Shadow & Fae

    Beware what you wake in the dark... At some point last year I bought Mothership, and after reading through the player's survival guide I decided to give it a shot. I ran some friends on the GLoG server through a space station as they tried to rescue... someone. There were lots of laughs along the way (My ma' was a robot!), but I'd hardly call it horror. A little disappointed, I put it back on the shelf. Still, I've been meaning to come back and read through the Warden's Manual for some time, especially as I keep hearing it called one of the best referee books in the Old School vein. Friends and foes, I was not lied to. The Warden's Manual is punchy, blunt, and full of hands-on guidance about how to create situations that are already bad, and destined to get  really bad  before the get better (and some day even worse). The usefulness of the manual extends beyond sci-fi into the realms of all role-playing games. A few items that I found especially good were: T...

 Art by Me The Best Job on Earth! "The Best* Job on Earth!" is a one-page game I wrote that's kind of a tip-toe into a new genre for me. Some of my favorite games and shows have been Stargate, Eureka, Half-Life, Portal, and Fallout, and I wanted to be able to bring those genres to the table without forcing my players to learn yet-another-game. I suppose they still do have to learn another game, but at least this one's quick to pick up! 3d6 down the line, d20 "Duties" with starting gear, really simple roll-under, and (my favorite part) the whole game is fun to read . If you like it, and you want to support my writing, I've also written "The Mad* Scientist's Handbook," a referee's guide to creating interesting scientific breakthroughs and watching as it all goes wrong. My brother, who's never GMed before in his life, had built a playable scenario with it in about 30 minutes. I'm asking $5 for it, and I think it's worth it....