After a somewhat extensively long conversation with +Douglas Cole last night we got to talking about Danger Sense. His character, the Commander had it and we both forgot it at crucial points. Between the two of us we discovered that’s actually fairly common – the other fairly common in-play is the player who constantly abuses it. I like a […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Heroes on the Mass Scale
This one was a fairly quick put together, but revisions were hellish in the extreme. Even the editing (the part I always have the hardest time with) took less time than the near constant revisions I did to make this thing work. Considering its progenitor system (“It’s a Threat!” from Pyramid #3/77: Combat) was specific […]
Continue readingBoil and Bubble: Magical Ability Defaults from Skill
Sometimes I have entire rules or systems download themselves into my head. This usually happens while I’m asleep or getting there. This came to me last night after I was trying to figure out how to make Thuamatology: Sorcery-style magic have a more urban fantasy/realistic feel. (No, I’m not using Ritual Path Magic – I know, a […]
Continue readingGURPS101: Expanded Long-Term Fatigue Rules
So the wildly anticipated and long awaited GURPS After the End by +Pk Levine is finally out. +Douglas Cole has a review up here that’s rather good. But I want to concentrate on one particular aspect of the book: Long-Term Fatigue Points. The concept is simple: don’t eat, don’t sleep, don’t drink, etc. and you lose the ability to […]
Continue readingBoil and Bubble: Necromantic Sorcery Spells
Sorcery is quickly becoming one of my favorite magic systems – though it’ll probably never eclipse Ritual Path Magic. This is mostly due to the fact that Sorcery as a new system is the same as the old system. It uses the standard advantages and disadvantages to create a workable, cohesive frame of magic. What’s more, it’s fairly […]
Continue readingTriple Threat: Bloodroot
Note: This is the creation of Hal “Wavefunction” Batty – not my own. Thanks for the contribution, Hal! A Bloodroot is an enormous, tree-like creature. It main body consists of a broad tree trunk with two other trunks attached to the sides forming thick arms, jointed at the elbows, and ending in a mass of […]
Continue readingGamemaster’s Guidepost: A Novel Approach to GMing, Part IV: A Matter of Character
Guest Post by Scott “Rocketman” Rochat “Be sure not to discuss your hero’s state of mind. Make it clear from his actions.” –Anton Chekhov I’m going to start with something basic, but true. Your players can’t see your characters. I’ll give you a moment to recover from the shock. It’s a problem every author has. […]
Continue readingGURPS101: Dungeon Fantasy Knight Power-Ups and Gear
I was playing in a Dungeon Fantasy game GMed by Timothy “Humabot” Ponce and one of my fellow players (Tai Parry) created what was essentially Link from Legend of Zelda. What eventually became one of Tai’s signature moves was a slam with a shield. It was, in a word, devastating. Inspired by various game sessions and a few […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: Magical Tradecraft
This one was another one of those things that was a blast to write. I mainlined Burn Notice for several days, while taking notes for cool feats of skill or times when magic would have just been insanely useful to have. I then watched a few spy movies, made a few more notes, and then […]
Continue readingDesigner’s Notes: A Song of Many Worlds
Another article that started out a campaign material and then I whipped into shape to become something more publishable. Like most of the articles I pull directly from my campaigns I had very few pieces to cut because it was so concentrated. This was also the article where I fixed what I viewed as a […]
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