Archive for Blog
Some Wisdom from my Father
Almost 30 years ago, in a flash of insight, I thought to show my parents what I did on Friday nights (this was before my ill-advised stripping career). Armed with my red box Dungeons & Dragons set, we created characters and I sent them into the dungeon included in the DM booklet. As with most [...]
Read moreCharacter Death & Fantasy RPGs
As I mentioned a few weeks (months now?) back, I’ve been running a modified version of 1st Edition AD&D every other Sunday night. Having spent a year or so playtesting the Next rules, I wanted a more stable set of rules for running an ongoing story. The games have been great, players seem to have [...]
Read moreBlowing Sh*t Up
I’m always thinking about game design, freelancing, and all the hookers and blow that come with both. OK. There are no hookers. I don’t know a single freelancer who can afford such recreational distractions as blow either. And as I stroll down reflection’s road, I keep having these revelations—and I’m not even sitting on an [...]
Read moreA Little Old School
Last night, I resurrected my Sunday game night after an 18 month hiatus. I’ve had an old school itch that needed scratching and the 1st Edition reprints got me all excited. So that’s what we did.
Read moreLive D&D at Gen Con
The fine folks at Wizards of the Coast invited me to play in a live D&D game at Gen Con. Much fun and excitement. Beware, NSFW. Thanks to the Tome Show for the recording.
Read moreExperimenting with 4E
I’ve been thinking about 4th Edition, its strengths, its weaknesses, and ways it might have gone differently. Over the last two weeks, I’ve put together some house rules, made some core changes to game play, and gave the updated system a spin. Today, I’m just going to go over why I made the changes I [...]
Read moreSchwalb… Paging Mr. Schwalb…
Good grief! Look at all the dust. The cobwebs. The empty beer cans. This place is a wreck! It’s almost as if I haven’t been here in a while.
Read moreHatred, Flatulence, and the Fly skill: Part 1
I travel a lot these days. In fact, I’ve been traveling a lot for the last few years. Between the Renton office visits, where I hunker down in a borrowed cube and punch out words in between meetings, expeditions to the various conventions, and the occasional vacation, I’m away from home a lot. All of [...]
Read moreHeroes of the Elemental Chaos
I wrote up a design and development column covering some of my work on the new D&D sourcebook. Check it out here.
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