Multi-Game Type Campaigns

The past 12 months have seen the release of several campaign-driven miniature games, combining story and tactical gameplay. Titles like Games Workshop’s Necromunda and the Corelian Conflict for Star Wars Armada have brought this type of gameplay back to the forefront. So much so that we’re even starting to see card games get into the…

2017 Board Games

Like many board gamers, I’ve recently taken stock of my plays over the course of the previous year and there are a few things that jumped out that I thought might be worth discussing. Note, the BG Stats app (which is terrific) doesn’t track RPG plays at this point, so this post will be strictly…

Twisting Lovecraft

This post started it’s life as a 2018 predictions post, but that started to bore me so we’re changing directions! Instead, we’re going to take a brief look at some twists you can make on the traditional Cthulhu mythos (as presented by Lovecraft, Derleth, etc). This idea was inspired in large part by the recent…

Year in Review: Board Games

So…I was super upbeat about miniature games and RPGs this year. Board games are another thing altogether though. This year really felt like the first time I felt like there was a glut of games. And the majority weren’t that good. As I’m writing this, I’m actually watching the Dice Tower’s Top 10 Games of…

Year in Review: Miniature Games

As enthusiastic as I am about the current state of the RPG market, I’m equally excited for the miniature gaming market. 2017 was an awesome year for miniature games. My biggest challenge for this year was narrowing it down as there were a ton of great releases. That’s really something if you take into account…

Year in Review: RPGs

I thought it might be entertaining to do a year in review of the various games released this year. Rather than do the traditional top 10, I’m going to do something a touch different. I’ve picked my favorite releases, but I’ve also selected some that I felt were important. Also, I’ve tried to highlight some…

Using Real World Cultures as Inspiration

I’m currently running a Zweihander game, loosely based on the game’s default setting. One of the things that I’ve done with this setting is to expand it past the traditional mythical Germay to include more of Europe. For example, in the area where the players are starting, the general theme is based more on that…

Fictional Recreations: The Isacariot Organization

Every so often, I like to take a literary or film character/group and re-build them for a game. One organization I’ve used multiple times is the Isacariot Organization from the Hellsing anime. The Isacariot Organization, also known as Vatican Section XIII, is a top secrete organization within the Roman Catholic Church. This orgnaization is so…

NPC Hook: Jason

I thought I’d do a series of quickies for Halloween. So let’s take some quick NPC hooks based on our favorite stars of horror films! For today’s character, we’ll look at Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise. Let’s be honest, Jason is a pretty two-dimensional character. I know that there’s a backstory there, but…

Halloween Gaming

I love Halloween gaming. It’s an awesome opportunity to bring horror into a campaign. I know we don’t need an excuse to bring horror into our games, but players just seem more receptive to it during this time of year. While I generally run a dedicated one-off game fo Halloween (generally Call of Cthulhu or…

Hosting Special Gaming Events

This weekend, I held an event at my house re-creating a minor Battletech historical battle (the Battle at Kansas Plateau on Arboris V on December 17, 3028 during the 4th Succession War for those interested in the gory details). These special events are something I do with some regularity (they used to be more frequent…

Foreign Language Learning with Quill

So I’ve been learning German pretty steadily for the past year (I use a combination of Duolingo with setting my phone and online services into German) and I’m always looking for ways to accelerate the learning process. Learning a language is one of those activities that really benefits from learning in a variety of contexts;…