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An Introduction to Going Crazy About RPGs
In my enthusiasm and haste to help a friend take a few more steps into the wild and woolly world of RPGs, I think I've actually compiled something pretty comprehensive. I figured the guy could find Story Games and RPGnet and DC Game Day on his own based on our discussion (he took notes!), but some of this stuff I only mentioned in passing or ( Read more... ) -
New Actual Play Recording: Maid RPG!
As I wrote on Archive.org:
Nick Novitski runs Ryo Kamiya's Maid the Role Playing Game for George Austin, Jonathan "Buddha" Davis, Jeff Hosmer, Joe Iglesias, and Nick Marshall on December 17th at The Complete Strategist. We start out talking about playing a Power Rangers game using either Maid or My Life With Master (no joke!), then start rolling on ( Read more... ) -
Yes, Employers, I Edit for Content, Too!
Following Ari Marmell's lead, I decided to write to some congress-folk. I should have stayed on target, but after midnight, such focus simply is not in my nature. I decided to look around Mark R. Warner's senatorial website and found myself driven to distraction by the misinformation on his "About Virginia" page. Soon, my correction to Warner's " ( Read more... ) -
Black, White, and Red All Over
Let's face it: good color schemes don't grow on trees. Any subset of black, white and red looks good. The White Stripes are distinctive. Even with a few shades of gray in the mix, the cover to Misspent Youth is nigh iconic. Heck, a Google images search for "black white red" looks designed, not algorithmically generated. Bands are all over this ( Read more... ) -
Now With 50% More Heartbreak™!
Robert Donoghue is a class act and I want to be like him when I grow up. For the Heartbreak, use your google skills and read the ridiculousness* that prompted Mr. Donoghue's public vote of confidence. For the Staggering Fandom, be aware that there are people like Rob Donoghue in the world, and recognize that as a wonderful thing.
Folks who ( Read more... ) -
An interruption followed by Staggering Fandom
Wow. I just blew my own mind a little bit. Of course image macros of the pope and Vatican should be on a website called The LOLy See. It cannot be any other way.
Heartbreaking Works of Staggering Fandom got off to a shaky start, and I'm going to keep things shaky by throwing out some honorable mentions in the music category before posting "fans ( Read more... ) -
Right and Wrong
I wrote a little something on Facebook last night about Frank Zappa fast becoming one of my heroes.
One of the most famous television personalities in America spent almost 20 minutes of air time with a 22-year-old who wanted to play an improvised Concerto For Two Bicycles, Pre-Recorded Tape, & Instrumental Ensemble. Let that sink in.
I was a ( Read more... ) -
Toward Testing Pirates
So I finally shared the thought I've been kicking around about hacking Fate for "righteous criminals exacting their revenge-type stories." These variations on Spirit of the Century's five phases owe a lot to a post by Leonard Balsera, among other things. The following is excerpted from an email I sent to my gaming group's list explaining what I'd ( Read more... ) -
Staggering Fandom, continued
I've never read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, but the title's so good that I just had to steal it for my little project. The works I'm interested really aren't heartbreaking - they're heartening.
First up, the Something From (Almost) Nothing category.
This one'll probably end up an honorable mention once I get more reader suggestions. ( Read more... ) -
Heartbreaking Works of Staggering Fandom
The Role-Playing Games hobby didn't just happen. Grognardia does an excellent job of exploring the literary, pulp-fantasy roots of the hobby, but I'm interested in a bigger picture. Conventions for science fiction fans started in the '30s, but -as near as I can tell- "fan culture" started its march to the mainstream at the same time gaming and ( Read more... )
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