In the ongoing debate of killing of PCs and total party kills, one aspect of PC death is often left out: The Plot Kill. Having turned Plot Kills into defining campaign moments and having received some memorable Plot Kills myself, I think the concept warrants discussion.
A Letter from Chgowiz
When my good friend and co-conspirator Micheal “Chgowiz” Shorten decided to pull down his blog last month, many asked me what happened. Last week, Chgowiz asked me if I could link to the thank you letter he’s sending to the online community.
The Planar Orphan
Eladrin of the Feywild are an enigmatic people. With a natural detachment from events that occur on the material plane, these creatures can seem heartless and uncaring. However those that have the privilege to call an Eladrin friend know the true extent of their love and compassion. Five hundred years ago, the Eladrin now known as Loch was sentenced to death for unspeakable crimes. Fleeing to the material plane, Loch has continued his lifelong experiments in hiding. After hundreds of years of experimenting with planar magic, the Eladrin wizard finally nears his goal – a creature merged with the essence of both the Feywild and the Shadowfell.
My RPG DNA: Part 1: the Early Years, AD&D 1e
Say what you want of AD&D 1e, I think that we loved it so much because we had to unlock the game in our own way, adopting bits of rules, ignoring most of it, making up the rest, so we could get to the full fantasy RPG experience it offered. It is the one thing I miss most about it. 1e was MY game because I had no choice to hack it otherwise I’d never would have been able to play it.
Gears of Ruin Interlude: The Warforged Wars
The arrival of sentient machines in an already explosive political situation plunged the whole world into global wars among economic, religious and opportunistic alliances. The auto-clanks (humanoid machines) ended up obtaining their emancipation at a horrendous price of scrap metal and blood. They took the name “Warforged” as to never forget how they won the right to exist as free beings on this hostile world.
Save vs. Misogyny: An Open Letter To Gen Con’s Event Organizers
See that ball and chain? That’s how Gen Con is portraying our wives and girlfriends in their event registration system. Activating rant mode.
Mailbag 3 – The Pitch
I did my share of pitching to Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I remember how nervous I was. You wonder if you did it right or if some blunder will get you blacklisted. The pitch can be nerve racking, but it shouldn’t be. If you follow the guidelines and contributors’ etiquette, you might not receive a contract on the first pitch, but you are headed in a good direction.
From Different Walks
Players are very good at throwing curve balls at your plans and wandering away from everything you spent precious time preparing the beforehand. When this happens it can be tempting to steer and force your players back on course, tempting but not advisable. Today I’m going to give you 10 adventure hook wielding NPC’s that can be picked up and thrown into your campaign when needed. Whether it be from a player curveball, lack of preparation time or even an impromptu game session.
Friday Chat: Spousal Interuption
So this morning I had a very inspiring email in my box: “You have mentioned you have a very loving and supportive wife. My question to you is how often does she interrupt your games and do you have a problem with the interruptions?”
The 2009 One Page Dungeon Codex, Deluxe Edition
Almost one year after the launch of the contest that started it all, the 2009 One Page Dungeon Codex (Deluxe Edition) is finally here. It’s a 54 page book containing the 27 best entries of the contest and great essays on the history of the one page dungeon template and its uses.
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