I have a collection of images without any copyright. I suspect a lot of people who write books which should have pictures do the same thing.

Searching various images for the right types of images is boring. Collecting these images is boring (right click, save, copy author name, paste author name into directory, move …

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I don't think any sane individual could write something like BIND without automation tools. Games with a similar scope require a team.

(I also require a team - everyone who's helped me with editing has improve the book immensely, but that's not today's topic)

Changing Rules

Starting small - these rules appear in the …

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I've heard a lot of scepticism about the standard fantasy notion of 'racial languages' - i.e. languages tied to a particular race. But since they're such a useful tool, I'd like to offer a different way to view them, and a different solution.

I have a heavy suspicion that people who think that languages divided across …

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Chekov's gun poses a real threat to some games.

If a group playing Vampire: The Masquerade ('VtM') encounter a Ravnos, spinning illusions, and confusing mortals, then the next time they hear about unusual events, they will assume that the Ravnos did this. Clearly - the Ravnos is part of the plot! After all, VtM draws …

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They say you have to playtest, but they forget that I'm a lazy man, so when it came to travel rules, I didn't feel like simulating a bunch of journeys. So it's time to get the computer to do the work for me.

Setup

An encounter roll occurs every 1D6 intervals in BIND (where an interval = 'one quarter of the day' = '6 …

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A random RPG mechanic popped fully-formed into my head, so now it will pop into yours.

The player first states what the character will do:

• I cut the heads off three goblins.

• I stab him in the neck.

...and the opponent makes a counter-proposal.

• I shoulder-barge a bandit, and throw him into the river.
  • Or he could …

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My character was an elvish paladin. Coming from the ancient world of A,D&D, with its racial alignments, I still thought of D&D elves as 'Chaotic Good'. The unusual image of a law-focussed elf made me wonder how someone would approach a law-abiding philosophy if they came from a society of well-meant maniacs, …
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It's hard to remember all those little things mid-game, so I'm thinking of making a LaTeX footnote for stories, which mentions a random very-normal-thing.

• Three young students, complaining about the mosquitoes.
• Retired accountant, walking his dog at 5am because he cannot sleep.
• Traffic jam made by two German tourists …

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In some sense, you don't care about your washing machine. You have no clue where that powder comes from, or where those particles go after the wash. But you care a great deal when your washing machine breaks down.

In the same sense, everyone playing RPGs cares about what the chosen system does, because that's where the …

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