Previous posts in this series Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 Last time I listed the various lessons learned from the best OSR modules. Now I want to talk about using them for other games, specifically horror investigation scenarios. Like the mysteries in the scenarios, there are various pieces to this puzzle. The … Continue reading The Bone Orchard – Kill your darlings
Previous posts in this series Part 1 / Part 2 Last time I talked about what some small-press D&D publishers1 are doing to make their modules easy to use at the table for the GMs. I believe publishers of other games – my focus is largely on investigation horror games, such as Call and Trail … Continue reading The Bone Orchard – Lessons learned
Previous posts in this seriesPart 1 Last time I talked about how most published scenarios and campaigns aren’t laid out and designed in the best way for GMs to use at the table. Some of the best examples for how to do this properly are in small-press D&D products1. These tend to be focused on … Continue reading The Bone Orchard – Leaders of the pack
Juggling rules, setting and scenario information, and roleplaying can make GMing a daunting activity. There are plenty of potentially great GMs either put off by the challenge entirely or from crashing and burning in their first couple of sessions. Published scenarios and campaigns are supposed to do a lot of the heavy lifting to making … Continue reading The Bone Orchard – Introduction
If you haven't seen Casting the Runes, by Paul StJohn Mackintosh, you're in for a treat. A GUMSHOE take on the extremely influential ghost and supernatural tales of M.R. James. I'll have more to say on it eventually, but for now, I just wanted to link to some form-fillable character sheets, all the more important … Continue reading Casting the Runes
I love the concept of The One Ring, its devotion to a Tolkien-specific tone, by ensuring the relevance of journeying and non-combat skills, something sadly lacking in other iterations of Middle Earth gaming. That being said, I still find The One Ring just a little too complicated for my tastes these days. Put it down … Continue reading Tiny D6 – The Ring
Considering successes are so hard to roll in Forbidden Lands, it seems a waste of potential data to ignore multiple successes, outside of extra damage in combat. It's also odd seeing as Fria Ligan's other games all use multiple successes to some degree. So, I've mined them for inspiration and come up with these suggested … Continue reading Successes in Forbidden Lands
As much as I love extremely grim and gritty games, I can also be extremely silly. That's why I seem to be one of the only people who thought it was a natural fit to mash together Cthulhu Dark, the bleak and unforgiving game of cosmic horror with Og, the cavefolk game of slapstick hilarity. So, … Continue reading Cthulhu Dawn – Proto Edition
Imperious Rex 