Morrus' Unofficial Tabletop RPG News

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Jul 03

The bulk of this month’s column is going to talk about development choices and marketing for tabletop RPGs. There is an important part that relates to our objective of getting more fun out of the 4 hour game session, so I’ll lead with that and those of you uninterested in the business analysis won’t have to wade through it to get to the good stuff. Before anything else happens at your...

4 Hours w/ RSD - Let's Have a Flamewar!

May 16

Lets Have a Flamewar! I have, from time to time, been accused of making comments designed to inflame passions and ignite debate. That may be true to some degree, but when it comes to the art of driving people crazy with terminology, I tip my hat to the people at Global Underwater Explorers. In the 1980s this group became the stewards of a project designed to map the underground water...

4 Hours w/ RSD - Take Note

Apr 18

Notes for Every GM and Player A Call to Action for GMs! I have a couple of old 1st edition modules covered in badly obfuscated handwritten notes from my earliest days of playing. I can remember constantly having to improvise various things as we played because I couldn’t remember exactly what we had done or said in previous sessions. In the mid-90s I ran a lengthy Dark Sun campaign. I...

A semi-brief history of D&D and some other RPGs: 1980-1989

Mar 29

Continued from: http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/275042-semi-brief-history-d-d-some-other-rpgs-1967-1979-a.html 1980 The Fantasy Trip by Jackson (of Texas) published by MetaGaming. Based on minigames Melee and Wizard, TFT included flexible, non-random, character creation for its two classes, three stats (Strength, Dexterity, and IQ), and combat played out on a hex-grid...

4 Hours w/ RSD: Realtime

Mar 15

Realtime and the Game When we were working on 3rd Edition, one of the questions that we thought a lot about was “how long do you play the game in one sitting”. Most of us remember marathon games that lasted so long nobody bothered to track the hours played. But we also know that lots of groups play for very defined time blocks. One of the most accessible was the RPGA, which designed...

4 Hours w/ RSD: Who Am I?

Jan 18

Who Am I & How Did I Get Here? Greetings! It’s been a while since I’ve been an active member of the ENWorld community or actively involved with publishing tabletop RPGs so I may need to make a few introductions. Almost 20 years ago I created one of the first ecommerce businesses, RPG International, to supply tabletop hobby games to players without easy access to a local game store. While...

4 Hours w/RSD: Who Is Sitting At Your Table

Jan 15

Who Is Sitting At Your Table? This might seem like a simple question to answer. Usually, you play with a group of friends whom you’ve come to know quite well. Even if you find yourself in a hastily assembled game at a convention or store, you usually have a lot in common with the other folks you play with. But if we consider all the people who may be playing a tabletop RPG at any given...

Off to see the Wizards: The day that WotC showed me D&D 5th Edition

Jan 08

This is one of three articles covering this announcement. The other two articles are WotC Seeks Unity with a New Edition and Bet You Wish Your Workplace Looked Like WotC? It was a pretty normal day in early winter last year. I was waiting to see if I could get a few questions answered by Mike Mearls, head of R&D for Wizards of the Coast. I heard the ping of an e-mail and saw that it was...

Review of Good Little Children Never Grow Up by Sneak Attack Press

Dec 17

Thanks for the review! Just want to let you know that I've fixed the cover so it now reflect the right level.

Ryan Dancey on the Goals of the Open Gaming License

Nov 23

The purpose of the OGL was to act as a force for change. In that sense I think it is an unquaified success. It changed the relationship of fans to publishers - any person with an idea could participate in the market if they wished. It changed the relationship of developers to publishers - instead of having to make "Fantasy Heartbreakers", developers were free to show their creativity using a...

iPhone / iPod / Android Applications for RPGs

Sep 24

KMonster | a dnd 4e tool for android | kerpow.net KSheet | dnd 4e character sheet app for android | kerpow.net for driod

Who to follow on Twitter

Jul 04

You can find Jon Brazer Enterprises at @JonBrazerEnt

A semi-brief history of D&D and some other RPGs: 1967-1979

Apr 14

Now substantially revised. Thanks to everyone for their input. 1967 Braunstein is developed and refereed by David Wesely. A war game scenario of an assault on a European town in which each player would play a single charecter and some players would not command troops but have other roles; this would inadvertently become what some consider the first RPG. Dave Arneson would participate...

Mike Breault on Lorraine Williams

Aug 01

Originally posted by TSR employee Mike Breault on Knights & Knaves Alehouse (link no longer exists; recovered via Wayback Machine and archived here): OK, so here goes. I'm going to add new tidbits as I have time and think of them, but here are a few to start. Keep in mind that except where I say I witnessed things or was told them by Lorraine, these are essentially rumors (but fun nonetheless).

Submitted for Your Consideration: Changes to ORIGINS Awards

Jul 02

The following is a proposal I intend to submit to GAMA and the Academy for review. Following the widespread dissatisfaction with this year's ORIGINS Award process, I believe rapid, significant change is necessary to rebuild the stature and interest in the Awards that is required to make them meaningful and relevant.

David L. Arneson, Plaintiff vs. Gary Gygax, Tactical Study Rules

Oct 07

David L. Arneson, Plaintiff vs. Gary Gygax, Tactical Study Rules, a partnership consisting of Gary Gygax and Brian Blume, and TSR Hobbies, INC., a corporaton, Defendants (1979).

Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0

Sep 17

Wizards of the Coast regularly surveys various aspects of the adventure gaming channel; distributors, retailers and consumers to better understand their preferences, concerns, and needs. That data is regularly reviewed and distributed internally to senior management. The contents of this file are excerpts from those sources; the source materials themselves are confidential internal documents and are not available to the public.

Q&A with Gary Gygax

Aug 29

8,790

This is the multi-year Q&A sessions held by D&D co-creator Gary Gygax here at EN World, beginning in 2002 and running up until his sad pasing in 2008. Gary's username in the thread below is Col_Pladoh, and his first post in this long thread is Post #39.

Contact Details

Aug 30

To contact EN World, please use the following details. Note that Kickstarter news and non-Kickstarter news have different addresses.By email Owner Morrus morrus@hotmail.com Advertising Ed Healy ephealy@gamerati.com EN5ider Editor Mike Myler mike.myler.adventures@gmail.com TRAILseeker Editor Felipe Real farealh@gmail.com Columnists Editor Michael Tresca submissions@enworldnews.com...