Author Archives: Malcolm

Why You Should Have Nice Things

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Malcolm

So! Lots of people read and responded to Why You Can’t Have Nice Things. That means it deserves a follow up, but I can’t address individuals, so I’ll try to sort everything in to broad response categories.

We’re just resisting…

Posted in Social Media, Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Here, Have the Alpha of the Supers Game I’m Running

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Malcolm

This is the superhero game I’m going to run. It owes a lot to S. John Ross’ RISUS but with enough modifications to be its own thing because I have no sense of humour.

Creating a Character

Purchasing Traits at

…

Posted in RPG Sketches | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Why You Can’t Have Nice Things

Posted on June 19, 2010 by Malcolm

A couple of years ago I had this client — great guy, worked with him a few times. He’s a former tabletop RPG player and was really interested in bringing some of the ideas he loved from that into a…

Posted in Electronic Games, Social Media, Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige, The Miscellaney | Tagged , , , | 98 Comments

Mage: The Sterile Version

Posted on May 25, 2010 by Malcolm

Mage: The Ascension is on my mind again. I’m planning to run a game at Anime North where the characters’ objective is to assassinate the Second Coming of Christ. I decided to continue fooling with the Dirty Version. I read…

Posted in Mage: The Dirty Version, RPG Reviews | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Mage: The Dirty Version — Templar Tradition Prologue

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Malcolm

Ave Baphomet.

I felt like my blood twisted in its veins when I first mouthed that prayer. Tonight I feared a terrible error for the last time: that the old false image — horns, cloven hooves and all — would come and cut me open with its sharp, garish pentacle. Continue reading →

Posted in Mage: The Dirty Version, The Miscellaney | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Yeah, I’ll Tell You What to Do

Posted on May 14, 2010 by Malcolm

Drama? Russell Bailey got offended; Eddy Webb backed away slowly. Or something. It all started with some horrified reactions to my positions in an extended (and in my opinion, productive) talk with Jim Henley about the decline of friendship and its effects on RPGs. Continue reading →

Posted in RPG Theory, The Miscellaney | Tagged | 9 Comments

Fight the Power (Law)

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Malcolm

The Purefold presentations constantly refer to a social media power law — one that resembles (and might just be) the Power Law of Participation described here. The law (really a simplification of complex trends) says that in any community:

    …

    Posted in Social Media, Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

    Tommy Westphall and the Big Dark Crossover

    Posted on March 30, 2010 by Malcolm

    Tommy Westphall was a minor character in the 80s medical drama St. Elsewhere.  Nowadays he’s known for the Tommy Westphall Hypothesis: the idea that most TV series exist in his mind, due to the fact that by the last episode, St.…

    Posted in Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

    Friends Are Even Better Than That

    Posted on March 29, 2010 by Malcolm

    Over at Jim Henley’s Livejournal I made an offhand comment that many games under the “indie” banner are designed to be played by people who meet at conventions, primarily know each other online or have similar remote, vaguely suspicious relationships.…

    Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 29 Comments

    Lessons From the Fall of Purefold

    Posted on March 27, 2010 by Malcolm

    Purefold was supposed to be everything social media wonks, democratic Web advocates and SF nerds wanted – oh, and it was supposed to make money, too. It’s based on Blade Runner! They hired Cory Doctorow! It was going to use…

    Posted in Media-Critty, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments