Monthly Archives: January 2010

Haiti Next Month

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Malcolm

Haiti’s in trouble, but I’m not going to concentrate on it this month. Haiti had enormous problems before the earthquake; those won’t go away after an initial flurry of publicity. I certainly don’t want to cast aspersions on people who…

Posted in The Miscellaney | 3 Comments

Metaplot 2.0 (Part Two)

Posted on January 14, 2010 by Malcolm

Over in my last post on metaplot I talked about the good and bad in metaplots, how they compare to other game/IP development methods and proposed some ways they could be improved. This time around I want to develop a…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Mage: The Dirty Version – The Metaphysic of Magic

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Malcolm

From A Practical Reader on Occult Philosophy and Insurgency (aka “The Little Purple Book”)

Although it’s loaded with inaccurate connotations, the Consensus is still a useful shorthand term to describe the elements of existence that are most vital to the…

Posted in Mage: The Dirty Version | Tagged , | 4 Comments

CES 2010: A Guide for Tabletop RPG Players

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Malcolm

CES happened this week, and tech companies rolled out a bunch of new gear that has major implications for electronic tools in tabletop RPGs, a topic I’ve blogged about here and here. As I cover the tech beat for one of…

Posted in Electronic Games, Media-Critty, Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Metaplot 2.0 (Part One)

Posted on January 8, 2010 by admin

Metaplot sucks, except when it’s totally awesome. Nobody likes it and they miss it when it’s gone. It’s a pain in the ass godsend for game developers and an alienating useful tool for groups.

What What?

These reactions are nigh-incoherent…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

RPGs and Art That Challenges

Posted on January 2, 2010 by Malcolm

Art isn’t always for challenging the audience, but a creative community needs that if it’s going to thrive. RPGs aren’t doing that. By “challenges,” I don’t mean Maybe old D&D rules kicked ass! or I bet we can do this…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments