The Hand of the Demon . . . I’d managed to get involved in all three DFRPG Pyramid-specific issues – this being the third one – and I wanted to do an adventure. (For the record, I enjoy writing adventures, I just don’t see them selling or being received well, so I don’t tend to […]
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Designer’s Notes: The Incanter’s Grimoire
We always write the perfect book after the book is published. Seriously. I wish I’d had more space in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incantation Magic and the insight to add to the main book then instead of writing this article later. I’m grateful the article was published and some of the questions I’d been asked could be […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Al-Phasmaq
The original article that I co-wrote with J. Edward Tremlett for the theme of Hot Spots and Locations (which was split into just “Locations” and “Hot Spots”) was basically a fantasy city with a dark secret. We originally were going to write something for Dungeon Fantasy city-wise, but decided against it (and good we did too […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: More Skill Sets for Specialists
So I’m a fan of GURPS Action. I don’t think anyone who has read the books could say otherwise. The rules offered in GURPS Action 2: Exploits alone are solid gold. GURPS Action 4: Specialists is similiar solid gold. Thus, it’s no surprise that I would want to add my own voice to the body of work that is GURPS Action. I […]
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Designer’s Notes: GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19 – Incantation Magic
Wow. It’s finally out. The original idea for this article goes all he way back to early 2013 when +Antoni Ten Monrós and I were thinking about how we’d do “old school vancian” magic. I suggested RPM and he liked the idea and threw the ball back at me “What if we change the paths completely?” Inner Me: […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes – Born to Be Wild
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the GURPS Monster Hunters series. I was one of the first to playtest it before it came out and I’ve been one of the biggest contributors to the series so far. What can I say, Monster Hunters scratches all the right itches for me. “Born to Be Wild” came […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Chi Sorcery
Chi Sorcery . . . Whew. Where to start?This one has some roots. First, this project started life as a “could I do cinematic skills as powers?” about 5 or 6 years ago. Then at some point +Pk Levine released Thaumatology: Sorcery and I was mentally milling about for something to write for an upcoming Pyramid. I pitched this […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: It’s a Quest!
Hmmm. Where to start with this one? Well, like my two other installments (“It’s a Threat!” and “It’s a Trap!“) “It’s a Quest!” is designed to help make the GM’s life easier by giving advice, content, and some random generation tables to help jumpstart games. I briefly talk about two important modes of gameplay: “sandbox” […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Mad as Bones
“That boy is mad as bones.” My grandmother would say that about me often as a child. I was . . . a handful. Hiding in places and shouting “Boo!” at passersbys, climbing on the roof at night to look at the stars, playing out in a nor’easter, and in general just running wild. As […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Crafting Imbuements
This article gestated for a long time – I first began exploring the concept after a conversation on the forums in 2015. The idea was fairly simple: have a set of imbuement skills that let you create common boosts for powerful weapons, armor, or tools. I am not too proud to say that it took me […]
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