• Murder on Arcturus Station

    I. Dear Reader, In 1983, Games Designers’ Workshop released an adventure module for Traveller called Murder on Arcturus Station. It’s a straight-up sci-fi murder mystery – an early landmark in Traveller‘s goal of taking play out of the dungeon and zooming off in every direction possible. There’s lots to like about this little adventure. The…

    Thomas Manuel

  • 40 Years of Paranoia

    I. Dear Reader, Paranoia came out in 1984. Right at the end of the first decade of RPG publishing. It’s both a system and a setting. The setting is shenanigan-central – a city called Alpha Complex ruled by a mad AI called Friend Computer. The rules have gone through at least 6 editions but the…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Traveller & Champions

    I. Dear Reader, What is your relationship with the characters you play in RPGs? What do you want it to be? In Traveller (the classic version, I add, tipping my hat), you make a character through what is now called the “lifepath method”. That name is a bit misleading because in this game, it’s more…

    Thomas Manuel

  • One Historical Tidbit

    I. Dear Reader, Long week, short post. So if you wander over to this link, you can freely download the Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition, which is a slightly corrected version of the 1981 sci-fi RPG. I mention that because in the updated introduction, they have these numbers: I think we can take production to roughly…

    Thomas Manuel

  • The Dallas RPG was a Soap Opera Wargame?

    In 1980, SPI released an RPG based on the Dallas tv show. Players act as characters from the show, each with specific objectives and abilities. The game’s dense mechanics and need for multiple players are balanced by its surprisingly enjoyable playability. The newsletter also includes links to various RPG-related content.

    Thomas Manuel

  • Why Were We Playing Rabbits in 1976?

    I. Dear Reader, (This continues our 2024 series, 10 Games From The First 10 Years) It is genuinely surprising to me that in 1976, within two years of D&D coming out, someone published a game about being rabbits. It makes a little more sense when you realize that it was inspired by Watership Down and…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Hello Peril

    I. Dear Reader, It’s been two long posts in a row so I’ll keep it short this week. Over on Patreon, I posted 2000 words on a weird little gem of a game, Flash Gordon and the Warriors of Mongo, an RPG from 1977. It’s an essay that goes to a couple of different places…

    Thomas Manuel

  • Science Fantasy, Rabbits, and Sci-fi

    I. Dear Reader, Thanks for all your responses to last week’s post! It was great to get a sense off which games people were excited to talk about! With your help, I’ve narrowed down the first three games we’re going to cover: Metamorphosis Alpha, Bunnies and Burrows, and Classic Traveller. The two that didn’t make…

    Thomas Manuel

  • 2024’s Project is “10 Games From The First 10 Years”

    I. Dear Reader, 2024 is the 50th anniversary of D&D. It’s going to be a big year for looking back on the history of published RPGs. Lots of people are going to be looking back on D&D and so I wanted to do something different. So I’m doing a project this year called “10 Games…

    Thomas Manuel