I've been running a semi-vaguely West Marches style campaign for coming up on two years now. Set in a post-apocalyptic Oerth, it focuses on a single settlement called the Refuge. Characters set out to explore their surroundings, secure resources for expansion, and uncover the mysteries of how the world came to be this way. It's been a … Continue reading A Tale of Two Parties
2017: Gnomes Rebooted
New year, new projects! A lot of things I got started working on have died, mostly because I have the attention span of a gnat. Here are the big things going on right now/in the works: Team Moosey Fate: We've started an Overwatch team. We're registered on Gosugamers.net, we're doing team practice together, and we've … Continue reading 2017: Gnomes Rebooted
DM Notes: When Players Attack
The Gloriana campaign started this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. Depending on how the party feels I might share their adventures here/on Obsidian Portal--stay tuned on that. There's at least one story I feel the need to share, and it's something any DM will be familiar with: That moment when the players assume … Continue reading DM Notes: When Players Attack
Let’s (Not) make a deal
In the world of speculative fiction (and occasionally crime drama as well), one of the time honored plots is "Someone makes a deal with a/the devil and it goes poorly." We just started watching Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and in the very first episode a character makes a deal with a supernatural entity for power beyond … Continue reading Let’s (Not) make a deal
Update: 2016
2016 begins! I've been posting the occasional update to Facebook and Twitter, but just to make sure everything's on the same page, here's whats up with the what: Second recording session for Steampunk campaign is tentatively scheduled for the 24th. Hopefully this will get some better audio! Tormented By Gnomes now has a Twitch … Continue reading Update: 2016
Passive Aggression for Fun and Profit
It is the function of the Game Master to give players as much rope as they ask for--above and beyond the 50' each member of the party is obligated to carry--that they might hang themselves. Running a game is very much like writing a horror story--the more you leave up to their imaginations, the worse … Continue reading Passive Aggression for Fun and Profit
The Alchemy of Parties
This post will contain no information about kegs, proper music, venues, or how to get girls to come to your party (though you SHOULD have some girls in your adventuring party, and we can talk about that later). The Steampunk group is shaping up. We've got a lot of players (somewhere in the 6-9 range) … Continue reading The Alchemy of Parties
Phase 1: Everything is Better with Phases
For the record, we've only divided our plan into phases because I really want to say THATS MAH FAVORITE PHAAAASE when we get to Phase Two. Plus, if it's good enough for Marvel, it's good enough for me. The starship combat game has been moved to Phase 2. As my last post, the ideas we've got for the system … Continue reading Phase 1: Everything is Better with Phases
First Playtest Results
On Tuesday, the regular D&D crowd came over for some slightly different fare. Used to the elegance of D&D Next, I subjected them to a system that has more in common with Star Fleet Battles than good old d20. They had a ton of great feedback from the get go, before the first die hit the table. For example, … Continue reading First Playtest Results
Game Plan: What’s Going On?
The point of making a blog post at this stage in a project is to give future archive trawlers something to do at 3am on a shame-fueled bout of insomnia. Hello, frazzled procrastinators of the future! I envy you your world of unfathomable progress, technology and cultural revolution. Is Trump president-for-life yet? What destroyed America first, … Continue reading Game Plan: What’s Going On?
