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RPG Thoughts: Sometimes You Have to Go Back

Bag of multi-coloured dice with a variety of sides and sizes spilling out on to a table

. . . to go forward. I’m working on a robust or complex TTRPG system right now—more complex than my usual ‘story-forward’ games but not to the level of D&D or GURPS—and I thought I faced an intractable problem. I Read more…


Edge of Inspiration: Setting and Cyberpunk 2077

Abstract colourful consideration of a city corner, with skull graffiti on one wall.

I’ve already written of my love for Cyberpunk 2077, then I did a one-page adventure seed inspired by it, so what am I doing now? Well, Cyberpunk 2077 is a computer game, but it is an RPG. Part of its Read more…


RPG Thoughts: Genre As Window Dressing?

A picture of a wizard on a dark seacoast by cliffs approaching a castle and a young person overlooking a bright, futuristic city

Right now I have a couple of playtests happening as I work on a robust role-playing game system—a game that is complex, with many pre-defined components that is more about player choice than player creativity when it comes to character Read more…


RPG Thoughts: Borrowing the Choson Dynamic

The gates of Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul , South Korea

When writing a fantasy RPG setting, I think we all borrow to some degree. There is borrowing from other creative works, and then there is borrowing from history. When borrowing from history, we are also often borrowing from other cultures. Read more…


RPG Thoughts: Lighting the Darkness

Person in the foreground overlooking a ruined metropolise wreathed in threatening and dark clouds

So, I’ve already pointed out my dislike for the “Points of Light” campaign concept. Protecting the status quo might be somebody else’s idea of a good time, but I’d prefer to organize that underclass of goblins and help them start Read more…


RPG Thoughts: Touch of (Kinda) Evil

Robin Hood reaching over a sleeping person to steal an item from their belt pouch while a merry man looks on in astonishment.

Campaigns in which the PCs are supposed to be ‘evil’ certainly can be bad, but not necessarily so. ‘Evil’’ might mean fighting the status quo instead of committing horrible acts on innocents. In a Facebook thread (I have broken down Read more…


One-Pager: House of the Eternal Road

A one-page adventure based on the movie Road House—which was reviewed at Sword’s Edge—is now available at SEP. An older post explains the idea behind the one-pager. You can find more one-pagers at Sword’s Edge Publishing.


RPG Thoughts: Mean Streets

Two scoundrels sit at a table, facing you, one with blade and one with flintlock--both looking intimidating

The last time I yelled in your general direction, I was commenting on my dislike for the ‘points of light’ concept in RPG adventures. That was focused mostly on a specific kind of high fantasy or sword-and-sorcery type game. While Read more…


One-Pager: Uprise: Bandits At War

You can find a one-page adventure at Sword’s Edge Publishing based on Uprising. An older post explains the idea behind the one-pager. You can find more one-pagers at Sword’s Edge Publishing.


RPG Thoughts: Extinguish the Points of Light

As I understand it, the ‘points of light’ concept in fantasy role-playing games refers to centres of civilization—the light—surrounded by barbarism, or at least uncharted dangers. The idea is that the heroes work out of the points to bring that Read more…