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A spoonful of fantasy helps the genre go down. This often applies to role playing games set in historical eras such as Deadlands or Call of Cthulhu. In the case of Love, Career & Magic from designer Wonmin Lee it applies to a genre of television. This game is about being part of a reality show...

Sandbox and storyline campaigns often feel like they are on opposite ends of a spectrum. Storyline campaigns feel like a custom movie built for players that respond to their actions. Sandbox campaigns engage in the joy of discovery and allow players to pursue the locations and characters that...

One of the classic gags in old school adventures were the very beefy stats for important NPCs. The tavern keeper was a 10th level fighter to keep players from deciding the game of exploration and battle had turned into a game of rolling over the friendly townsfolk and shaking down the quiet...

When it comes to history in my games, I prefer authentic vibes over specific accuracy. I don’t want my games to screech to a halt over what type of sword the villainous pirate captain is using and whether it existed in the period. I can get those arguments from the internet any time, any place...

I ran it at Gary Con and will be doing another one at GameHole, which we will hopefully record. The game is pretty wild but the true chaos comes with the Beshrewment chart which gets rolled on if players rack up too many demerits. It triggers those wild swings in a Python episode, like maybe...

I cut the part where I talk about how Barracuda automatically places whenever you roll initiative.

One of the most difficult moments as a game designer is when a potential customer walks up to you and picks up your book. They turn it over in their hands, flip through the pages and then ask “Can this run D&D?” Designers Grant Howitt and Christopher Taylor likely had this scenario in mind when...

They recently released PDF packs of the character profiles from the books you can buy and print. Hopefully the Spider-Verse ones will go up soon.

It can be fun for Game Masters to sit down with a blank notebook and create whoe worlds for their friends to discover. It can also be fun to dive into worlds full of lore and backstory to inspire adventures at the table. I think every Game Master also has a “Goldilocks zone” that balances open...

Most cyberpunk games come down on the heavier side of mechanics and world building. It makes sense since one of the big themes of the genre is modifying yourself through brand name technology to become something more human than human. It’s one of my favorite parts of these games, too. I get a...

If it's a dealbreaker for you, it's a dealbreaker. I think it's a strength for many groups that struggle trying to break free of 5e. That structure might coax out players reluctant to try something new. You don't seem to be in that audience. If you're curious about the system as it applies to...

The “CalArts” style of animation is something of a generational divide amongst cartoon fans. The bulging eyes and bright colors are hallmarks of shows like Steven Universe and Adventure Time which are adored by younger fans. But many older fans think that the artwork is too silly and...

The classes are more flexible that 5e. They are meant to be customized from the jump with a new ability added every level or two completely up to the player rather than locking in at 3rd level. Multiclassing is as simple as getting the GM's permission to take an ability from another class.