Published Gaming Products: For Everyone, or Just the Referee?

(That’s a rhetorical question) I know what it's like to be a fan of something, and want to game with it. Referee or player, you can bring a lot of enthusiasm to a group this way, and make things more enjoyable for everyone. Enthusiasm is catching. But let’s look at a referee who decides to …

Kill Them With Fire! Or, How Does The Dragon React?

Adventurers have murdered your orc tribe and stumbled onto your lair. What’s a dragon to do? Today I had a conversation about the “dragon” in Dungeons and Dragons. That’s as iconic as it gets when it comes to This Game of Ours. Gamers have often debated how dragons think and act, and I’m no different. …

Shadowrun, Planescape, and the Isometric RPG – A Retrospective Review

I like RPGs. I upgraded my computer a few years ago, which allowed me to run a bunch of games that I formerly had to put off. After playing through Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, Oblivion and Skyrim, I asked myself, “what now?” What is the common element in the slew of games …

Hey, We’re Gonna Play a Game! Do You Wanna Sit There and Watch Us Have Fun?

Hi there. I’m a gamer. I love to play games. I graduated from the usual mass-market kiddie games to the more elaborate and complex games that blossomed way back in the 1970s, and I haven’t stopped since. I love the challenges, I love the strategy and tactics (I was a subscriber), I even like to …

Consideration, Commitment, Dependability: What is Wrong with Gamers?

This is a rant. Hopefully, a thoughtful rant. When I really got into gaming, back in the 80s, I played in several different groups. Some of us were still in college, others had full-time jobs. A few of us were married, a smaller percentage had children. Some of the actual players were couples. We all …

Jupiter Ascending: A Review

I just re-watched this movie for the third time, and enjoyed it very much. Afterwards I checked some reviews online, just for fun. Fun is what I did not find online. I can’t comprehend why this particular movie got such a bad reception, when we have Dune and Guardians of the Galaxy, and Star Wars …

D&D and Player Agency, Old-School versus New

My friend and I recently had a conversation about player agency in character generation. The issue is with 1st ed AD&D, but it applies to other editions, variants, hacks and clones as well as completely different games. And he specifically has a problem with stat requirements to play a class. He made the mistake of …

Star Trek: TNG Flashback Review!

Years ago, when TNG was new, I reviewed it. If you know me, you can guess that it wasn’t a positive review. This article has come up in conversation many times since I wrote it, but my only copy was buried somewhere. My daughter finally dug it out of a file cabinet while looking for …

STAR TREK – The Re-Watch

I’ve decided to do a complete re-watch of the original Star Trek series from 1966. This is the show that made me into the science fiction fan I remain today. I was fortunate enough to be able to see the show in its original airing, although I don’t remember much in the way of specifics …

Classic Traveller Weapon Cards

When I was running a Traveller game last year, I was thrilled to find a post on the Tales to Astound! blog by Chris Kubasik (link on the sidebar). He had created these little index cards with all the info for a single weapon on them. The idea being that you could print them out …