We've been over "rouge" and "exhalted/exaulted/exhaulted," yeah. There's one more I think we've missed, though: It's spelled "hypocrisy." "Hypocracy" would probably be a system of government.

Arguably every system of government, ever, but still.

There's a lot of color theory that's applicable to RPGs, both designing and running. I've always been of the feeling that the World of Darkness is successful because it's a good example of a limited-palette approach to worldbuilding and roleplaying, whereas D&D is successful because it's the jumbo-size box of Crayolas with colors you never even ( Read more... )

I can take the hit to the wallet. I don't go driving around all that much: into town twice a week, usually, and maybe an additional trip when we have stuff to go to the printer or a vet trip. Aileen and I both have salaries, we've basically accumulated enough stuff to entertain us for the rest of our lives plus, the money's not that bad an issue ( Read more... )

So, brief context: There's this thread over at RPGnet where some frothing blogger had posted a screed about how you're All Doing It Wrong if you're not playing greedy sociopaths. Now, that's not exactly news: some people really dislike a variety of play styles, in part because that might mean people might choose to play in a game other than the one ( Read more... )

I read this through a while back, actually. But I wanted the link where I could easily find it. Perhaps you might enjoy it, too!

A seven-year-old plays a party of five through the first D&D 4e adventure. And kicks ass.

I have more respect for that seven-year-old than I do for many a twenty, thirty, forty, fiftysomething I've encountered in this ( Read more... )

The relationship between an Unfailing and the necromancer that is his or her charge is a complicated thing. Effectively, the Unfailing becomes a bodyguard, but one that is empowered in part by the strength of the Unfailing oath. The first Unfailing was born out of love, and the rest took up the oaths for a variety of reasons. Some believe in the ( Read more... )

So I agreed, at the exhortation of my wife, to run a one-shot game at the upcoming company Event. In a stroke of whimsy, I decided "Why not try a 4e one-shot set in Hollowfaust?"

Hollowfaust is essentially one of my precious babies. When the Scarred Lands started up, I wound up pitching as one of its signature locations a City of Necromancers. Only ( Read more... )

Something my brother discovered last night: In D&D 4e, the more powerful the presence of magic is, the harder it is for you to sense that it's magical. This of course is an artifact (er, sorry) of the scaling rules: as you rise in level, challenges that you run across rise with you. In this case it is somewhat hilarious.

"Well, either that door is ( Read more... )

Sheesh, me and my pet peeves. Anyway, here's another one:

Okay, so apparently Calvin & Hobbes are occasionally being used as the poster kids for Banality. The idea is that you do something like a stuffed tiger thrown out in the trash, or a comic book where Calvin stops seeing Hobbes as alive, or some such. It's terrible and heartwrenching and oh-so- ( Read more... )

Yeah, I know. I love food metaphors for gaming. There are few that come close, being as it is a thing that is a matter of taste. But here we go, let's try another one (technically, another simile):

Your game is like your relationship. Yes, that relationship.

I say this because your relationship is a complicated beast. You are dealing with another ( Read more... )