World Building By Deconstructing Bias, Part 1

In the world of tabletop games recently, there's been a lot of conversation around the place that certain fantasy races, such as orc and drow, play in the game. These fantasy constructs inherited some real-world, racially coded mythology that can legitimately be seen as harmful and/or enforcing negative stereotypes that can carry over into the way people perceive and process the world, but that's not really what I'm here to get into. Instead, I'm going to use them as examples of how pulling at the loose threads of your own writing and creations can make your writing stronger and your fantasy worlds more nuanced, by talking about things that writers and companies have already done.

The Latest Adventure For Dungeons and Dragons Goes back to its Roots

If you ask any veteran D&D player about the most unforgiving or harrowing adventure they've had, you'll likely hear Tomb of Horrors mentioned more than once. Originally published in 1978, the Tomb of Horrors is one of the most well known dungeon written by D&D progenitor, Gary Gygax. It is an unforgiving labyrinth of traps and monsters that spelled the end of innumerable characters. It was feared by players, revered by DMs and known even by those who didn't play D&D. And now it is back again in two forms for 5th edition.

Back into the Fray with 5th Edition and Volo's Guide

I've found myself at the head of yet another D&D group. We're a smaller bunch of players, hovering around 4 players at the moment though teetering at the edge of 5. The group largely consists of Wesley's co-workers and their significant others. We've had three sessions so far and each one has had its share of unexpected moments. I've missed playing tabletop regularly. The last time I had an opportunity to play was just briefly with Mike, Morgan and Wesley at PAX. Even then, I found myself running the game rather than playing.

REDUX: Sweet Kobold Jesus

There's a running joke between Ssalarn and I about our tabletop games that his aim is to crush any plans I make. While he and MoreGun were part of our regular group, I grew a great deal as a player and a DM. Looking through some of our older posts, I found the genesis of that joke, which is actually one of the more poignant lessons I learned as a DM. I hope that this tale of group dynamics, railroading and lack of planning helps some of you aspiring dungeon masters out there.

D&D 5E: An Excellent Successor

I'm going to start by saying, I'm glad I waited to write this review. There were a lot of things about the newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons that I really needed to spend some time on; my opinion needed time to formulate and evolve past what I had played at PAX. I needed to add a little more experience with the new rules to the mix. Initially it seemed almost too simplified, like maybe Wizards of the Coast had jumped on the rules-lite bandwagon that's been fairly popular these days, but the simple introduction turned out to hide a fairly complex, but accessible, system.

A Fistful of Links

You shouldn't pre-order Alien: Isolation (or any other game) 
via Polygon 

I have to say, if the hype so far is to be believed, Alien: Isolation looks like a deliciously terrifying ride.

Unfortunately the varying pre-order bonuses have left me conflicted. Now I am tempted to follow Ben Kuchera's advice and not pre-order at all. He makes some excellent points in his piece for Polygon and I think it is a worthwhile read, whether you intend to pre-order or not.

___________________________________________________________