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You are here: Home / Archives for indie games

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

Beyond Labels: How Each RPG Serves and Rewards Specific Needs

December 17, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty muses about the relative uselessness of the overused art of labelling RPGs. He then explores the importance of matching one’s needs and motivations as a RPG gamer to the proper game that was designed to cater to them.

Filed Under: Editorial, Featured, Musings of the Chatty DM, Player Psychology, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: d&d 4e, Editorial, Gamist, GNS, indie games, indie rpgs, Labels, Narrativist, needs, preferences, Simulationist

Apocalypse Short: The Siege of Shanty Town (Part 5)

October 28, 2010 by The Chatty DM

After not writing anything for nearly 2 weeks, Chatty returns with a short recap of his last Apocalypse World session where they concluded their mini-campaign. Was Shanty Town saved or was it shelled to bits?

Filed Under: Actual Play, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Apocalypse World, Chatty's 2010-2011 campaigns, Chatty's year of Indie Games, indie games, indie rpg, Post-Apocalypse, Tropes, Vincent Baker

Tales of the Apocalypse, Part 4: Bloody Sunrise

September 22, 2010 by The Chatty DM

At this point, the players really got into what Vincent Baker told me Apocalypse World was all about: Loyalties in the face of crises. With the column of Hummers and APCs heading for Shanty Town, Thunder ordered his whole gang around to go defend the home base. Raven, sitting behind Thunder on his Hog, didn’t see it in the same light and we were subjected to a spat about the importance of protecting the many against going to help the truly meaningful.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Apocalypse World, Chatty's 2010-2011 campaigns, Chatty's year of Indie Games, indie games, indie rpg, Post-Apocalypse, Tropes, Vincent Baker

Tales of the Apocalypse, Part 3: Prepping the Game

September 20, 2010 by The Chatty DM

While Apocalypse World is a low prep RPG, it is by no means a no prep one. The game/author reminds us in no light terms to refrain from plotting out a story. Instead, the book provides a series of structured tools to build what’s called Fronts, templates of linked threats that loom around the PCs, trying to forward specific dark agendas the PCs may decide (or have no choice) to go against.

Filed Under: Adventure Prep, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: Apocalypse World, Chatty's 2010-2011 campaigns, Chatty's year of Indie Games, indie games, indie rpg, Post-Apocalypse, Vincent Baker

Tales of the Apocalypse Part 2, Reprisal at Ambush Hill

September 8, 2010 by The Chatty DM

In which Chatty recounts his first Apocalypse world session right after character creation. A fight, an explosion, some threats and a love scene, just like in the movies!

Filed Under: Actual Play, Adventure Prep, Musings of the Chatty DM, Newest Critical Hits Tagged With: Apocalypse World, Chatty's 2010-2011 campaigns, Chatty's year of Indie Games, indie games, indie rpg, Post-Apocalypse, Vincent Baker

Tales of the Apocalypse: Part 1, Character Creation

September 5, 2010 by The Chatty DM

A few weeks ago, I reviewed Vincent Baker’s Apocalypse World Role Playing Game and found it very well written and intriguing and enough to give it a few session’s worth of tries. I brought the whole crew back together and we sat down to create characters.

Filed Under: Actual Play, Campaign Logs, Musings of the Chatty DM Tagged With: Apocalypse World, Chatty's 2010-2011 campaigns, Chatty's year of Indie Games, indie games, indie rpg, Post-Apocalypse, Vincent Baker

Fiasco, It’s Not

July 15, 2010 by Chris Sims

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.

Filed Under: Analysis Paralysis, Featured, Reviews, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: coen brothers, fiasco, freeform games, freeform roleplaying, indie games, Rodriguez, roleplaying, Tarantino

Exclusive Preview: Alliance 2011 Catalog

April 1, 2010 by Gato the News Robot

Through our sources, we’ve managed to obtain a copy of the Alliance Games distributor catalog for the coming year. This catalog is what game retailers use to decide what to order for their store to carry, and we are fortunate enough to get a peek at what the next year in games holds. Here are a few that caught our eye, along with their descriptions from the publishers.

Filed Under: Featured, Humor, News, Roleplaying Games Tagged With: 4e, dudes of legend, indie games, other systems, pathfinder, swords & wizardry, white wolf, world of synnibar

About the Author

  • Vanir

    Vanir is the sort of man who has openly wondered aloud about his own armor class in front of his own grandmother. Despite this, he has still managed to somehow become both married and a father. By day, he develops web applications. By night, web applications develop him.

    Email: vanir@critical-hits.comWeb: https://critical-hits.com//category/dire-flailings/

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