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  1. J

    Best GMing Advice you've ever gotten

    For me it was "prep situations, not plots".
  2. J

    Adventure Writing Basics: Part 1

    Great topic. A couple of other suggestions: 1. Playtest your adventure. 2. Be really clear on whether you are writing the adventure to be read like a novel, or to be played. If it is to be played, then your priority is to give the GM enough information to run it (no more!), and to make it easy...
  3. J

    Elemental Horror Campaigns: An Interview with JM

    I enjoyed the interview! Just a quick note to add that DriveThru is offering the new edition of Fear Can't Hurt You for free today as one of their daily "treats": https://www.drivethrurpg.com/featured.php?promotion_id=DTRPG_Treats_2022
  4. J

    RPG Print News – Heward’s Handy Haversack, Modiphius, and More

    I'm a sucker for swords & sorcery and those Conan books look nice... Congrats for hitting one hundred. Here's to the next hundred! :cool:
  5. J

    Death in Space: Interview with Plogfors and Niblaeus

    Another recent game that presents the setting not with lore but with tables. Honestly, I like this trend because it leaves room for people to bring their own ideas and supports the GM and players without asking them to study up on a lot of "canon".
  6. J

    RPG Evolution: Reaching Your Audience

    This is a really important topic, because the reality is that no matter how good your product is, it won't sell itself given the constant deluge of new releases competing for people's attention. I don't claim to know the best solution, but two things that have really helped us: First, having...
  7. J

    RPG Evolution: Tips for Reviewers

    As an RPG consumer, I totally depend on quality reviews to help me navigate the massive deluge of products we're seeing at the moment. As a publisher, thorough reviews of our products help lessen the chance that a customer will be disappointed with their purchase, and that's a win for everyone...
  8. J

    Blade Runner: The Next Million Dollar Kickstarter?

    I think games were traditionally designed with the idea that players made their characters separately, so adventures needed to be written with a wide array of character possibilities in mind (D&D still mostly follows this model). I like how newer games (not just Free League) put more emphasis on...
  9. J

    Death, Flaws, and the Magic of Role-Play

    As you say, the “magic” happens when we stop playing to optimize the outcome in the game sense of “winning”. One alternative is to view our actions through the lens of “that’s what my character would do”, but that too can create un-fun situations for the other participants. In the end, maybe...
  10. J

    Interview with JM about the Elemental RPG and Its Continual Free Support

    Just a quick heads up: DriveThru’s New Year Bundles are up, great offerings this year, and I’m happy to report that Elemental is one of them!
  11. J

    Interview with JM about the Elemental RPG and Its Continual Free Support

    For those interested in learning more, reviewer A.R. Kavli just dropped a very in-depth flip-through video review of the core book (for a shorter review, there is also Charles Dunwoody's review on this site).
  12. J

    Too much prose in RPGs?

    Agree with the OP. I think the issue is that, consciously or not, most RPG books are written for the solitary reader, rather than someone running a game. Optimizing for quick reference at the table and conjuring a scene with concise, evocative language, is more akin to writing a technical...
  13. J

    Halloween Horror: Elemental

    Just a quick addendum to say that the Elemental core book and player's guide are discounted as part of DriveThruRPG’s “small press spotlight sale”, which includes many other designers worth supporting and ends in…22 hours and 24 minutes :)
  14. J

    Game in Many Settings with the Elemental Core Rules

    Thank you @Charles Dunwoody for the great overview! As one of the designers, I’m happy to answer any other questions about the game. Also, a quick heads-up: The Elemental core book is DriveThruRPG’s Deal of the Day…TODAY…and just went on sale now.
  15. J

    Interview with JM about the Elemental RPG and Its Continual Free Support

    Happy to address that, as well as any other questions. In a nutshell: Elemental uses opposed Attribute + Skill + 1d6 rolls that explode on a natural 6 (i.e. if you roll a "6", you get a second roll to add to the total). If you roll higher than the opposing roll, you succeed. If you roll lower...
  16. J

    D&D General A gift which arrived yesterday

    My favorite D&D artist. Love the colors, textures and sense of movement in his paintings.
  17. J

    Release Michigan Mythos: Fall Colors (PDF for Pulp Cthulhu)

    Just found and read this. Love the atmosphere, very Lovecraftian. Excellent first effort!! Trust me, the second one is easier :) Added to my "to run" pile...
  18. J

    Stealing Stories For The Devil: An Interview With Charles M. Ryan (Monte Cook Games)

    Narrative games aren't for every group, but I admire MCG for always innovating around how you can approach RPGs.
  19. J

    D&D 5E (2014) In Scarlet Flames/The Hidden Page: 2 of 5 Free D&D Adventures from WotC

    These look like fun. If the goal is to ease people into D&D, it might have been good to include pregens.
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