I. Dear Reader, Busy weekend for me! So just want to wish you all a good week ahead. Here’s some fun links to interesting things about RPGs! Regretfully, Thomas II. Media of the Week An actual play/introduction of Decaying Orbit, a storygame about an AI-controlled ship plummeting into a star. It’s a part of Storybrewers…

I. Dear Reader, So last week, I said that using stats to express your character wasn’t so interesting to me. And I said that I would talk about the technique of differentiating characters that is way more interesting to me: narrative permissions. I know some people are already bristling at the time “permissions”. So let…

I. Dear Reader, I have a question. Why do we have stats? And let me clarify, so things don’t too get out of hand that I’m mostly interested in “storygames”. I think broadly stats (along with skills) have been our historical answer to the question of how we mechanize who our characters are. They represent…

I. Dear Reader, Building on last week’s post on “traversing the void”, I want to talk about two new terms I’ve started to use: bumps and stumbles. My last post was about what we do when we suddenly find ourselves in a part of the game with no rules to guide us. In my experience,…

I. Dear Reader, There’s an experience that’s almost universal to playing RPGs. You’ve probably experienced it. But I don’t think there’s a word for it. It’s the moment when you’re playing a game, enjoying all its rules, and then, suddenly, you step into a space and there are no rules to guide you anymore. Sometimes…

I. Dear Reader, I’m on vacation this week – the first in a very, very long time. I’m really enjoying the rest. But. That said, I still managed to put together some interesting links for my dear readers though! Hoping you all get some rest as well, Thomas II. Media of the Week A video…

I. Dear Reader, I know I talked about a bundle of games last week but close on the heels of that, another bundle was launched on itch.io – this time raising money for the conflict in Ukraine. This is more akin to the Bundle for Racial Equality in that it features lots of video games…

I. Dear Reader, There’s a spectacular bundle of games on itch.io right now. Designers from all across the world have donated their games to raise funds for organisations fighting for trans rights in Texas. It’s an absolute cornucopia of indie delights. I thought I’d take a moment to call out some of the lovely games…

I. Dear Reader, Here’s a quick anecdote from our Legacy 2e game – but before I get into it, a content warning for mention of cannibalism. One of the little mechanics in Legacy is “Roles” which identifies where you stand in terms of your faction. Are you a Leader, Agent, Rebel or Outsider? And you…

I. Dear Reader, Half-a-newsletter this week as I’m on the road all weekend. It’s nice to get away but I also now miss my Legacy 2e game! We’re building wonders and (respectfully) killing each other’s characters so it’s bad time to miss a session but that’s how it goes. Wishing you a happy Sunday, Thomas…