Impractical Applications: Two Dubious Impressions
I talked this week about ways of handling the party disliking your slated-to-be-important NPC, both to do and to avoid. I’ve been lucky; most of my NPCs have only gotten that reaction when they were meant to. But a[...]Read on >>
Friday Five: 2013-05-24
Another (almost) late Friday Five. There’s been some good stuff this week, and it was really hard to pare things down to just five links. Here ya go! Adventure Boilerplate Every adventure needs what Tim is sug[...]Read on >>
Lost UFO Base
At some point the investigators from the I want to live in Los Angeles Not the one in Los Angeles zine are going to find an abandoned UFO base in Topanga Canyon. I haven't figured out the hows/whys/whats yet, but it[...]Read on >>
Open to Roll20 Campaign Sharing
I'm open to sharing my GM notes and assets. So if you want to recycle my GURPS "campaign" for something feel free to ask and I can make a copy which I can give pass on to you so that you have access to my "Stock" NPCs an[...]Read on >>
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle GenCon Exclusive
If you have not already heard, at this year's GenCon GaleForce Nine is offering an exclusive book containing some pre-generated characters, and four adventures intended to run you from level 1 to 10, and the winning shee[...]Read on >>
Saturday Seed ~ 157 (Leagues of Adventure)
This seed is being planted for Leagues of Adventure. Aimed at scientists and inventors, it touches on ideas of competition, jealousy, and social obligation… with just a hint of brutal murder. My Saturday Seeds als[...]Read on >>
I am become designer, creator of worlds! (p.1)
Limiting myself when I was alone had helped to keep me focused, but un-limiting myself from my selfish impulses had let me accept what the game needed to become if it was to see the light of day. [[ This is a content su[...]Read on >>
Animal Companions
There are few options that transfer well between fantasy and more "modern" settings. The animal companion happens to be one of them. Of course the type of animal companion tends to vary more in fantasy settin[...]Read on >>
A Savage Weekend: Thanksgaming + CityWide Game Event
It's been a week already since it happened, but Thanksgaming was AWESOME. Those who missed it really missed a fun event with awesome GMs. And really awesome prizes for charity. I was scheduled to run NeoExodus in the m[...]Read on >>
Thoughts on Dragonspear Castle
So the announcement about the first D&D Next adventure, Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, has hit the blogs, and there is a bit of buzz going on around it. They also seem to be cementing their relationship with Forbes, [...]Read on >>
Castles and Crusades: Liath and Bodhmall
I want to wrap-up my week on Castles & Crusades with a post of two of my favorite characters of Irish Myth. Liath Luachra & Bodhmall the Druidess.One of my favorite stories is that of Fionn mac Cumhail. &nb[...]Read on >>
[SPOILERS] Blog Carnival: Campaigns I’d Like to Run
Dear Friday night group GTFO. This months blog carnival is being hosted at Age of Ravens as is...[...]Read on >>
Review – Hostile Takeover (for Interface Zero/Savage Wolrds)
Cyberpunks, interested in how the other half lives (and works)? Hostile Takeover is a resource to allow you to play characters working for the megacorporations who rule the world in the near, dark future. Bot[...]Read on >>
The Godfell Stone D&D Next Sessions 1 & 2: Skytop and Beacon
So, finally. FINALLY! We got the family together for our first couple of sessions of D&D Next. My mom is a human paladin, my dad is a halfling rogue, and my wife is an elven [...][...]Read on >>
Campaign Prep: Nuts & Bolts: Play on Target Ep. 11
UNDER THE HOOD For this episode of Play on Target we return to the concept of Campaign Prep- this time focused more on the crunchy bits. Once you’ve decided on a campaign- what do you do next? This connects to ou[...]Read on >>
Editing a Random Map in Dungeonographer
Recently there have been a few questions about how to edit a map created with Dungeonographer’s built-in random map generator. So this article describes the reason and process. To allow rooms to be shown or h[...]Read on >>
3e Session Upcoming?
I have been asked about possibly playing in a Warhammer 3rd edition game this summer. I would love to give it a try. Now I'm trying to figure out what type of character would be good for just a one-summer knock off[...]Read on >>
The Gaming Bucket List
If you're anything like me, then you probably have a bunch of games that you've purchased in the past, intending to run, but never quite getting around to. I have a bunch of games like this, and being the pack rat that [...]Read on >>
[Friday Map] Darkling Depths Level 3
May 24, 2013 from A Character for Every Game
Filed under: dungeons & dragons, Labyrinth Lord, RPG, RPG Hub
The Megadungeon continues, with two more maps! Level 3 of the Darkling Depths spans two maps, 3A and 3B. Map …Continue reading »
[...] Filed under: dungeons & dragons, Labyrinth Lord, RPG, RPG Hub
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Friday Question: Reviews
How do you like your reviews? Do you like a short synopsis? Longer on content where it breaks down a product, but this would also include spoilers in most cases? Or a simple rating system? A ratin[...]Read on >>
Do You Believe in Magic? – GGG Reviews the Re-released Spell Compendium
Before the days when the only spells wizards were worried about getting in their spellbooks were rituals, D&D 3rd edition had spells…a lot of spells. There were spells in modules, spells in handbooks, spells i[...]Read on >>
Guest Posting on A to Z: The Value of the Blogfest
I am guest posting over at Blogging from A to Z Challenge today. Here is a copy of my post.Hello everyone and my name is Tim Brannan, some of you might know me from either of my two blogs The Other Side (gaming, ho[...]Read on >>
Daily Cosplay
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Lake Kaindy
About a hundred years ago an earthquake caused a landslide in the remote mountain fastness in Kazakstan. The landslide walled in the end of a long, and very steep valley, blocking a creek there. Slowly the creek filled [...]Read on >>
Historical Footnotes
On August 7, 1565 the Turks surged against a breach in the walls of the bastion of Castile in the fortified wall of Birgu during the Great Siege of Malta. For days canon blasted the walls, greatly reducing them. The Knig[...]Read on >>
Viking Pallisade
The Jelling monument is a large rune stone capturing Harold Bluetooth's immortality, two large burial mounds and a medieval church in between. Or so it was thought. Extensive excavations have revealed that the monument [...]Read on >>
Armor Up
Sergey Popovichenko[...]Read on >>
Thor Says
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Space 1999…er 2019
The show is only off by a little bit. Looks like several private companies are looking to settle on the moon with permanent dwellings in the near future. Areospace Bigelow manufactures expandable "habitat modules" for us[...]Read on >>
Spider Man 2 Stills
From the soon to be released Spider Man 2. [...]Read on >>
Pre-Balticon 47
Tonight is the first night of Balticon, and I’m stoked! While it isn’t a gaming convention, it is a con that focuses on science fiction and fantasy literature. Reading, Writing, and Editing. The topics range [...]Read on >>
Book Review: A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix
A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix Paul S. Kemp 352 pages, Angry Robot Paperback, $7.19 ISBN 978-0857662538 A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix is the second tale of these intriguing “heroes.&rdq[...]Read on >>
Epiro: Episode 106
CastIola (wood elf monk 3)Perseus (human paladin 3)Yllian (high elf wizard 3)Corvus (human ranger 3)Randy (wood elf druid 3)The characters had been hiking across the Goathills for about an hour, searching for wherever it[...]Read on >>
Discussion: What Makes You NOT Want To Play In A Game?
Second discussion for this week, but it's something that's been on my mind a lot today. We all have things we don't like. Maybe it is just a genre or some aspect of a genre that you don't like, or maybe it is something b[...]Read on >>
WHAAAARRRBBBLLLEEEGAAARRBBLLEEE!!!!!
Indeed, we do. I have now been re-gainfully employed for 4 months now. The catch? A long commute and mandatory 50-60 hour weeks. Needless to say, this blog isn't the only facet of my life being ne[...]Read on >>
D&D Next DM Advice (Tome 214)
Mike Shea joins us in this episode to dispense advice with us on DMing a D&D Next playtest group. Enjoy! Sponsors: Noble Knight Links: Mike’s Lazy DM book Download Standard Podcasts[...]Read on >>
Castles & Crusades Witch
The Castles & Crusades WitchCastles & Crusades is often called the Rosetta Stone of RPGS. Actually that is not to bad of a claim. Here is my Witch class from The Witch, converted to C&C. I [...]Read on >>
Reaper Bones: Kobolds are they dogs or dragons?
The next milestone of this marathon painting challenge is the kobolds. Just like the Giant Rats I painted last time, these are one of the monsters in my Monster Mini Box: Level One and are a classic low level minio[...]Read on >>
CoC Blocking!
Bill Cavalier, The Dungeon Bastard, has strong opinions on DMs who want to run Call Of Cthulhu as a change from Dungeons & Dragons![...]Read on >>
D&DVD Of The Week: Genghis – The Legend Of The Ten (2012)
Locked in a civil war with the rebellious Hulin tribe, the hordes of Genghis Khan (aka Chinggis Khaan aka Temujin) are stricken by plague and so a ten-man squad (an "aravt") is dispatched into the mountains to retrieve T[...]Read on >>
What coming to me in the Fall; Dwarven Forge
So I got confirmation of my order from the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter. So here what coming to me in the fall.First off I ordered five sets plus the stretch goals. I looked at the various layouts and my experience with the[...]Read on >>
What Do You Want More Of?
Quick, non-gaming related post today.First off, I apologize about the sporadic nature of the blog lately. I've had a lot going on, and it's made keeping focus on the blog a bit harder than normal. This should resolve its[...]Read on >>
Buy this Axe
Thanks to the generous helping layout hand of Mike Davison, next week I will finally be releasing into the wild By This Axe, my mercifully short and (hopefully) easily digestible 12-page set of rules for running Mediev[...]Read on >>
Creating The World Of Tomorrow: Putting the SF into Sci-Fi Pt 2
May 23, 2013 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: campaign setting, Campaigns, DM Advice, Inspiration, RPG Hub
In part one, I looked at techniques for extrapolating from the world of today into a future world where technology has changed. These techniques have served me well in both fiction writing and developing sci-fi oriented [...] Filed under: campaign setting, Campaigns, DM Advice, Inspiration, RPG Hub
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Vampires vs. Liches Pt 5: Experiment Prep! B/X Liches are B/S
Here is where I see these experiments beginning to fall apart. Companion & Master Set levels present a massive scaling problem. Note that both of these Liches are underpowered by B/X standards and I haven&rsq[...]Read on >>
en garde!
If I had been reading Strategic Review 1.4 in winter 1975, this ad would have caught my eye: EN GARDE! is Game Designers' Workshop's newest, and most unusual game. The 17th Century, with musketeers, and swordfights in th[...]Read on >>
The Asylum
Mental institutions are an icon in Western fiction, and they’ve seeped into our consciousness as gamers. But are we adequately prepared to use them well in games? Institutions as a game element are a combination of[...]Read on >>
D&D Encounters: Storm Over Neverwinter (Week 6)
Last week the PCs travelled to Helm’s Hold, a cathedral turned hospital dedicated to helping those inflicted by the Spellplague. A safe haven for those in need, the doors of Helm’s Hold are always open. Howev[...]Read on >>
Monsters of Sin Now Available
Avarice, gluttony, and wrath. The seven sins dangerous enough to be called deadly are now collected under one set of covers, with all errata and some expanded text to make these Sin Monsters as complete and dangerous as [...]Read on >>
New Post-Apocalyptic Supplements From Fishwife Games
The merry mutants over at Fishwife Games has been busily churning out some new settings and scenarios for your post-apocalyptic RPG games, including their biggest setting yet -- the town of Minco! Their materials are sys[...]Read on >>
