Articles and discussion on Roleplaying including Shadow World, Forgotten Realms.
We dropped anchor in the deep bay west of the Sullen Mountains. A solitary volcanic cone, trickling a faint plume of smoke from its summit loomed above us. The swells chopped but the water was relatively calm compared to the weather we had faced the past few weeks. To the north we beheld the Sunken …
Continue reading “Thoughts on ancient structures in fantasy RPG’s and Shadow World.”
We are at the last chapter of my reviews of the original Loremaster module series. I wish I could say I saved the best for last; but that’s not really the case. While Shade of the Sinking Plain has occupied a place of curiosity, appeal and mystery for decades, it’s not that great. Basically a …
Continue reading “I.C.E. Deep Dive. Loremaster Series Review pt.4: The Shade of the Sinking Plain.”
Recently during a game session, we had a bit of a dispute over what weapons and armor a player might have had on them while in a city. Even in a lengthy campaign, many of my RPG experiences have defaulted to the idea that players have just 1 “kit”–basically the clothes, armor, weapons and gear …
Continue reading “For discussion. The ubiquity of “armored up, all the time” in your game setting.”
In a recent blog I reviewed some of the earliest ICE ads that were featured in the Dragon Magazine. Iron Crown’s two very first products were Arms Law, a drop in combat module for use in other game systems, and The Iron Wind, an expansive “generic” fantasy setting. Later, ICE would formalize their modules into …
Continue reading “I.C.E. Deep Dive. Loremaster Series pt.1: The Iron Wind.”
I read this yesterday and I know that my own group of players could certainly do well to learn this bit of advice… Investigative scenarios often bog down into speculative debate between players about what could be happening. Many things can be happening, but only one thing is. If more than one possible explanation ties …
One of the bedrocks of the Shadow World setting are the detailed organizations that Terry has created: Loremasters, Navigators, the 8 Emerian Orders, and the Dragonlords, just to name a few. These groups drive the plot and can be aids or foils for the players and be used throughout a lengthy Shadow World campaign. One …
Continue reading “Shadow World Overview: The Messengers of the Iron Wind.”
Last year there was a flurry of excitement around Stranger Things, the Netflix series, mostly in part as the opening and closing scenes were of ourselves back in the 80s playing Dungeons and Dragons. On several of the blogs I read there was an almost yearning for a Stranger Things RPG and in fact Fria …
Large giant, chaotic evil Level 12 Armor Type 4/20 3/10 (natural armour) Hits 130 Speed 6’/sec Max Pace Sprint/Fast Run /+0 ST SP IN EM PR 90 65 35 45 35 +20 +5 -10 -5 -10 Environment: Cold mountains (Scrag: Cold aquatic) Organization: Solitary or gang (2-4) Trolls walk upright but hunched forward with sagging …
Medium humanoid (goblinoid) Level 3 Armor Type 14/20 7/10 +20 shield DB (chain mail, shield) Hits 44 Speed 6’/sec Max Pace Fast Sprint /+10 ST SP IN EM PR 65 60 50 50 45 +5 +5 +0 +0 -5 Environment: Warm hills Organization: Gang (4-9), band (10-100 plus 50% non-combatants plus 1 5th level sergeant …
This is Part 3 of an article series on self-publishing in the RPG industry. Also see Part 1 and Part 2. Do Reviews Help or Hinder? The effects of reviews on sales can be hard to quantify, especially when there isn’t a lot of consistency in sales in the first place. When sales are all …
Continue reading “My Experiences in RPG Self-Publishing – Part 3”