Character du Jour: Gloin Sladehammer, Dwarf P.I.

January 7, 2009 from Greywulf's Lair
Filed under: 4e, Character du jour, RPG, RPG Hub 
“That’s the thing about dwarves: we never give up. I’ve never quit a case yet, and this is not going to be my first. Some have taken me 75 years to solve, but I cracked it in the end. And that’s w[...]
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Making Magic Mysterious

January 5, 2009 from Neitherworld Stories
Filed under: Inspiration, RPG Hub, advice 
I finally began reading the Black Company novels recently. I'm still early in them, so - while I'll say that I'm enjoying them so far - this isn't a review.One minor thing I noticed is that the wizards of middling power [...]
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Worldbuilding 101: The 10 Scale

January 5, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG Hub, advice 
When creating systemless settings, a basic benchmark can be used to allow for conversion to the system of choice. For simplicity, every descriptive item that should be measured can be rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 [...]
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Tips for Controlling the Metagame

January 5, 2009 from DND Corner
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, Play, RPG Hub 
Metagaming – everything that happens outside of the game – is going to happen.  There is nothing you can do as a player or DM to stop it.  Whether it is simply the players discussing what roles they... [[ This is [...]
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Reptile Folk

January 4, 2009 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
“Slightly taller than Humans, Reptile Folk prefer scrubland on the edges of deserts. Their nomadic lifestyle and natural armor has made them terrific hunters and trackers. This innate protection also supports the[...]
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Slipstream: Lost in Space

January 4, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub, Savage Worlds 
Humans in Slipstream left a devastated Earth in giant space arks, seeking to colonize Mars. The Robinson family in Lost in Space left an overpopulated, environmentally devastated Earth to set up a homestead on Alpha Cent[...]
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Myths of Valiant

January 3, 2009 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
Long ago, lost in time, was a great and ancient empire called Mano-ade. Mano-ade was so old, no one can remember its beginning other than a few stories of heroes and gods.They were an educated people who worshipped the[...]
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Dark Heresy: Anton Phibes

January 3, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Dark Heresy, Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub 
Anton Phibes was a famous scholar of the Eccesiarchy and music, renowned for his skill as an organist. He was disfigured in a ground vehicle crash while rushing to the side of his sick wife, Victoria. He survived his inj[...]
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The Curious (R)Evolution of the Drider

January 2, 2009 from The Art of the Near TPK
Filed under: 4e, Fluff, RPG Hub 
While working on this week's What the Heck*, the "sprites' answer to the drider", I was doing a little research into the drider and I noticed something odd.3e MM: Driders are bloodthirsty creatures that lurk in the depth[...]
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Dark Heresy: The Emperor’s Hammers

January 2, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Dark Heresy, Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub, Star Wars 
Legendary for their work disciplining traitors and heretics, the men known as the Emperor’s Hammers do not always work together. In fact, their separate mandates, as Commissar and Inquisitor, have frequently placed[...]
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Political Map of Valiant

January 2, 2009 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
This map delineates the political boundaries of countries on Valiant. White spaces are either unclaimed or unknown at this time. Click on the map to see full size. Boundaries include lands claimed in winter.   [...]
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Help! My DM/GM Hates Me!

January 2, 2009 from DND Corner
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, Play, RPG Hub 
This is a problem for a number of players.  They believe that their DM is simply out to get them. Real or imagined, this can be a huge problem for enjoying the game.  So what do you... [[ This is a content summary onl[...]
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My New Year’s Gaming Resolutions

January 1, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Hub 
Resolutions aren’t really my thing. As a productivity wonk, they make my teeth itch, actually. People fail in keeping their resolutions because they’re not actual goals. Most resolutions aren’t specific[...]
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First Day of a New Year

January 1, 2009 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
Holidays can be secular as well as relgious and New Year’s Day is the most common secular holiday amongst the cultures of Valiant. Most cultures on Valiant begin the year on the first day of spring, or 1 Pyrrand [...]
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RPG Blog Carnival: New Year’s Gaming Goals and Resolutions

January 1, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Blogger, RPG Hub, advice 
Happy New Year! This month I’m the host of the RPG Bloggers Network’s Blog Carnival. What is a blog carnival? It’s where bloggers mutually work on the same theme or topic for a month.  The topic I’ve[...]
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Deadstream: A Savage Setting Mashup

January 1, 2009 from UncleBear
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub, Savage Worlds 
During RinCon I was shooting the breeze with Ron Blessing and John Polack about doing a Firefly-type space western using Savage Worlds. Ron suggested using Slipstream, which didn’t make sense to me until I read it.[...]
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Cities in Kynafir

December 31, 2008 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
This list was made following many of the principles found here. This page gives an excellent rundown on how midieval populations actually worked out. I did fudge things a little though, because Kynafir’s population[...]
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Just One of the Boys

December 30, 2008 from Dice Monkey
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Hub 
After deciding that indeed my character, Sir Throserl Baird the Gnome Historian, was going to be a male I began thinking about what this actually means for the way I am going to play.   I am concerned that I won’t[...]
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This is an Awesome Post

December 30, 2008 from The Hydra's Grotto
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG Hub 
No not this post. THIS POST, by the great Sham, is awesome. First it shows somthing he is doing. Second it illustrates a principle of game design. Third you get a great how to that you can easily replicate yourself and l[...]
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1d20 Dreams for the Dying and Unconscious

December 30, 2008 from The Hydra's Grotto
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Hub 
This table has taken a while to write. I have been coming up with the ideas sort of piecemeal on my lunchbreaks over the past couple of months. The idea is that in a fight, when death is near and a character goes unconsc[...]
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Six Half-Baked Vampire Chronicles

Vampire RockstarThe PC coterie is based on mutual membership in a local band. Maybe they hooked up after their embrace, more likely their band is important to local politics (or their music has mystical significance) and[...]
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Characters du Jour: Whips and Chains

December 29, 2008 from Greywulf's Lair
Filed under: Character du jour, M&M, RPG, RPG Hub 
“Guns. How many times do I have to say this. I don’t like guns!” Two whips snaked out at the thugs, the tip curving like a live thing, snatching the Uzis clean out of their hands and tossing them clear [...]
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Houses of the Blooded: Venworld

December 29, 2008 from UncleBear
Filed under: Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub 
Way back in the year 2000, John Wick wrote a fascinating game called Orkworld. It spun out of a bet that was in turn inspired by his wanting to run an orc bard in D&D and being told orcs don’t have bards. Being[...]
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Dark Heresy: Laetitia ‘Lia’ Urgantha

December 28, 2008 from UncleBear
Filed under: Dark Heresy, Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub, Star Wars 
The woman known as Laetitia ‘Lia’ Urgantha was stolen from her true parents by Chaos cultists shortly after birth. She was given over to Imperial Nobles who had been corrupted by Chaos, and were working as s[...]
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The Look and Feel of a Hive City

December 28, 2008 from RPG Diehard
Filed under: Dark Heresy, Fluff/Inspiration, Other Systems, RPG Hub 
I've been digging on Dark Heresy lately, and a recent browse through the Fantasy Flight Games forums yielded this gem of a thread. The original poster asked what hive cities -- the ubiquitous urban megalopolises in the W[...]
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When Rewards Aren’t Rewards in Dungeons and Dragons

December 28, 2008 from DND Corner
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG Hub 
Sometimes more gold does not help a party much.  Sometimes even more experience points, magic items, and hordes of gems really aren’t worth very much to characters or to players. Understanding the... [[ This is a con[...]
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Point of Clarification: Why Balance?

December 28, 2008 from Nameless Kingdom
Filed under: Fluff, Game Design, Legacy D&D, RPG, RPG Hub 
Rereading my prior article, I realize it was clumsily written, poorly organized, rambling, and most of all failed to address my point. So: The concise and clear summary of my argument against using system mechanics to ba[...]
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Why Balance?

December 27, 2008 from Nameless Kingdom
Filed under: Fluff, Game Design, Legacy D&D, RPG, RPG Hub 
Game balance is a funny thing. On the one hand, it is absolutely vital in board and war games, because they are strictly competitive. On the other hand, it is strictly unrealistic, and may or may not have a proper place [...]
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Map of Kynafir

December 26, 2008 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
Due to some screw-ups in my mapping techniques and scales, I have new, better maps. All maps older than this post for Kynafir and Sobra should be disregarded. The map below shows Kynafir in both winter and summer states.[...]
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Clerics of the Church of the Thirteen Gods

December 26, 2008 from Project Valiant
Filed under: Background, RPG Hub 
The priesthood of the Church in Kynafir has a far reaching and deep history, rooted within the traditions of the Thirteen Gods. Unlike the orthodox priesthoods usually found within Western society on Earth, the role of[...]
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