The Swords, Sex, and Military Bureaucracy RPG of 1975
“What is this game?” As my players seat themselves in the clubhouse, I deal each a crisp, blank index card. “There,” I say. “That’ll be your character sheet. Save the back for your next...
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Assist Bonus: How To Get New Players Thinking In-Character?
My players in my D&D campaign are fairly new. How do I encourage them to try more things and to get more into character without just saying “you should do more than what characters...
Kill or Be Guild, CH5: Croft to a Bad Start
Through no fault of my own, I’ve been squished up into a quilted gore diaper. Again: I am entirely blameless. All I did was order my employee to attack the most powerful crime syndicate...
Kill or be Guild, CH4: Robbed the Wrong Way
I’m making fantastic progress as a criminal mastermind. To wit: I’ve discovered several things which are illegal. A couple even make a profit! And between my ill-gotten and just not-very-well-gotten gains, I’ve enough rustic...
Kill or Be Guild, CH3: Plague Honey and Sick Pie
Now that I’ve passed the tutorial for The Guild II: Renaissance, I’m big enough to admit I should have done it sooner. I’d have been a lot better prepared for this game if my first experience with...
HOWSCARUM: A Primer for Running Horror RPGs
This is a practical guide to scaring your players. It is very much not a lyrical ode to horror fiction, an odyssey into the gloomy alcoves of the human soul, or an index of psychic pressure...
Kill or Be Guild, CH2: Way to Waylay
I knew nothing about the The Guild II before I began this series. Fortunately—despite the tendency of old strategy games to be complicated and inscrutable—I’m finding it pretty straightforward to determine when I’ve been given a cake...
Kill or be Guild, CH1: Whilst You Frolicked With Troubadours, I Studied the Blade
When career aptitude testing day came around in high school, there was a field on the Scantron for “desired career.” I penciled in: “smug patrician, preening his wispy goatee as he weighs an ill-gotten...
Boot Hill and the Fear of Dice
Here’s a question: if your players asked for a campaign of politics, deception, and intrigue, what rules system would you use? You don’t just want mechanics that are politically flavored and labeled; you want...
Vanity Barlow and the Headless Ventriloquist
Five-minute mysteries. For Psychopaths of Reading Level 3 or Higher. Game link here: Vanity Barlow and the Headless Ventriloquist
The Surpassing Horror of Heathbridge Etc.
A game to freeze your blood, presumably. Technically survivable. Game link here: The Surpassing Horror of Heathbridge Etc.
