gaming
-
Instability as RPG pillar
In a conversation with the Roll for Topic podcast community, I suggested that instability is a key ingredient for an interesting role-playing game setting, something that offers a central thematic Problem that can’t be solved or avoided. [That was close to a year ago, when I initially drafted this post and didn’t post it…] In… Continue reading
-
Dungeon23, a declaration of intent
With the camaraderie of several members of the Roll For Topic community, I’m planning to undertake the #Dungeon23 project: Megadungeon for 2023. 12 levels. 365 rooms. One room a day. Keep it all in a journal. Sean McCoy, #Dungeon23 We’ll see how far I get with it–after all, the state of this here blog shows… Continue reading
-
High fantasy, GNP style
Peter Jackson’s footage of New Zealand may have defined epic fantasy visuals for a generation, but Montana had imprinted on my heart years before that. I’ve been to Glacier National Park every few years throughout my life, as the largest part of my steady childhood diet of lengthy road trips. (I’m fortunate to have family… Continue reading
-
A year of online Pathfindering
While I apparently did not take advantage of Covid to increase my blogging activity, I certainly did a good job of getting some role-playing games in. (Both facts backed up by my last post being 8 months ago on this very same topic.) Almost exactly a year ago, I emailed some folks to set up… Continue reading
-
Achievement unlocked: a year of gaming in six months
One of my goals for 2020 was to get 20 sessions of roleplaying games in over the course of the year. This would be probably twice what I managed in 2019, and more than any year since my kids were born. Two factors led to my being able to hit that goal only halfway through… Continue reading
-
Campaign notebook: What I borrowed for the NaGs
While the Not-a-Gnolls campaign idea was spun out of some pretty minimal excerpts of published setting material, I borrowed a lot in the course of running it: the “file off the serial numbers, change the names, and make it yours” school of GMing. Here’s what I remember, from flipping through my campaign binder: Immediately after the… Continue reading
-
Campaign notebook: the origins of the Not-a-Gnolls
For about the two years before parenting started, my major D&D game (used in the generic sense for a game using Pathfinder, in this case) was the “Not-a-Gnolls”, a band thrown together by circumstance to restore the minor god Nobanion. The ultimate session was a somewhat rushed climax which, as a result, didn’t work terribly well… Continue reading
-
Dipping a pinky toe into writing for RPGs
While I’ve been playing D&D and the like for about 25 years(!), I don’t think I’ve ever got to the point of publishing any materials. This past winter, I made a first, very small step in that direction, submitting an entry to the open call round of Paizo’s RPG Superstar competition. Entering had been a… Continue reading
About Me
Michigander, parent of twins, urban planner, role-playing game nerd.
Common Monkeyflower 