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You are here: Home / Archives for fiasco

Bards, Lies, and Magic Items: The Mass-Producing Artificer Con

March 30, 2015 by multiplexer

The Artificer stood before the Duke. She said she possessed a marvelous power. The Artificer knew the secret of crafting magic items in bulk. Instead of a single sword, the Artificer produced hundreds. No, thousands. In a short time.

Filed Under: Columns, Dungeonomics, Featured, Newest Critical Hits, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: bards, cons, d&d5e, fiasco, gaming, scams

Samurai Swan Song: A “Seven Samurai”-Inspired “Fiasco”

February 21, 2014 by The Main Event

This playset is meant to create a Fiasco inspired by, or at least paying homage to, the classic story of the Seven Samurai. The players depict Samurai protecting a village from a bandit attack, though they may be little better than thieves themselves. A few more supernatural options have been included towards the ‘6’ roles, though they can easily be avoided if the playgroup decides they want to eschew such influences.

Filed Under: Game Hacks & Content, Movies, Newest Critical Hits, Pain of Publication, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fiasco, seven samurai

Gen Con Indie

June 26, 2012 by Vanir

As many of you are no doubt rabidly aware, Gen Con Indy 2012 approaches. I am slightly foamier than I usually am since I had to miss all but a few hours of the ‘con last year. That being said, I am a little dumbfounded as to how to spend my time in Indy this year. Sure, there’ll be lots of time spent with old friends and new and many (mis)adventures to be had. But some of that time is going to be spent gaming, and I’ve been struggling with how to fill in the nerdliest 4 days of my year. I looked deep within myself for answers, and after breaking through several layers of E.L. Fudge strata I found my answer in the form of a simple question. “What don’t I get to do at home that I can do at Gen Con?”

Filed Under: Dire Flailings Tagged With: ascension, do the flying pilgrims, fiasco, gen con, gen con indy, indiana, indianapolis, indie games, magic 2013, magic the gathering, microscope, warhammer, wowtcg, yaaay

Vanir’s New Year’s Gaming Resolutions (2012 Edition)

December 28, 2011 by Vanir

It’s that special time of year again. You know, the one where you run out of times of the year. This year was a significant improvement for me in a lot of ways. I got laid off from a horrible job, and almost immediately got a really good job. I got a gaming group together. I’ve had a lot of new, awesome experiences this year, and my gaming life is much improved. That being said, here’s my plan for the coming year.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: DM, dresden files, fiasco, gaming, microscope, new year, pathfinder, resolution

30 For 30

December 19, 2011 by Dave

I played 30 games for the occasion of turning 30. Here they all are.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Critical Threats, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: birthday, blackjack, commander, crappy birthday, dominion, falling, fiasco, games, get bit!, hey waiter!, hit a dude, jenga, la strada!, legend of drizzt, looney labs, loopin' louie, magic the gathering, mamma mia!, no merci, pit, Poker, risk legacy, seven dragons, spot-it!, toc toc woodman, treehouse, win lose or bana

Infinite Possibilities, Itty-Bitty Comfort Zone

November 1, 2011 by Vanir

My nerdcation to Washington DC last month opened my eyes to a lot of things. These included crab chips and secret ginger candies that stop motion sickness. Mostly, it was the exposure to open-form roleplaying games that has been taking up most of my free processor cycles. Despite being the guy in our group that would cheerfully handwave every combat in favor of having an all-roleplay session, I find myself flummoxed when faced with the infinite possibilities of a game like Fiasco. I have a lot of fun when it works, and nobody has fun when it doesn’t.

Filed Under: Dire Flailings, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: ab-hiri roach, bully pulpit, fiasco, improv, improvisational, microscope, roleplaying, theatre

Improv Pushups: The Movie

October 17, 2011 by Vanir

Early Monday morning, I bid farewell to one Dave Chalker (who I had been staying with for the week, and who had risen with me to get me to the airport before the coming of the dread Day Star).I came all the way to the East coast for one specific purpose: to game my face off. More specifically, DC Gameday was this weekend, and I wanted to game my face off as close to Congress as I possibly could. Somebody’s got to show those guys how to play nice together, right?

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, Dire Flailings, Featured, Humor, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: ascension, cortex, dc game day, dc gameday, fiasco, leverage, microscope, star trek deckbuilding, yogurt

Roleplaying Resurrection

October 10, 2011 by dixontrimline

In Fiasco, there’s not really dice rolling, except for the start and middle bits, and trust me, those don’t count. It’s all decisions, decisions and storytelling, decisions and storytelling and improvisational roleplaying. Uh oh, there’s that word. Roleplaying. I’m going to have to sit at a table with other people and write a story out loud in the voice of a character that I just met, all while those other people are staring at me and judging me and hating me. This kind of thrown-in-the-deep-end roleplaying is a little daunting. No, wait, that’s not the right term. It’s gonad-shrinkingly terrifying.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fiasco, gamma world, savage world

2011 Origins Report

June 30, 2011 by Dave

Another Origins has come and gone, and as always, there were plenty of games. Here are a few that stood out, both old and new.

Filed Under: Board, Card, and Miniature Games, News, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 7 wonders, Apocalypse World, ascension, deadlands, fealty, fiasco, gamma world, innovation, magic the gathering, origins, origins 2011, Savage Worlds, seven dragons, star trek: expeditions

Review: Fiasco Companion

June 22, 2011 by Linnaeus

The Fiasco Companion includes variants, extensions, crunch (in the form of four new playsets designed to illustrate principles explored elsewhere in the text) and advice (including chapters on using Fiasco in the classroom and as a creative tool outside of roleplaying, plus tips for playing online and facilitating in the absence of the GM role).

Filed Under: Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: fiasco, fiasco companion

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About the Author

  • multiplexer

    Emily used to write for pen-and-paper RPGs (Steve Jackson Games, Guardians of Order, White Wolf). She disappeared into the AAA Game Industry for a while to "build an MMO" because "it sounded like fun." Then she wandered out and now writes about applying modern economic principles to very un-modern murder hobo and magic slinging wizard banker infested worlds. During the day she does crazy computer things. She has a husband, a child, and a small orange dog named for Arthur Schopenhauer. She reads history, politics, economics, and philosophy for fun.

    Email: multiplexer@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//blog/category/critical-hits/

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