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Remember when making stuff up on the Internet was fun? When someone could post something silly and checking it out was interesting and not a desperate attempt to fight back real world horrors? Mystery Flesh Pit National Park, created by Trevor Roberts was one such online story. It purported to...

Even if you don't know Rodney Thompson’s name you are likely to have played one of his games. He’s the designer of Lords of Waterdeep and has worked on several editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars Saga Edition and many other role playing games. He started his own company, Scratchpad...

Modern day dungeon crawls exist on an interesting spectrum. On the one end, there’s gritty, dirty cave runs with a wild mix of monsters. On the other end, there’s wild fantasy with sentient mushrooms and breathing caves. It shows how many authors have interpreted the classics in their own way...

As much as I love pulp adventure games, I was a little hesitant when Outgunned:Adventure was first announced. I first came to Two Little Mice through Broken Compass, of which Outgunned was a refinement of the system and mechanics. Did I really need another game to simulate my favorite movie...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Getting players to try something beyond Dungeons & Dragons can be a challenge. It takes time and effort to master D&D. Some players don’t want to learn more rules to play a different game. Grimwild, from designer J.D. Maxwell with art by Per Janke, seems like it might have been initially created...

Games like Shadowdark are supposed to be grim. It’s in the name, right? Dingy dungeon crawlers desperate for treasure ain’t got time to joke around. Yet there’s still plenty of room for a dark chuckle or two. The grand dame of grimdark, Warhammer, has plenty of parody characters out of pop...

I spent a lot of my youth watching movies that were made with low, low budgets. Whether on HBO, rented from the local video store or with robot pals like Crow and Tom Servo, I love these little chunks of creativity from people who maybe don’t always have the talent (or money) to properly express...

One of the fun parts of mythology is watching it change over the years. From stories of King Arthur that add in later knightly legends like Sir Lancelot to modern day characters like Superman learning to fly for his radio show, these stories endure because of their flexibility and authors making...

Religions frequently shares myths with apocalyptic cults. They often believe the end of the world is going to be right around the corner and everyone needed to be ready to go. That’s why so much artwork from the medieval era features demons, skeletons and other monsters. These images become even...

In case you hadn’t noticed from my reviews, horror is my favorite RPG genre. This favor filters through many of my other media preferences including TV shows, movies and podcasts. Last year, Monte Cook Games took on one of my favorite horror podcasts with Old Gods of Appalachia: The Role Playing...

Influential media often gets the deluxe boxed set treatment. Important movies, albums and TV shows get a release chock full of deleted materials, essays by famous people influenced by the media and commentary by the creators about the choices they made making the thing. Goodman Games has been...

Read any evil books lately? Spellbooks and grimoires are often at the center of horror stories. They make good treasures to seek, whether to learn more about the monsters ravaging the countryside to potentially having a spell or some other means to take down the monster. This is most common in...