Recent content by lewpuls

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. The apocalypse, as used in fiction, generally means the destruction of civilization, leading to a drastic reduction of knowledge and physical capabilities. This is reflected historically, such as when Mycenaean (early Greek) civilization fell and the region lost...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. The Universal Trinity of Vehicle Design When building a world—or in this case, a science-fiction setting that probably involves many worlds—you must first define what kinds of warships are available to the setting’s nations. The discussion can be applied to warships...

Defining Believability Believability in a character can stem from individual characteristics, background, and dialogue, but it is especially derived from actions. Let’s take an example that immediately drains believability: when the antagonist gives a long speech instead of acting immediately...

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash The Agricultural Foundation Every country—and indeed every individual—must operate within some form of economy, formal or informal. In the pre-modern world, economie were built almost exclusively on agriculture. The core principle was simple: Land...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Which Comes First? This is an age-old question in the realm of game design: Which element takes precedence—the narrative arc of the story, or the functional constraints and mechanisms of the gameplay? We must consider this question from two perspectives: which comes...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. The debate over the fundamental nature of the hero has endured for centuries. As noted by author G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), the appeal of the old fairy tale lies in making heroes start out as someone just like us. Conversely, Chesterton observed that the modern...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Last time we examined reasons to favor using a board and pieces in tabletop role-playing games, particularly when the focus is on tactical combat and treating the RPG primarily as a game. Now, we turn our attention to the other side of the coin: the advantages of...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. There are pros and cons to theater of the mind style of play, and much of it is determined by the interplay between the game master and the players. What is Theater of the Mind? In a role-playing game, when there is a physical encounter during adventure and...

This is an amazing amount of work. I don't have the "collector mentality." Now that I think of it, I did buy most or all of the Spelljammer products, though I wasn't doing it as a "collector".

Outstanding work! I've never been a collector, so haven't seen most of the product churned out over all these years.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Despite the many wars going on around the world today, warfare (as a concept) is much frowned upon these days. This hasn’t always been the case, and earlier societies regularly planned for war. Of course, hardly anyone wants to BE in a war (just ask the soldiers)...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Today we're going to discuss two ways of creating many things: not just games but stories and game worlds. That is, starting top-down, or bottom-up. Many of the Worlds of Design columns start out “shotgun” (bottom-up) and may not be finished until years after they...

Sigh, more like 20 years old . . .

Courtesy of Pixabay. My wife was using her tablet, early in the morning. I wanted to say something to her, but her response was “I only have six minutes to get triple points!” So I shut my mouth, and went to the computer to add this quote to this article. She’s using online software, Duolingo...

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Cities don’t just happen, though it may look that way to those who live in one. As a GM/world-builder you can “do it that way” (they just happen), but I prefer a believable world, which means that cities must have reasons for being there. For this article, a city...