Inception is a wildly entertaining summer blockbuster wrapped in the packaging of a sleeper hit science fiction thriller/heist film. All of the comparisons of this movie to films such as The Matrix and Blade Runner are well deserved but fall short of the deeply involving experience that Inception provides the viewer. The film excels due to the stunning combination of well executed directing, inspired writing, spot on acting, and seamless production.
Archives for 2010
For Your Ennies Voting Consideration
Voting opens today, and we’d really like you to vote for us as Best Blog. We were nominated last year too and lost to fine competition, and this year’s competition is easily as fierce. Thus, we’re presenting this post that highlights some of our content over this past year that we believe qualifies us to be Best Blog.
Fiasco, It’s Not
I’m here to report as a Fiasco player. I played with four other veteran gamers, a few among us industry pros. Logan Bonner got us together and learned the rules with us. For the record, I have read on bits of the Fiasco rules, so this report is purely experiential and relies heavily on my memory of events. I’m also trying out a Chatty DM style post for a change.
Spicing Up Your Class Features
There are a lot of mechanics in Dungeons & Dragons that do not have much flavor to them, but when given the right amount can completely change how the game is perceived and played by those at the table. My experiences detailed here all relate to 4th Edition D&D, but the ideas can easily apply to any RPG that’s out there. I first started to realize that something magical could be done with the 4E class features at GenCon last year while playing in a delve run by Jeremy Crawford. I sat next to Jared from Head Injury Theater who picked the WotC pregenerated warden and I picked the pregen druid, but quickly we realized that I’d need a mini to represent my druid’s wild shape form.
Interview: Steve Townshend, D&D Freelancer and Co-Author of “Demonomicon”
Steve Townshend is a freelance writer (both for D&D and his own fiction) and actor living in Chicago. We recently had the chance to interview Steve over email about the release of the new D&D Demonomicon book, of which his name shares the cover with Mike Mearls and Brian R. James. We also asked him about story in D&D games, a subject with which he has a lot to say.
Mouse Guard Chronicles, Session 1, Part 1: Char Gen.
On Canada Day, a small group of us convened for an all day gaming geekout to create characters and, time permitting, play a session with the intent to have a extend it into a short campaign if it struck the group’s fancy.
Dear Roger Ebert
I’ve always admired Roger Ebert. Though I disagree with his assertion that videogames can’t be art, I still deeply respect his opinion. As long as he finds out for sure, that is.
Sly Flourish’s Dungeon Master Tips eBook
This is 73 pages of solid DMing advice from start to finish. As the book says up front, this isn’t a guide for the brand new DM. Nor is it an in-depth guide to higher level DMing/storytelling concepts like Robin Laws’s book: most topics range from several paragraphs to a single sentence. For DMs who have been playing 4e D&D for a bit and are looking to get a variety of tips to improve their game, this is the book to get.
Critical Bits for the week ending 2010-07-11
RT @mikemearls: Expedition to the Barrier Peaks made Wikipedia's front page! Big thanks to the D&D fans who contribute to Wikipedia. #dnd # New #dnd updates for July released: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/updates Big changes to some core powers # RT @mudbunny74: MB and Compendium update pushed back 'till July 20th. #wotc #ddi # Interview over at Gamasutra […]
2010 Ennie Nominations Announced (with Recommendations)
It’s that time of year again, when the big RPG award nominees of the year are announced, after careful consideration and selection by a panel of judges voted on by the community. The full list of nominees for the year are available on their site. And of course, we’d like to call out our new favorite category…
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