The Last Parsec – Jumpcorp Guide to Interstellar Salvage: The Last Parsec is a space opera setting for Savage Worlds that has a Star Frontiers meets Mass Effect feel. This new sourcebook provides rules and setting material for exploring – and salvaging – derelict spacecraft. It sounds like a great setup for a campaign to me since you could easily … Read more
If we’re talking about recognition in terms of awards, I can’t say. I haven’t been keeping up the Ennies and such, and I’m not so immersed in the larger RPG community that I have a sense for the overlooked gems when it comes to award season. If we’re talking recognition in terms of people knowing … Read more
Exploding dice (a.k.a. “acing dice”) in Savage Worlds is my favorite dice mechanic among the games that I regularly play. It’s led to some of the most epic moments I’ve had at the table and is in keeping with Savage Worlds “Fast! Furious! Fun!” motto. The best part of it is it that it leads to such unexpected results. Even … Read more
Bennies in Savage Worlds, without a doubt. Players typically start with three bennies, which they can spend to re-roll checks and soak damage. Having three bennies at any given time means that players are comfortable with spending them and still having a reserve. I don’t have a problem with people hoarding bennies because I’m liberal … Read more
“Good game.” I can’t point to one particular compliment that stands out from all the others, but any time we have a great session and someone goes out of their way to say “good game”, I appreciate it. A great example of such sessions are “Terror in the Woods” and “Strange Thunder”, two episodes from … Read more
I’m contemplating a return to lunchtime gaming. It’s been on hiatus for quite a while do to an overwhelming lack of time, but I miss it and so do the rest of the Gamer Working Group. As a brief re-cap, the Gamer Working Group consists of a few RPG players at my day job and one … Read more
For those of us with kids, the answer’s easy: teach them how to play. I started teaching my son and his friends how to play three years ago during our annual summer vacation on Lake Champlain. Two years ago, our gaming group started scheduling “D&D Kids” sessions and running our children through the classic B2 … Read more
Imagination + good rules + group buy-in. Those are the elements that fueled our longest running games, even if the campaigns the RPGs were powering jumped from ruleset to ruleset. Our Blackrazor Guild campaign, now in its second decade, has seen numerous prequels, sequels, and spin-offs. It’s been run using Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, … Read more
My answer today is very different from my answer 20 years ago. There was a time when I loved a good, crunchy RPG, with a ton of splat books and optional rules (in short, Dungeons & Dragons 3.x). Implicit in the crunchiness was a love of customization and the flexibility that came with it. Now … Read more
The thing I love most about role-playing games is how they force my brain into creative, collaborative, and improvisational modes. RPGs in all of their forms are dynamic. The constantly changing circumstances forces players to think on their feet. While this is true for everyone at the table, it’s particularly true for game masters. As … Read more