At about 0:40 into Episode 70 of the Gauntlet there’s this quote concerning The Black Hack: it seems to have taken a few things from other games… I saw a little bit of D&D 5e in there, I thought there was a touch of Torchbearer and Dungeon World in there as well… It’s a throwaway … Read More
Let’s do this: Fictoplasm is a podcast about fiction and roleplaying games. Each episode we talk about a book we like, then we talk about the games we’d like to run based on the ideas in the book — maybe picking up the setting wholesale, maybe just cherry-picking tropes and world-building bits. The first episode … Read More
Whew! Back from 9 Worlds, and it was much fun. I learned a lot about podcasts, listened to skeptics talk about fairies (Deborah Hyde), spent a lot of time on the history and academia track, listened to panels on death, gothic literature and a cage fight between SF and Fantasy, enjoyed the panel on diversity … Read More
A few years ago at Reading I saw Marcus Brigstocke ranting about “guilty pleasures”. The gist was this: when someone says “Twilight is my guilty pleasure” they’re actually saying “Twilight is shite, but I’m self-aware enough that I can appreciate its shittiness, unlike the unwashed masses who take it at face value”. The guilty pleasure … Read More
Before I begin, I should be upfront: I’ve known the author for many years, so I’m inclined to be favourable. Readers should be skeptical of reviews anyway, but there’s good reason to be in this instance. That said, I’m going to tell you why this book is worth your time. Science Fiction Hobby Games: A … Read More