Game Balance: Power and Simplicity

Frequent readers will know that Intwischa’s gamers have transitioned from playing 4e, to Shadowrun, to FATE, to Swords and Wizardry, and most recently to Dresden Files RPG (based on FATE). (I’m sure most of you have memorized this.) You’ve also no doubt heard us talking about cabin trips, and one is coming up in August,…

Steal This Idea: “Last Man Standing”

“Steal This Idea” is an ongoing series in which an element from the media is examined for use in games. These articles will provide a basic description of the scene in which the element occurs is necessary to introduce the idea for gaming, and hooks to use that idea in various kinds of RPGs. We…

Using virtual sticky notes to manage GM information

I recently sat through a business meeting that made an innovative use of sticky notes. Essentially, ideas were generated and written on stickies by the people in the meeting, and these were stuck to a wall. Later, they were grouped, then prioritized by physically moving the notes up and down. I’ve used this process at…