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On the Trailers for Season 2 of the Rings of Power
There have been two recent trailers for the next season of Amazon’s The Rings of Power series. One from Comic Con a couple of weeks ago (link) and the final one released before the second season starts...
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Combat should be interesting
Combat obviously is an important element in most fantasy role-playing games. At its best, it’s exciting and dramatic. After all, the protagonists’ lives are at risk! And surprising things can happen –...
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Mythras and Against the Darkmaster news
Some quick notes on a couple of things for two of my favourite RPGS: Mythras and Against the Darkmaster.First, Mythras. There is a new supplement for the delightful Lyonesse FRPG: Rogues, Rascals, and...
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The Kirkyard of St Cuthbert
One of the reasons why I haven’t posted much here recently is that I spent a couple of weeks in Scotland in late August, followed in early September by a week of work in Manchester. I then returned to...
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My grievances concerning 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons: a final statement
Let me start with some background about what “fantasy” means to me and hence what I generally look for in fantasy role-playing games (FRPGs).I saw The Lord of the Rings animated movie when I was 9 or...
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Rings of Power Season 2 Thoughts
Season 2 of The Rings of Power is definitely better overall than season 1. But the series remains, on balance, disappointing.Below are some quick thoughts on RoP season 2.Positive:The sets in both...
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The Main Problem with the Rings of Power series
So, the final episode was a mixed bag like the rest of the series. The “Wizard” storyline ended pretty much as I expected (disappointing, lazy, and predictable). The story of the Istari belongs to the...
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Sale on issues 1-14 of Fight On!
As recently announced here, the Old School Renaissance fanzine Fight On! has returned to publication after a long sabbatical.If you are missing PDF versions of the first run, issues 1-14, they...
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The Tome of Worldbuilding from Mythmere Games
I thought I’d mention that Mythmere Games is running another kickstarter. This one is for a volume entitled The Tome of Worldbuilding. The title pretty much sums up what the book is about: “The Tome of...
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Trail of Cthulhu 2e and Broken Empires
I try not to back funding projects (on Kickstarter and the like) that often these days. This is because I backed a few in recent years that I now kind of regret (e.g., Shadowdark, Dolmenwood, Old...
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Open Ended Games 2024 Q&A
I’m currently running two campaigns using the Against the Darkmaster ("VsD") fantasy role-playing game, one set in my homebrew setting of Ukrasia, the other in Middle-earth (for both, I am making use...
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Against the Court of Urdor - Part 4
The Broken Temple, the Dread Wolves, the Tower of the Morning Star, and Soggy Fields.February 1000 2AH (Second Age of Humanity): 1st – 12th. (A recap of the adventure so far.)In Part 1 of this saga,...
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Fight On! has a new website
FYI: The original Old School Renaissance fanzine Fight On! has a new website.
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Mythras Miscellany
I thought that I would mention two cool things for Mythras that might be of some interest.The first is the Unearthed Companion for Mythras Classic Fantasy. Here’s the blurb from the Design Mechanism...
View ArticleRole-playing Games mystify those who have never played them
I think that this article, “The Most Dangerous Game: At 50, Dungeons & Dragons is more popular than ever — and still misunderstood” by Andrea Long Chu, is quite good. It’s really about role-playing...
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Happy 2025 and some pictures from Scotland
Happy 2025! I hope you all have a year filled with thrilling adventures. As I mentioned last September (in my post on the Kirkyard of St. Cuthbert), I spent a few weeks in Scotland last August. Here...
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My Life in Roleplaying Games: 2024 and 2025
As we head into 2025, here are some brief reflections on my role-playing activities in the recent past and near future.I've been really enjoying running two Against the Darkmaster (VsD) campaigns, one...
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The Lord of the Rings film trilogy with live music
This was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had in recent years: watching Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, accompanied with live music -- in the case of The Return of the...
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A Brief History of Ukrasia
This post provides a rough overview and timeline for the World of Ukrasia (the setting for my “Against the Court of Urdor” campaign). The history is presented in a summary bullet-point format and may...
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‘Level Up’ exhibit at the Chicago Writers Museum
While Toronto is my ‘home base’ these days, as my wife and I own a condo there (and her job is based there), I also currently live part of the time in Chicago due to work (until the end of 2025,...
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Fight On! Issue 16 now available – dedicated to DA Trampier
One of the best things to happen in the “old school” gaming community in the past year is the return of the amazing fanzine Fight On! Issue 16 has just dropped and it’s dedicated to my favourite FRPG...
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My 2 Campaigns in 2 Paragraphs
Over at the RPG pub (the only RPG forum I regularly visit these days) there’s an interesting thread asking people to describe their campaigns in one paragraph each.So here are the paragraphs for my two...
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Praise for Songs of the Dying Earth
Among my favourite works of fantasy fiction are the Dying Earth stories and the Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. I’ve read the Lyonesse trilogy three times and most of the Dying Earth stories twice...
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Bundle of Holding – Against the Darkmaster
Until May 26th you can get all the PDFs in the Against the Darkmaster“Bundle of Holding” starter set – the impressive core rulebook + the Heartbane adventure + the Game Master Screen – for only 7.95...
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OSRIC the Third
The wise sages at Mythmere Games are hard at work on the third version of OSRIC (“Old School Reference and Index Compilation”). You can support this project at Backerkit.OSRIC is a restatement of the...
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