I ordinarily don't engage with the whole 'xx Best Whatevers' mental exercises but a couple of considered posts on Bluesky changed my mind on this occasion. So, here are my 5 Best RPGs:King Arthur Pendragon The One RingA|StateJames Bond Hot War King Arthur Pendragon (KAP)is the perfect union of system and setting. The enormous variety … Continue reading What Is Best In (RPG) Life?

Back in April I used a clumsy metaphor to describe my approach to bringing together all the disparate components of published Symbaroum material into a coherent campaign. In this rambling I'm going to give an update on how it's going. In summary, it's a lot of work that's delivering some of the most satisfying gaming … Continue reading Symbaroum Campaign Update

My progression as a roleplayer, and especially as a GM, has seen me take an increasing interest in our hobby as a medium for cooperatively creating stories at our tables, both physical and virtual. When I started out, the games I played and ran were tactical adventures of exploration, punctuated by frequent combat and looting. … Continue reading Storytelling Games

Time for some candid self-reflection in this rambling. Is my fundamental approach to RPGs one in which I'm more inclined to seriousness when running games, and more prone to a degree of daftness when playing? By daftness I don't mean cocking about and behaving like a berk, thus getting in the way of the game … Continue reading Run Seriously, Play Daftly

GMs and players speaking in different accents when playing NPCs and PCs, is an aspect of our hobby that frequently divides opinion. One school of thought is that you shouldn't do it, ever. Another school believes it should only be done by people who are good at it. The third school broadly doesn't give a … Continue reading Accents in RPGs

I've been reflecting on a seeming preoccupation with getting things 'right' in RPGs, as seen by the number of associated questions in places like Discord. Rules questions are fair game mainly, but there's a preponderance of questions about setting, to which a few experienced members of a game's community provide answers, recommendations, and examples of how … Continue reading Stop Asking, Start Doing

So, you've bought your multi-volume, era-spanning, world-shattering campaign, complete with metric fuck-tonnes of supplemental material. Now you're ready to plan out the whole thing, from session zero to the final, shuddering climax. LET'S ROCK!!!! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Steady on there. Take a breath and calm the fuck down. All better? Heart rate back down below … Continue reading Strategic Goals for Campaigns

The traditional setup for most RPG sessions is a variation on the following: GM: "Ok, so you're sitting in the tavern/travelling through the forest/standing outside the dungeon etc. What are you doing?" "Let me just check my character sheet." "What are you doing?", or "What do you do?", are probably the most frequently asked questions … Continue reading The Power of Questions

By all the Young Gods, the sheer volume of material for Symbaroum is staggering, especially when you consider that it was published globally only 8 years ago. I mean, if this game was a pie it would be visible to the naked eye, from orbit. Mmmmmm, pie. Almost every book has ideas for adventures, adventure … Continue reading Slicing The Pie

I entered the magical realm of RPGs through the portal opened by the Fighting Fantasy (FF) solo adventure game books. I'll assume that if you're reading this blog you're already familiar with the FF books and won't go into a rambling explanation, here.  For the record, my first FF book was The Citadel of Chaos, … Continue reading From Fighting Fantasy to Story Games