Der PigDog's PigBlog

I'm ready to start playtesting my newest game, Gathering of the Tunnelmasters, or GotTM, pronounced "got 'em!". (I say "start"; I've been playing through aspects of it for 3 years or more. This is the first time I've assembled every aspect of the game.) Like any functional role-playing game, it does not provide an experience in a box. It is an instrument with which a group of skilled players, black metal samurai, can make their music.  Games as instruments  You can sell somebody an instrument, but you can't sell them its music. They do that on their own.  Some instruments are easier to learn and use than others. Some instruments are very obviously difficult to use. Some instruments have a limited range of expression. Some instruments have a vast range of expression. Zombie Cinema is a gem of a game, which is fantastically easy to learn and use, and will nearly always make something decent, but which respects the players' skill and allow...

Coup de Main, Tuesdays. I'm getting burnt out on big groups. Also, I think I need more visual stimulation while I play; ideally I'll be using video chat for most games in the future. The Bloody-Handed Name of Bronze, take 1  Bloody-Handed Name of Bronze, Codex Edition cover A cool game about bronze-age swords and sorcery heroes; buy it here .  Jay and Simon. Not very good play. A failing of dramatic coordination. We created a situation, in which all the characters were present, but failed to involve them in an interesting way. I had some pretty good takeaways for future games, though. When you're playing, you should always give a name to every single entity that acts in a scene, and you should be expansive about your sense of "acts". Feel free to switch around who plays what entity.  The Lover of Jet and Gold (name of bronze take 2, 2 sessions) TBHNoB started life as three pamphlets: The Lover of Jet and Gold, about Namedealers, Heart of Bronze, about Fated Heroes...