RPGCentric

Erik Mona on Pen & Paper Gaming in the 21st Century

February 26th, 2010 / No Comments » / by reveal

In his GamesU 2009 Keynote, Mr. Mona provides a broad overview of the history of tabletop or “pen & paper” gaming, with a focus on Role Playing Games (RPGs). With this background established, Mr. Mona then discusses recent changes and, based on his experience and research, what he thinks the future holds for the hobby and the industry that supports it.

Posted in: Culture, Gamer Life, RPG

Campaign Update: Fun to be had all around

December 17th, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by reveal

Back in October, I posted how I finally determined that I didn’t like Adventure Paths and had decided to run my next Pathfinder campaign using individual pre-written adventures. I am now happy to announce that, after three months of playing, I am having the most fun DMing that I’ve had in a while. My players are also having a lot of fun and are looking forward to what happens next. Being able to pick and choose which adventure to run next makes it so much easier for me to tailor the campaign to fit my players/PCs that I really look forward to trying to find “the perfect fit.”

Levels 1 to 3: Crypt of the Everflame

We started off with Crypt of the Everflame, the very first Pathfinder adventure written using the final rules sold at GenCon. It was a lot of fun and a great method of bringing disparate PCs together in order to move towards a common goal.

Level 3 to 4: Final Resting Place

I wanted to introduce my characters to the Pathfinder Society and make them want to join. I pulled out Dungeon Magazine #122 and used the adventure called “Final Resting Place”. It allowed me to use a character from Crypt of the Everflame, who is a member of the Society, to ask the PCs to rescue the body of a particularly famous Society member. I also thought it was a slick adventure with some interesting problems to solve. The players liked it and came up with interesting solutions to said problems.

Level 4 to 5: Heroes’ End

This is a fun adventure from Goodman Games’ “Dungeon Crawl Classics #48: The Adventure Continues“. Essentially, the PCs are transported to a fairy tale plane where they must defeat Rapunzel and The Old Woman in the Shoe in order to get back to their own world. The players were completely surprised by a) a talking book and b) the fact that the talking book tricked them into moving through a portal into another plane. In the end, they were able to defeat who they needed to defeat and made their way back to their own plane. Because of their actions in the fairy tale plane, I was able to move them towards the next adventure.

Level 5 to 6: Forest of Blood

This adventure, from Dungeon Magazine #103, was written by a friend of mine and it was a lot of fun. It had the PCs traveling to a small town that was having their annual Winter Faire. They completed what they needed to do because of the previous adventure and then decided to partake in the Faire events. Unfortunately, the town was attacked by a group of wolves and the PCs, after defending the villagers in danger, had to find out what was going on. It’s a great adventure and I highly recommend it.

Level 6: The Menagerie

At the moment, the players are standing outside of the store mentioned in this adventure from Dungeon Magazine #126 and are ready to go inside and save the day!

I have more adventures ready to go but may change them depending on what they do during the campaign. I love having the freedom to change the campaign as necessary without worrying that I am going to screw up the entire over-arcing storyline.

Posted in: Other Systems, Pathfinder, RPG

Open Game Table Volume 2 – Call for Peer Reviewers and Nominations

December 4th, 2009 / No Comments » / by reveal

I just received an e-mail this morning and recommend that everyone start volunteering/nominating now!

The application period for being a peer reviewers closes December 31st, 2009. These individuals will be responsible for reading the entries (not all of them mind you, I will spread the word count around) and interacting with me during the final decision making process. If chosen, your names will be witheld until publication of the book. If you are interested, please click here for more information and to submit your information: http://rpganthology.wufoo.com/forms/open-game-table-volume-2-peer-review-application/

The submission deadline for nominations of blog posts closes January 15th, 2010. I’ve streamlined the submission process so that all you need to is submit a valid URL. Up to 5 per submission form can be accomodated; but there’s no limit to how many you can send in. The nomination form, and more information, can be found here: http://rpganthology.wufoo.com/forms/open-game-table-vol-2-blog-post-nomination-form/

Posted in: 4E, Advice, Culture, Gamer Life, Humor, RPG, Reviews