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You are here: Home / Archives for Roleplaying Games

Review: “13th Age”

September 23, 2013 by Mike Shea

30 Second Summary 13th Age feels like the spiritual successor of 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons mixed with the storytelling mechanics of games like Fate and Fiasco. Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet give us a fully refined RPG mixed with a pile of house rules we can drop into any d20 game. While it’s great […]

Filed Under: Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 4e, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Reviews

MODOK’s 11: A Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Event

September 13, 2013 by Dave

This is an event for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, based on the comic mini-series Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK’s 11 by Fred van Lente and Frances Portela. MODOK recruits a gang of D-list villains to steal a powerful prize from a formidable adversary, while the superheroes of the world have their attention drawn elsewhere. It is designed for […]

Filed Under: Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: marvel heroic roleplaying, Marvel RPG, modok

RPGs for Kids: “Castle Death” Revisited

August 23, 2013 by The Chatty DM

Last year, I wrote a short series of posts about a dead simple roleplaying game I played with my son Nico. I thought I should revisit it and add more meat to the concept. The Game Based on the first RPG system I created when I was my son’s age, Castle Death is a simple […]

Filed Under: Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Castle Death, gaming with children, gaming with family, Gaming with Kids, Simple Roleplaying

First Impressions: “Fate Core” Roleplaying Game

August 22, 2013 by Bartoneus

After roughly a year with extremely limited time for roleplaying games, I was invited by a close friend to play in his newly starting modern day, Cthulhu-esque campaign using the early release Fate Core rules from the Kickstarter from Evil Hat Productions. I had heard quite a bit from Dave and other friends about the Dresden […]

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: cthulhu, dresden files rpg, fate, fate core, first impressions, Reviews, roleplaying game, roleplaying games

First Play Impressions: “Firefly RPG”

August 20, 2013 by The Chatty DM

I’ve been rather discrete about it but I had significant doubts about how the Firefly RPG would turn out and be perceived by gamers. By that I don’t mean the usual jitters of the insecure designer, as I was just one cog of many in an all-star team working on the Gen Con Preview book. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: cortex, Cortex Plus, Cortex Plus Action, firefly, Firefly RPG, gencon, gencon 2013

2013 Gen Con Preview: What to Watch For

August 13, 2013 by Dave

Once again, Gen Con is upon us. You can check out my schedule if you’re so inclined. More importantly, there are games to check out and buy. This is not a comprehensive list: if you want a bigger look at what board games are available there, I recommend checking out the Board Game News list. […]

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, Augustus, D&D, D&D next, Dungeon Roll, firefly, Firefly RPG, get bit!, Hillfolk, Sentinels of the Multiverse, star trek, star trek: attack wing, star wars, star wars: age of rebellion

Interview: Amanda Valentine, Developer of “Little Wizards” RPG

August 12, 2013 by Dave

I’ve worked with Amanda Valentine on multiple projects before (including Marvel Heroic Roleplaying), where she served as a lead editor, helping to make the books as best they could be on every level. Amanda has a lot of experience working at every level of game design across multiple game lines, and so I was very […]

Filed Under: Featured, Interviews, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Gaming with Kids, little wizards

“Neverwinter Campaign Setting” Icons for “13th Age”

August 8, 2013 by Dave

I’ve played (and run) a few more sessions of 13th Age since I wrote my first preview, as the rules became more solid and filled out from those first playtests. I was initially more guarded, but since then, my opinion of 13th Age has only gone up. The actual books are making their way into […]

Filed Under: Critical Threats, Featured, Game Hacks & Content, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, 4e, D&D, forgotten realms, Neverwinter

Interview: Rich Baker on “Primeval Thule”

July 22, 2013 by Dave

If you know D&D, you probably know the name Rich Baker. From his role in development of settings like Birthright, games like Alternity and the new Gamma World, many Forgotten Realms supplements and novels, war games, and much more, Baker has many years of industry experience on all kinds of products. Now, Baker has teamed up […]

Filed Under: Featured, Interviews, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 13th Age, 13thAge, 4e, campaign setting, D&D, pathfinder, Primeval Thule

Review: “Night’s Black Agents”

July 3, 2013 by Dave

Sometimes, there are games that just don’t click at first, for whatever reason. For example, I remember years ago at a convention demoing Give Me The Brain to a group of congoers, which isn’t exactly Advanced Squad Leader in terms of complexity. Yet there was one person I was demoing to that would not get it. […]

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: gumshoe, night's black agents

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About the Author

  • Mike Shea

    Mike Shea is a writer, dungeon master, video gamer, husband, and son of Robert J. Shea. Mike runs the D&D website Sly Flourish, and wrote the books Dungeon Master Tips, The Lazy Dungeon Master, and Running Epic Tier D&D Games. You can email Mike at mike@mikeshea.net.

    Email: mike@mikeshea.netWeb: http://slyflourish.com

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