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…

I. Dear Reader, I’ve been playing Legacy 2e, a post-apocalyptic game about factions trying to rebuild and survive. The most interesting thing about the game is that it has this ‘faction level’ play. You do play as a single character at times but you also “zoom out” and then play as the faction – conducting…

I. Dear Reader, If you haven’t heard yet, since Kickstarter rescheduled ZineQuest at the last minute, indie creators kicked off their own alternative – ZineMonth. There’s lots of games to browse that are raising money across a bunch of different platforms including itch or their own websites. It’s neat. I don’t have a list of…

I. Dear Reader, Quick example today of what we’ve been talking about these past few weeks and then I’ll take a break from the series and talk about other stuff, I promise. So basically, worldbuilding different societies is a process of linking societies together and giving them reasons to be different from their neighbours. My…