I’ve always been a fan of the Hero System, mainly because I find it to be one of the most adaptable and modular system I’ve ever played. Over the years, I’ve adapted it to play much more than just a “supers” RPG, tweaking the rules to run my own fantasy world with a very odd magic system, a James Bond-esque spy thriller setting, and even adapted it to run one of the many incarnations of the...
It is a sad fact that I don’t get to spend as much time around ENWorld as I used to. I have come to terms with growing my business taking a lot of time; I simply don’t have the hours to spend browsing the site which used to fill a chunk of every day. I get here as often as I can--I’ve got a growing interest in D&D Next that I suspect will keep me motivated to hang around and keep reading. I...
ENnies: Last Day To Enter! This is it - today is the last day to submit your products to the 2013 ENnies. Any package with a postmark past May 8th, 2013, will not be accepted. Any e-submission received after May 8th, 2013, will also not be accepted. Get those submissions in so you have a chance and good luck to all! Nominees will be announced on July 14. Warner Bros. to Make a New D&D Movie...
EN World News Lots of gaming stuff going on at EN World over the weekend! Here goes: Don't forget to vote in the $1000 7-Day RPG Compeition! If you're a fan of our Online Generic Randomizer Engine (O.G.R.E.) which allows you to create and share random tables and generators, you'll be pleased to know it got some improvements last week. You can now rate generators, comment on them, and view a...
This week there is a wide range of different systems covered. It's good to see such variety in the marketplace, as one thing I've learned through the years is that gamers are themselves a very diverse crowd. The Spotlight of the Week is also a unique offering, something I have never seen before from a marketing standpoint.Again, we have a good selection of PDFs to check out for any gamer. The...
I started playing D&D when I was 12 years old. School let out at 3 pm at Clintondale Middle School, and I hurried the mile-and-a-half home as fast as I could. I sped through my chores, then grabbed the battered red box and dashed across the street to Jimmy’s house. Matt would show up a little bit later, as he lived a block behind us. Sometimes Kenny would walk home with us, but he always...
There are two main approaches to RPG design. One is to aim for a game which is fun, and the other is to aim for a game which is realistic. Neither approach is wrong, but both can be taken too far. It’s something good to consider as a game designer because if your game is too realistic it might kill the fun, and if it’s too fun—well, that’s just plain bad. Seriously though, a game which is too...
Today we're going to take a look at Battlestar Galactica. There's a couple of reasons for this; first up,Fantasy Flight have just announced the release of what will probably be the final expansion set for the game ("Daybreak", coming later this year). Second, I wrote an article in the week about why not all games built around licenses are terrible – just most ofthem – and of the few decent...
One of the most exciting/terrifying developments of the past several years is the explosion of self-publishing options available to the general public. It's possible, using just internet tools, to publish both digital and print books on your own (and now audiobooks!). The tools are easier and easier to use all the time, and that's going to continue. The Amazon Route Amazon has become an...
EN World News There's just two days left to get your entries in for the EN World $1000 7-Day RPG Contest. Don't miss your chance! Don't forget to let me know your opinion on the "Coming Soon" column on the right-side of the news page - keep or ditch? (See yesterdays news). Pathfinder RPG News New rules for stuff to do during your game's downtime, in part 2 of Jason Bulmahn's Ultimate...
EN World News We have a review of the Premium Spell Compendium v3.5 from WotC. "It’s next to impossible to find much fault with the Premium Spell Compendium 3.5, being a “faithful” reproduction of the original with all the errata added in, and bearing an awesome looking cover. If you play D&D 3.5 or d20 variant thereof, I can honestly say this is one of those “must-have” products to keep at...
...and we're all pointing and laughing... Reputation systems have been a bugaboo for many heroic-fantasy genre games for some time. Vastly abstract, or with relatively little relevance for the effort put into them, most reputation systems languish, overly detailed and un-used, between the pages of dusty old tomes in our gaming libraries. There is a reputation system that defies this...
I recall always being frustrated by one aspect of Dungeons & Dragons, regardless of whether I was running 1st Edition, AD&D, or 3.5: There are just too many gosh darned spells! No matter which edition you name, there has always been a serious case of “spell creep”, with more and more new arcane, divine, and druidical magic finding their way into Dragon Magazine articles, modules, supplemental...
I recently mentioned that we're playing Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3e. There are a few aspects of the system I'm not wild about but I'm still having a lot fun playing my Dwarven Slayer. However, one of the bits I think is really helpful as a guide is the Party Card. The Party Card is a summary of what the group is all about, a collection of group talent resources, and a track for how...
EN World News We're half way through the seven days of EN World's $1000 7 Day RPG Competition! Our bi-weekly boardgaming column, Do Not Pass Go, takes a look at the perfect gamer. ENnies Deadline Approaches! To all publishers: If you haven’t submitted anything yet, please remember that you only have one more week to do so. According to the rules any package with a postmark past May 8th, 2013...
Every once in a while you meet the Perfect Gamer. Not the guy who plays a game perfectly or has perfect knowledge of a game’s rules, but the guy who is perfect to play any game with. What makes the Perfect Gamer? Let’s see if we can figure it out. 1. To the Perfect Gamer all games are relatively equal. It doesn’t matter what game is on the table, the Perfect Gamer is willing to give it a...