This weekend we played the latest installment of our epic quest across the desert sands. We’re using Fourth Edition D&D in this game, so I should specify that I’m using “epic” in a plot sense, not in the sense of the 4E tier. The game was certainly a lot of fun. We’ve written previously on…
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Maybe it’s the code hacker in me, but I have a deep appreciation for those times when a problem is solved well and elegantly. Elegance is a concept that’s often hard to convey in this context. I guess that the best I can do is to say that the solution is simple, correct, and is…
In an earlier post, I spoke about building a D&D character using FATE’s concept of aspects. While I believe this is a worthwhile endeavor for building a coherent character, once it is done there are no mechanical benefits for having aspects for your D&D character. In this post, I’ll outline a few house rules that…
Regular Intwhiskers (can I call you that?) will know that our home group has been playing through a game of The Dresden Files RPG over the last several weeks. The thing I love most about DFRPG (and FATE in general) was summed up by Chase very well as he described the game to a new…
As any amateur handyman (or handywoman) knows, everything is easier when you have the right tool for the job. Luckily for us gamers, we tend to be a pretty creative bunch. For any game you play, the chances are that somebody’s created some tools you can use. This series pulls together the stuff that makes…
There’s been a lot of talk here at Intwischa about what makes for a good role-playing session. Lots of specifics get discussed, usually based on what has consumed our gaming group for that week or this. Sometimes the topics are a bit more utilitarian: GNS theory, system design, game balance, increased immersion, or group dynamics-…
My first regular game of Dungeons & Dragons was a 2E dungeon crawl that took place over several months on Tuesday nights. Our weekly foray into this funhouse came to an abrupt (if not amusing) end one night thanks to a red lager and a blue dragon. Up until then, however, we had a blast…
Between work emergencies, conferences, wedding anniversaries, and preparations for the upcoming Cabin Trip, things are pretty hectic here at the Intwischa offices. Rather than go stagnant, or rush out an update, however, we’ve decided to bring back some posts from our primordial days. Conveniently, this was also when we and our wives (maybe) were our…
So my wife and I are watching The Scorpion King last night, partly because we sometimes enjoy schmaltzy action flicks, but mostly because I was trying to mine style ideas for our desert campaign taking place next weekend at our annual Cabin Trip. Did I find anything usable? That’ll have to wait for a future…
A while ago, Charlie came up with the idea of using dice to track ammunition. We ended up working it into our Swords & Wizardry game. I thought I’d update you all on how it went. First of all, we worked out the probabilities for how many shots you’d get on average with each die…