In 1884, Edwin Abbott wrote a novella called Flatland, and a hundred years later, I read it with delight. The novella’s characters are squares and triangles, sliding around a two-dimensional world called Flatland. The Flatlanders have no concept of “up” or “down,” and the existence of a third-dimension is left to philosophers and clerics. That […]
Deep Magic: Dimensional Warping Read More »
Today the Deep Magic Kickstarter launches. It’s pretty much my dream project for RPG crunch, which is to say: it’s all about the fire spells, baby! I’ve always loved wizards and clerics, and nothing makes me happier than fireballs coming online, that flame strike spell hitting, or (if I’m feeling especially sneaky) casting the fire
Kickstarting Deep Magic: A Possibly Fireproof Tome for the Ages Read More »
Myths and Legends 1: Jason and the Argonauts Neil Smith 80 pages, Osprey Publishing Paperback, $17.95 ISBN: 978-1780967226 Myths and Legends 1: Jason and the Argonauts is 80 pages of awesome. When I first got my hands on this book, I thought it was a roleplaying game supplement. I love RPGs, so I was drawn
Book Review: Myths and Legends 1: Jason and The Argonauts Read More »
Gnolls have slaughtered their way to gaming infamy, and they are a favorite of gamemasters (GMs) and players alike. This article can be used by GMs to round out this age-old monster, or players can use it to create new characters. The following gnoll variant is formatted for AGE—though you can convert the material to
Gnasty Gnolls: Vulturists in AGE Read More »
A good gaming session has a few of the same elements as some traditional wedding receptions. Both are a gathering of friends in a festive atmosphere, likely with food at some point. As with one wedding tradition I could name, each session could feature “something old” and “something new.” Those familiar with my series here at
Old Hat Monsters: Signature Weapons Read More »
We didn’t have room in Defenders of Midgard for the enigmatic mage paragon path features needed to round out the clockwork and glyph magic schools, so we’re featuring them here on the Kobold Press website. This book is available at DriveThruRPG and Paizo. Clockwork mages possess an eye for mechanisms, springs, gearing, and balanced forces,
The Paragon Clockwork Mage Read More »
Midgard Icons presents some of the Midgard Campaign Setting’s major NPCs as icons for use in 13th Age, the new fantasy roleplaying game from Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet. Bring them into your 13th Age campaign; run 13th Age in the world of Midgard; or port the icon relationship rules into your system of choice.
Midgard Icons: The Glittering King Read More »
Gnolls have slaughtered their way to gaming infamy, and they are a favorite of gamemasters (GMs) and players alike. This article can be used by GMs to round out this age-old monster, or players can use it to create new characters. The following gnoll variant is formatted for AGE—though you can convert the material to
Gnasty Gnolls: Sand Dancers and Slavers in AGE Read More »
Last week, I had a survey that would pay off with this week’s article. Responses were consistent on wanting a CR 7–10 encounter, but there ended up being a tie between kobolds and bugbears for this week’s star! House rule: When there’s a tie between kobolds and something else, kobolds win. I can perhaps be
Old Hat Monsters: Survey Says Read More »
When I’m writing a screenplay, one of the first things I focus on is how my protagonist is going to change over the course of the story. This is the “character arc.” In Star Wars, for example, Lando begins as a self-centered, selfish rogue, but by the third movie he is volunteering to lead a
From Screenplay to RPG: Character Arcs Read More »
In January 2013, you, our kobold audience, voted Sersa Victory’s adventure pitch as being the winning entry in the Valhalla Calling contest. We thought you all might like to know a little bit more about Sersa’s background in gaming, plus see what he has to say on the topic of those ever-popular deathtrap dungeons. Although
Kills, Items, and Secrets: Why I’m Forever Hooked on Deathtrap Dungeons Read More »
A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix Paul S. Kemp 352 pages, Angry Robot Paperback, $7.19 ISBN 978-0857662538 A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix is the second tale of these intriguing “heroes.” The first book, The Hammer and the Blade, introduced our world to Egil and Nix, and
Book Review: A Discourse in Steel: A Tale of Egil and Nix Read More »
Avarice, gluttony, and wrath. The seven sins dangerous enough to be called deadly are now collected under one set of covers, with all errata and some expanded text to make these Sin Monsters as complete and dangerous as they can be. The Monsters of Sin Collection includes 21 new monsters thematically tied to one of
Monsters of Sin Now Available Read More »
Gnolls have slaughtered their way to gaming infamy, and they are a favorite of gamemasters (GMs) and players alike. This article can be used by GMs to round out this age-old monster, or players can use it to create new characters. The following gnoll variant is formatted for AGE—though you can convert the material to
Gnasty Gnolls: Cultists and Guardians in AGE Read More »
“Every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson In many tribal societies, the chieftain leads the social hierarchy (along with sometimes a council of elders), the hero leads war parties, and the shaman serves as spiritual leader. The tribal shaman is sometimes the only member of a tribe with magic, and
Old Hat Monsters: Tribal Shaman Read More »
This blog hosted “Penny Dreadfuls: Against the Nostalgia Fetish in Fantasy Roleplaying” yesterday, a pleasant-but-perhaps-confused rant against nostalgia in roleplaying game design, and in favor of progress and modernity. Maybe I’m just old enough to see the upside of the conservative worldview, but let me be the first to say “bah, nonsense!” and offer this
1,000-Word Rebuttal: Against the Fetish of Progressive Design Read More »
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