How Dragonlance Invented the TTRPG Novel and What That Cost the Hobby

In 1984, TSR released a module written by Tracy Hickman, Dragons of Despair. Hickman was a writer and designer who has been working at the company for about 3 years. However, even with the short time spent in the company, he already made his mark when, a year prior, he wrote alongside his wife, Laura, […]

The Reaction Roll, the Morale Roll, and the Monster That Doesn’t Want to Fight

Here is a scene that has played out at countless tables running D&D since, well, I think at least from the 3rd edition days. The party rounds a corner and lo and behold, here are goblins. The goblins are there because the encounter table said goblins, or because the adventure module placed them in this […]

First Among Thieves: A Review of Two Sides to the Coin

To be completely honest with you, initially, I did not pay that much attention to this game. Gods, what a fool I was. Because out of the trifecta released by Osprey last year, Two Sides to the Coin is perhaps the best of them, and not only is it a great TTRPG, it is, at […]

Beyond Good and Evil: The Paths of Enlightenment and the Alien Morality of Vampire: The Masquerade

From my experience, there is a moment that happens at almost every Vampire: The Masquerade table, usually somewhere in the first couple of sessions. A player’s character does something monstrous. Not dramatically monstrous, no torture or senseless mass killing, but instead something a bit more quiet, even practical in the moment. But still monstrous to […]

Prestige Classes: The Best Design Space D&D Ever Abandoned

There is a specific type of character fantasy that was achieved by 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons better than any other edition before or since. Not the fantasy of making your character up as you go. The fantasy of knowing what you want your character to be from session one, having a goal in mind, […]

The Book That Built the World of Darkness (Whether White Wolf Admits It or Not)

There is a version of Vampire: The Masquerade that does not exist. In that version, the vampire is still fundamentally a predator. Gothic, certainly. Brooding, perhaps. But essentially a monster: something took directly from folklore, something cold and inhuman that wears a human face as a disguise. That version of the vampire has a long […]

Stealing from the Rich and Giving to The Poor: A Review of The Hooded Man

Once again, the fine folk at Osprey Games graciously provided us with a review copy of The Hooded Man. A title I confess, I found very interesting from the moment we received word of it. With my penchant for historical settings, it stands to reason that the story revolving around Robin Hood’s escapades now turned […]

Shadowdark vs. OSE: Two Visions of OSR Accessibility

When first looking into OSR games, many people ask themselves the same question: “Which one do I start with?” In my experience, nowadays, the majority of the time, there are two systems that people will tell you to start with: Either Shadowdark or Old-School Essentials. Both of these games were created with a lot of […]

How To Enrich Your D&D Experience: The Importance of Trying Out New Systems

Familiarity brings its own kind of peace of mind. For most of the tabletop RPG industry, this peace is represented by a specific structure – one rule system, one set of assumptions and one common language which allows players to easily sit down at a game table with no barriers to play. For many of […]

Behind the Veil: Why Kult Works

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate in multiple sessions of Kult: Divinity Lost (shoutout to V3rtigo from Taverna Aventurilor), a game I have been somewhat interested in before. Afterward, I downloaded the PDF version of the game to take a closer look into it for my own knowledge. While the rules for the game […]