Heguir led his guards and the shackled Sabit through the crowded compound, Rayshabu following behind. She held her head low like a chastized child. The procession wound through reeking barracks of chained captives, awaiting the next buyer of their misery. Their eyes passed over Sabit without hope or pity, the brutality of their daily labor … Read more
The original no-prep game of hilarious workaday horror. Whenever I need to offer another game at a convention, there’s always InSpectres. Everyday people in bizarre situations never cease to amuse. The confessional allows everyone that ironic distance that makes it even funnier. A true gem.
SWoM changed my perspective so much that I published my own hack of it AND started a completely new hobby! It taught me to trust my own narrative voice in a way that 15 years of indie games hadn’t. I learned to trust it so much that I’ve spent the last several years writing sword-and-sorcery … Read more
My wife’s game about the human cost of serial killers is beautifully heartbreaking every single time. Everyone at the table contributes to each other’s obstacles and it works like magic. You laugh with the characters as they struggle to achieve their hopes, and cry with them when their all-too-brief life comes to an end. Your … Read more
I thought I could redefine superheroic role-playing. I thought I could break new ground in the way we made stuff up with each other. I thought I could make a game that I’d be playing for the rest of my life. Turns out I made a game I couldn’t bear to play just a few … Read more
I have laughed more playing this game than probably anything else. With so little structure to the game, it was the first time I realized that _I_ was the one entertaining my friends, not the game. But when this goes wrong, it goes WRONG. I will never offer this as a convention game again. Sometimes … Read more
For a decade now, this has been the game of choice for my local gamer friends. They love the tactical crunch of the system, ladling narrative on top to taste. I’ve gone through love-hate cycles with this, but it’s what my friends like. To be a part of this RL community, 4E is where it’s … Read more
You play the popcorn of the forest ecosystem battling predators that have evolved for millions of years to devour your kind. Your enemies aren’t evil, they are hungry! What could be more challenging? The lighter, laser-focused version of Burning Wheel always delivers at the table. Scripted combat is easy to teach, but complex and dramatic … Read more
Who has not been ground down by Fear & Weariness? Who has never succumbed to Self-Loathing? Whose life has never been improved by Love? My Life With Master showed me how a handful of numbers and the crafted relationships between them could lay open a character’s soul with dignity, tragedy, and humanity. The only game … Read more
I played half a dozen sessions of D&D with various older cousins from ‘82-87 (ages 8-13). I never touched the books. They weren’t mine. I kept a handwritten character sheet for a gnome named Figtoe covered with numbers I didn’t know what they meant (S v. PPD – huh?) Between games, I would redraw what … Read more