Tag Archives: RPG Culture

Give Me Worlds

Posted on December 31, 2011 by admin

Well, 2012 is just around the corner, so this is as good a time as any to get the ball rolling with the blog again. I’ve been writing and doing creative work (Imperial Mysteries for Mage: The Awakening is coming…

Posted in Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Gary Gygax’s Blue Period

Posted on August 24, 2011 by admin

I can’t think of anything sillier than the claim that Gary Gygax only ever liked minimalist, house ruled OD&D. He spent decades working on different kinds of games – and some, like AD&D1 or Dangerous Journeys, were pretty goddamn complicated.…

Posted in Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Let’s Play a D&D

Posted on August 22, 2011 by admin

Non-gamers occasionally use Dungeons and Dragons as a generic term for any RPG. I’ve heard it and seen it in print, though less so since the ascendancy of WoW and vintage nerd culture. Hasbro’s IP protectors wouldn’t think it’s a…

Posted in Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Unnecessary Things

Posted on May 11, 2011 by admin

One recurring criticism I hear of one RPG book or another is that it isn’t “essential,” or “necessary,” for play. Back in the Value post Eliot Wilen talks about some types of content as a “luxury.”

Luxury? Compared to what?…

Posted in Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Toy Dogma 4

Posted on November 30, 2010 by admin

So last time, I stabbed at a working definition of what happens in tabletop roleplaying games:

  • In TRPGs, participants communicate using rules and customs to establish details about related fictional narratives that are not yet defined.

. .…

Posted in RPG Theory, The Miscellaney | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

From AD&D to Alt D&D

Posted on November 16, 2010 by admin

My AD&D1e game has been a chance to designing a fantasy game in the organic, iterative fashion that formed the basis for the earliest game designs and is probably still the most common type of private game design. I’ve got…

Posted in RPG Theory, Tabletop RPGs: Art Without Prestige | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Toy Dogma 3

Posted on November 14, 2010 by admin

The first thing we need to do is stop lying.

Tabletop roleplaying game theory used to concentrate on finding ways to describe the hobby and find connections with other types of art and culture. For about a decade, this form…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , , | 40 Comments

Toy Dogma 2

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

We’ve been led astray by small imaginations, fearful, status-conscious habits and the rise of a new communications medium that lets unsuccessful hobbyists stay parasitically attached to the hobby. We’ve moved from mysterian enthusiasm to dismal certitude — and it’s certitude…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Toy Dogma 1

Posted on November 1, 2010 by admin

Tabletop roleplaying games and many (but not all) related games provide distinct pleasures, pains and intellectual diversions compared to other artistic media, including media cited as models and inspirations for players and designers (let’s just call them all “gamers” —…

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

Code of the Hater

Posted on October 21, 2010 by admin

I’m not Mister Positive. You? I think you could do better at your passion and that thing you like probably sucks. But it’s not all random negativity. In fact, it’s not that negative at all.

What people assume versus where…

Posted in RPG Theory | Tagged , , | 6 Comments