Races of Eden: The Athirua
The Athirua set the standard for physical perfection that all of Adel aspires to, their beauty said to transcend even that of the Spirits. Throughout the history of Eden the scattered Athirua were whispered of as artifac[...]Read on >>
Stock Characters In Your RPGs
March 10, 2010 from The Spirits of Eden
Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, Legacy D&D, RPG, RPG Hub
My NPCs never die. This is not to say that they are invincible. They can surely be reduced to 0 HP and never seen again in that particular game. But that only gives them new life, a life beyond the confines of any single[...] Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, Legacy D&D, RPG, RPG Hub
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For Those Of You Playing Along At Home
The question’s been raised as to precisely which books I’ll be using for our upcoming Traveller campaign. The following are what’s being counted on as of now.Traveller Core Rulebook OR Pocket Rulebook (Mongoose Pub[...]Read on >>
Enter Traveller
I can count on one hand the number of Total Party Kills I've had as a Game Master over the years. Friday night, I almost added one to that number.I won't go into all the gory details, save it to say the group rolled two[...]Read on >>
A Visit to the Land of Imagination
Good morning, I hope everyone’s Sunday is going well. Today, we’re taking a little tour of the Land of Imagination, where we’ll take a look at some of the retro and cool toys, put out by Fisher Price’s Imaginex[...]Read on >>
Rob Conley’s Awesome Map
For the Middle Isles campaign that I've been working intermittently on, Rob Conley was awesome enough to take my crappy map here:And turn it into something like this:Needless to say, I am ecstatic--the res is much higher[...]Read on >>
Review: Kingdom Builder Generator Pack
March 3, 2010 from The Spirits of Eden
Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, Legacy D&D, RPG, RPG Hub, news
Chaotic Shiny is well-known for its many generators, so a product like this is long awaited. While opening up a web browser is not exactly inconvenient, having a bunch of generators in one place is a lot better an option[...] Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, Legacy D&D, RPG, RPG Hub, news
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Races of Eden: The Iomadi
At the twilight of humanity, another race rose to take their place. The Iomadi were the most fertile and prosperous of the new races, and now have the largest population in the world. Most of any crowd one looks at will [...]Read on >>
Stonehell: the Joys of Megadungeons
We had a very good session with the kids exploring Stonehell last night, and it was gratifying to see that one of the primary features of a megadungeon that you return to again and again has started to p[...]Read on >>
Idea Paralysis
Have you ever been at that point in your life where you’re between games, raring to run something, and you just have so many ideas on what to do that you are completely crippled? I’m facing that right now on [...]Read on >>
Review: 4e Module Village of Hommlet
February 26, 2010 from The Spirits of Eden
Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub, news
Like I said, even though I don’t DM 4e, I haven’t stopped playing or liking the game. When a friend lent me a copy of the Village of Hommlet, which is sadly just a reward for being an RPGA DM rather than a re[...] Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub, news
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Those Who Change Fates – Adventurers in Eden
Often referred to as heroes, they are not, or at least not all of them are. An adventurer, at the most basic level, is just anyone brave and foolhardy enough to venture into places where they are unwelcome. You could eve[...]Read on >>
Axis and Allies Video (And WWII Campaigns)
This was one of my favorite games back in the day, circa 1998. Watching it, I want to run a WWII Commando/Special Forces campaign:Of course, if you're going to run a World War II game, there's a lot to consider. It's n[...]Read on >>
Play Recap: Session 8
Well, no matter how good you think you are as a Game Master, you're going to run into some inter-party conflict. In a way, I hate inter-party conflict, because it can lead to bruised feelings or game dissolution. I'm p[...]Read on >>
The Asylon Campaign
From the Free Dictionary a·sy·lum n. 1. An institution for the care of people, especially those with physical or mental impairments, who require organized supervision or assistance. 2. A place offering [...]Read on >>
Taking A Break From D&D 4e
I think if Wyatt was a corporation, this post would cause its stock prices to plummet hard. D&D is the game, and any blogger talking about it constantly and usefully is sure to swim in e-fame, especially with WOTC no[...]Read on >>
Introducing New Players to D&D via Stonehell
February 15, 2010 from Tales of the Rambling Bumblers
Filed under: Campaigns, Legacy D&D, Play, RPG Hub, recaps
Last night we brought my wife’s college roommate and her two kids, ages 14 and 9, to our Sunday night Bumblers gathering, and introduced them to D&D. None of them had ever played RPGs before,[...] Filed under: Campaigns, Legacy D&D, Play, RPG Hub, recaps
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Getting Game Ideas
I’m only one DM and unfortunately I get so many game ideas by just reading the news or looking around while I walk up and down the University. Describing my creative process has always been difficult for me, but I&[...]Read on >>
Friday Discussion: Celebs In Your Games
It's not uncommon for people to cite celebrities, historical figures, and other famous folks for the look or mannerisms of a Player Character or NPC. And that's the basis of today's Friday Discussion!Which celebs have u[...]Read on >>
Scenario Sequencing: Structuring Campaign Flow
February 11, 2010 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: Campaigns, DM Advice, Game Mastering, Hero system, RPG Hub, campaign setting
In a previous blog, I’ve written about my Superhero campaign currently facing a big finish (A Grand Conclusion: thinking about a big finish). This post will be a sequel of sorts, because any big finish naturally in[...] Filed under: Campaigns, DM Advice, Game Mastering, Hero system, RPG Hub, campaign setting
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The Legends Before Us Part 2
The Legend of Kufune The most popular tale in Adel, that any boy would have heard of, is the legend of kufune. To this day, Kufune remains a common boy’s name because of the story. The titular character, Kufune, [...]Read on >>
The Legends Before Us Part 1
In the world of the Spirits of Eden, the players aren’t alone in heroics or in aspiration to such. There are many heroes that came before the player characters, and even legends rising alongside their own. PCs shou[...]Read on >>
Some of them could actually be people.
We’ll open with a simple question. In your campaign, is a goblin a person or a monster? What about other intelligent, upright-walking human-like things? Running the Spirits of Eden campaign setting as I usually do,[...]Read on >>
Superheroes, not Superbowl
Lat night we ran another session of Kapow!, my superheroes rpg that we’re playtesting, and I take it as a good sign that despite the fact that before we started a couple of our players expressed in[...]Read on >>
The origins of my DMing crisis.
I’m pretty sure this will be incoherent rambling, so you can skip it if you want to and I won’t be offended. Some would say that the whole blog is incoherent rambling, and I’m not offended if they skip [...]Read on >>
Were-What?
The Other Side Of Were The curse of the Werewolf has existed for many years, scaring young children and savaging mighty heroes. These days the Werewolf has many companions to share its curse with: Werebears, Wereboars, W[...]Read on >>
Player Versus Player
I think we’ve all seen dysfunctional RPG parties in our games, with a Drow Assassin and Cleric of Saint Cuthbert trying to work along with a Chaotic Evil Barbarian and a Paladin of Kord. Okay, so that example may have [...]Read on >>
Dialog Vignettes in Play-By-Post
February 2, 2010 from The Spirits of Eden
Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub
It occurs to me that for the longest time I have not been taking much advantage of the play-by-post medium like I could have been. Granted, it can become chaotic, but having multiple threads with ongoing, canonical game [...] Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub
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Change War Glossary
Sean Holland made a great suggestion to use a rotating GM for a Change War campaign. As soon as I read his comment, I knew that the Change War would be perfect for a rotating GM! To that end here a glossary of Change[...]Read on >>
More Than A Minion
Green Skins Goblins are an RPG staple, they constantly harass small towns and travellers and wreak havoc in general. However goblins never really amount to anything more than being a dominated minion or some low priority[...]Read on >>
How About a Change War Campaign?
The Big Time by Fritz Leiber The Change War by Fritz Leiber Lankhmar is a natural for a role-playing game, but Leiber has another series that would make a great campaign, The Change War! The Change War is about time tr[...]Read on >>
One of those more depressing brainstorms.
Today, a team of scientists announces they have figured out a way to reincarnate yourself. The process, which costs about as much as a series of expensive surgeries, "transfers" your brain into a fetus that's still in th[...]Read on >>
Campaign Premise: Demon Blades
Another case of /tg/ discussions inspiring something interesting. The original subject was an order of knights that fought demons by pairing themselves with demon-infused items. No details were given beyond this; one of [...]Read on >>
Monster-Themed Campaigns
Entering the planning phase of my upcoming Pirates vs. Vampires game, I am just starting to consider themes. Even though I will be world-building as I go and possibly using the Mythic Game Master Emulator to drive the ga[...]Read on >>
Grandeur In Plain Sight
Mansions Not Lairs Secret lairs and gloomy castles, villains and bad guys always seem to have some hidden fortress or base of operation hidden in remote locales or within ominous monster infested dungeons. One evil being[...]Read on >>
Adding A Mythic Greek Touch To Your Campaign
We forget that it was not so long ago that anyone daring to call themselves a learned gentleman would have a near-encyclopedic knowledge of Homer and Thucydides, of Plato and Herodotus. In short, Classical Greece and all[...]Read on >>
Good, Simple, Free Hex Mapping
In my last post I talked about the Cthulhutech campaign I’m starting. One of the things I wanted to do for it was an overland hex map. I wanted players to have some small but abstract version of the setting they co[...]Read on >>
My Cthulhutech Campaign
January 24, 2010 from The Spirits of Eden
Filed under: Campaigns, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub, news
Well, there’s probably going to be a bit more Cthulhutech talk on this blog from now on, since I’ve started a new Cthulhutech play-by-post campaign with some friends. I spent a lot of the past day, between ca[...] Filed under: Campaigns, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub, news
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Play Recap: Session 7
Last night's game was one of those as a GM where I feel like I got run down by a car--I'm not sure where it came from, or entirely sure what just happened. Players can do that to you. Let's hit this in bullet point:-We[...]Read on >>
Mapping the Wilderness – A Start
I've had a have hard time deciding how to map the wilderness for Gold and Glory. Just when I think I've made up my mind, someone blogs a cool map or idea that sends me spinning... I know I want a Mythic Wilderness map f[...]Read on >>
Downsize Your Disasters: GMing catastrophes in your RPG
January 18, 2010 from Campaign Mastery
Filed under: 3.x, 4e, Campaigns, DM Advice, Game Mastering, RPG Hub, behind the screen
We hesitated before running this piece, which was written prior to the disaster on Haiti. It is certainly not our intent to trivialise what has occurred or in any way to be insensitive to the ongoing emergency there. Ul[...] Filed under: 3.x, 4e, Campaigns, DM Advice, Game Mastering, RPG Hub, behind the screen
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What classes do good GMs play?
January 18, 2010 from abstract xp
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Campaigns, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG, RPG Hub
I’ll start with an apology. If you are waiting for my review of the second volume of the Kobold guide to writing RPG’s then you’ll have to wait a couple of days.
Instead, I was urged to post based u[...] Filed under: Advice/Tools, Campaigns, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG, RPG Hub
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[Earthdawn Campaign] Character Creation
Thursday was the long-awaited character creation session for Laban’s nascent Earthdawn campaign. Armed with the hearty BLT with smoked gouda from Martone’s Market — my grinder of choice when the Thursda[...]Read on >>
[Earthdawn Campaign] Character Creation
Thursday was the long-awaited character creation session for Laban’s nascent Earthdawn campaign. Armed with the hearty BLT with smoked gouda from Martone’s Market — my grinder of choice when the Thursda[...]Read on >>
More To Watch
Many Faces Within any town or city you will more than likely find a watch or guard of some description. Adventurers tend to interact with these guardsmen on numerous occasions. Whether its running afoul of the law or see[...]Read on >>
How To Plan A Spirits of Eden Campaign
January 15, 2010 from The Spirits of Eden
Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub, news
Spirits of Eden is a fractured setting, by design. There’s holes punched everywhere in the setting. Nothing has maps except the overall continent. Nothing has drawings. Nothing is fully explained – in my scholarl[...] Filed under: Campaigns, D&D 4e, Fluff/Inspiration, RPG, RPG Hub, news
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The Simple Way to Run a Story Game
Some guidance for turning your campaign into more than a tabletop board game![...]Read on >>
Thoughts On Obsidian Portal
I've had a couple of people now ask me what I think of Obsidian Portal. Until yesterday's post, it had been a while since I had gone over OP, so now's as good as time as any to share a few of my thoughts on it:-I think [...]Read on >>
Presenting The Middle Isles
It's nowhere near ready yet, but I've been working on a new campaign setting over at Obsidian Portal. The Middle Isles are my experiment of what happens when you cross a bit of Le Guin with Gygax (scary mix, I know). A[...]Read on >>
The Kobold Guide to Games Design – Volume I: Adventures (A Review)
January 12, 2010 from abstract xp
Filed under: Advice/Tools, Campaigns, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG, RPG Hub
I start this review feeling something of a fraud. I mean, who am I to review something written by Wolfgang Baur, Keith Baker, Ed Greenwood, and Nicolas Logue. So I have chastised myself and instead present this as an ove[...] Filed under: Advice/Tools, Campaigns, Fluff/Inspiration, Game Design, RPG, RPG Hub
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