It's a quirk of mine as a fan of the genre and a long-time GM. I'm fascinated by the way we use time in games - or ignore time in games. I've written about time in games before, but it's a topic I feel myself …
Diceless to “Now with Dice”
So, a project that I've been working on for a while is finally coming to fruition. In the next couple of weeks I expect to run my first playtesting sessions of a new game I've created. I'll admit, the idea of doing it is kinda melting my brain - because I'll never actually be ready, …
The Rhetorical Gamer 