Category: Uncategorized

November 6, 2007

Exalted: when virtues aren’t

White Wolf games have a habit of using dubious morality mechanics. As far as I can tell, this began with Vampire – as a method of tracking the loss of humanity and the dominance of a vampire’s inner beast. In Exalted, characters have virtue scores (nearly the same ones as in Vampire): Courage, Conviction, Temperance, and Compassion. Each of these...

November 5, 2007

Ticking goblins

What differentiates goblins from other creepy little monsters? I think there are a number of possible answers for this. I’m just going to focus on what makes goblins tick for me. To me, what makes goblins special is their adaptability. I see goblins as highly mutable. Hobgoblins and bugbears are, in my world, essentially mutant strains of goblins. The adaptability...

November 4, 2007

Cyberpunk PCs, Part II

Now I am going to look at character types for some Cyberpunk RPGS that I have. I pulled Cyberpunk 2020, Ex Machina, and Shadowrun (4e) off my shelf. Here’s what I found. Cyberpunk 2020This had the closest thing to character classes out of the bunch. There are more than I remember, though: Rockerboy Solo Netrunner Techie MedTech Media Cop Corporate...

November 4, 2007

Cyberpunk PCs

What sort of PCs should be playable in a cyberpunk game? I plan on doing a survey of the cyberpunk-type RPGs that I have around, but I want to ask the question before I really look into what other games have done. One place to find an answer is to look at Cyberpunk literature and stories. You should be able...

November 2, 2007

October is over

…and I have to say that neither Dungeon nor Dragon impressed me. Ampersand, however…

October 29, 2007

Patterns and Plans

I seem to post a lot on Mondays… and sporadically otherwise. I haven’t gone back and reviewed my post history to see if this is true. I am merely asserting it. Therefore you must believe. This is the Internet. That’s the way we do things here. Anyway, in my last post, I alluded to a cyberpunk-like project. I should, I...

October 29, 2007

Busy

Work just entered high-gear. This will likely have an effect on my posting habits, but I have no idea if it means I will be posting less often or more often. In other news, I went to a Halloween party this past weekend and had, probably, the best costume there. Pictures will appear soon. Ummm… gaming. Yeah. Last night was...

October 22, 2007

Losing the digital initiative…

Gleemax Alpha? Very clearly an Alpha version. Try to find/navigate a single WotC staff blog. I haven’t been able to figure it out yet. Dungeon and Dragon? Not horrible, but so far mostly articles that are either columns that Wizards has been giving away for free for awhile now (Save My Game, Design and Development, Steal this Hook, etc.) or...

October 22, 2007

Rules Compendium

Yesterday I bought a present for Angela and I: a copy of the Rules Compendium. The book compiles rules from various sources into an easy to read format that is alphabetized by topic. Intermixed are essays on rules-design and anecdotes about how rules resolved into their current form. I think it will be good for both of us, but in...

October 18, 2007

Is character advancement a sacred cow?

A lot of the discussion about 4e has been about questioning (and euthanizing, where appropriate) sacred cows – leftover rules and assumptions that are there because they’ve always been there and have been considered to be necessary parts of the game. As I was driving Pat home from the last Rebel Scum session, I observed that my PC (Kip Fendo,...