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This irregular column looks at aspects of design and system that a particular game does especially well. In this case I’m looking at Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. Developing Background First off, kudos for the designers for not retconning the game background in the new edition. They took...

If only I had that sort of power (I would probably use it far more irresponsibly) :)

Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Here's four more tips and ideas for your consideration when designing a game. Consider your skills list carefully It’s often very tempting to create a long skill list, pleased you have covered everything. But it can work against you. The more specific and numerous...

Picking up where we left off, here's four more tips for designing your game. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Don’t sweat the maths A lot of game designers love to work out the various probabilities of any dice roll in vast tables to prove the efficacy of the system. I’d venture to suggest it’s...

Very much agree, although I’d be adding an adventure after making the game. But you are Absolutly right that many games go unplayed because they don’t give you a good place to help you get started.

lol! Fair. However I’d argue the strength of GURPS is that it puts the rules in one place and setting in another, but doesn’t tell you that you only need one of them (although I’ve used plenty of their setting books for other things).

There is no single way to design a game. The wonderful thing about this industry is that it is full of people trying out new ideas. But that lack of borders and a distinct path can be daunting. So here are a few of the ways I approach game design, but not in terms of numbers and system so much...

Stocking fillers and gifts for gamers have never been easier to find, with a vast array of cool accessories and game related items all over the place, especially at conventions. At Dragonmeet recently there was an array of dice earings, potion bath wash, artisan wooden dice towers, dungeon theme...

We're picking up where we left off with player types converted to game master types. Here's the rest of the list. Optimiser This type of GM loves the rules and to a certain degree may be playing to win. This doesn’t mean they are trying to beat the players, but they will use every rule and...

Every Gamemaster has their own style and usually prefers a particular type of game. While I could collect a whole new set of Gamemaster types, instead I’m going to use the player types from the DM’s Guide. For me, most GM styles are really about what style they want to encourage in their...

We know GMs fudge dice rolls sometimes, but what happens when players do it? Picture courtesy of Unsplash. In my opinion, it’s not okay for a player to cheat. It effectively gives a player’s character more advantages than any of the others and probably more spotlight as they just do better...

Full Disclosure: One of the senior writers for Our Brilliant Ruin is a friend of mine. You can read my previous interview with the Studio Hermitage crew and an upcoming Not DND TTRPG Interview on EN World’s YouTube channel on September 30. The Setting Our Brilliant Ruin is a standalone...

Let's take a look at a few examples of "who goes first" in other games and how you might adapt them to yours. Picture courtesy of Pixabay. Initiative: D&D This is the standard we are all accustomed to. You have an initiative bonus based on (usually) Dexterity and you apply it to a roll to get...

GMs are always wanted at cons, but, a con game can be a very different experience Picture courtesy of AugusteBlanqui - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74768497 Even if you have run games for years, running a game at a convention can be a very different...

I do agree pace is important, but some of the most fun parts have been roleplaying with Npcs. Ideally your game should be all ‘good bits’ so pace is good but no need to rush.

Maid is one of the 'one or two exceptions' I was thinking of. :) Very quick and easy and part of the fun. The other was Nobilis (although that GM had the character parts done, just let us arrange the main 4 stats)

Fancy running a game at a con and want to create your own adventure? Picture courtesy of Gabrielmeister - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, File:Stephen R. Marsh at NTRPG Con, June 2017.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Great! Conventions are a a good way to test out something on a new group and try something...

You’ve decided to go a convention! Here's some advice on how to get the most out of the con you pick. Picture courtesy of Unsplash. Be Prepared, Take Care Convention season is upon us, and there are both large and small gaming cons all over the place. If you’ve never been to one they are...

Continuum was both complex and interesting, which might be why it didn’t do so well :) I think in the UK it suffered by calling the PCs (who travelled the timespan) “spanners”. To be honest, if you republished it now as the Loki Time Variance Agency rpg it would probably have a renaissance.

Both Flabergasted (basically the Tintin rpg) and Agents are Modiphius 3rd party games. So just one place to look. :) While Flabbergasted has been slow to do more stuff there are some new things since release so I’d be optimistic it’s time isn’t over yet. :)