Powergaming, or "munchkinism", is a common complaint among players and GM's alike. Powergaming is accused of turning the role-play into "roll-play", lowering the worth of other player characters, and overall making the game less fun. But is powergaming really as bad as it is made out to be? Is it truly even bad at all?
In the past decade-plus that I've been running games, I've probably read close to two hundred adventures and campaigns, both professional and amateur. Most of them were junk. Here's a campaign that stands head and shoulders above the rest. Welcome to the world of Arcallis and the Prophesy of the Phoenix.
When designing your own campaign world, life can be made easier by incorporating elements from pre-published sources. As we get older, time to sit and plan becomes hard to come by. The plethora of products available for RPGs (d20 specifically) makes this job easier, however it can be just as time consuming trying to make it all fit the flavor of your world. How can one bring together the ideas from these various products without watering down the feel of your own world?
It seems that whenever someone plays a cleric, they end up acting as an on-site hospital, healing the other characters after every battle and never really teaching or preaching to others about their religion or following their own religion's creed. This is rampant throughout the gaming industry, both in tabletop and electronic gaming.
Serenity is a movie based on a TV show that I first heard about here on Gamegrene, and it's a must-see for all gamers, since it accurately depicts (in my opinion, anyway) the role-playing atmosphere we've come to love and enjoy. Here is a review of the movie, the show, and the roleplaying game.
According to an article on Shacknews, Uwe Boll (director of the upcoming Dungeon Siege, and known for other video game movie adaptations) might become associated with one of the greatest blunders in cinematic history. An extra 5,500 reels of his latest film, BloodRayne, were distributed to theaters, a mistake that could cost someone $27 Million.
The third installment of the thrilling Nik Naks serial! Nik Naks are extra ingredients that can be added to any gaming campaign. These won't be found in the Player's Handbook on in the Dungeon Master's Guide II. They're homegrown, homemade -- they spring from the DM's mind just like Athena did from the forehead of Zeus. This time around, we cover the Timeline, the Travelogue, and The Seven Degrees of Ferranifer. Who? Read on!
Any good fantasy setting needs a sense of religion, be it largely implicit, as in Tolkien's Middle Earth, or a major part of the action, as in Moorcock's Elric tales. With the possible exception of Arthurian Legend and the Gaelic Myth cycles that influenced it, there is no "default" conception of how religion works in a fantasy world. This ambiguity leaves GMs a great deal of latitude in creating settings that are unique in flavor.
Ray Liotta has joined the cast of "Dungeon Siege," a sword-and-sorcery movie based on the million-selling PC game franchise. Liotta will play the film's villain, Gallian. The $60 million film, slated to run three hours, is currently filming in Vancouver and expected for a late-summer 2006 distribution.
People play thieves for their abilities; climbing, pickpocket, lockpicking, and in some games stealth and backstab. These are useful skills for any "adventurer" (a term I hate; it's not like you can put "Adventurer" on your resume) but there is more to a thief than just some cool skills.
