Formed through what Anarchy Enterprises likes to call an 'open game development', Deep Sea Tycoon, their latest offering, claims to have benefited from the input of various beta testers and so provides 'far more freedom than the average tycoon game'. Having downloaded the demo of this game I can safely say that freedom is not everything.
GMs are central to role-playing games. They keep everything running, they regulate the rules, they write the adventures. . . so on and so forth. Basically, a lot of the enjoyment of the game comes from them. There are things they can do that seriously ruin the adventure for all involved. Note that I am not condoning these by any means; I am using them as a warning.
Armor clanked as the four paladins strode into the cell where the Orcish prisoner was chained. The first of them, a grizzled man with long gray hair and a beard, raised his torch.
I've been playing and DMing various games for nearly 14 years now. There has always been one thing I have never liked: the random encounter. I am not saying I don't think it's useful from time to time. . .characters should stumble upon random events occurring in the world, after all the world is happening all around them. Just because they're chasing the Villain Of The Month doesn't mean there aren't a million other things going on in the world as well. Bandits, monsters, and even other heroes are out scouring the world too.
Could you do me a favor? Take a moment and think about a person you probably know very well: your Gamemaster. Consider the hours and the effort he's put into learning the system, world-building, mapping, plot, character development, and just plain running the game itself. Now ask yourself, what could I do to thank my wonderful GM for all the work she's done to ensure that I have a fun evening once a week? Sure, you could take him out for a few drinks, send her a thank-you card, or just offer to pay for pizza the next time around, but I think there's a better way - or at least one that's more in keeping with what you received from him in the first place. Best of all, the alternative doesn't cost you a dime. That gift, of course, is an interesting, well-crafted background for the next character you decide to run.
Ever since Wizards of the Coast released their Third Edition of the ever-popular Dungeons & Dragons, I have always been a big fan of the ranger. I love the great mix of stealth and strength, but after a few levels the class lost most of its luster. Sure, at level one you got both the ambidexterity and two weapon fighting feats free of charge, (given you wore light or no armor of course). But after that, there was really no need to advance in the class other than for purely role-playing reasons. Sure you got favored enemies, but what good is a plus one to attack at 16th level, while your wizard friend gets meteor swarm and power word kill spells? And the spells you did get you were so far behind the power curve they were almost useless. So what is one to do?
Ever since I started playing D&D back in 1992, I've always marveled at its complexity and genius. Every great piece of inspiration has its flaws however, and D&D was no exception. I could look past them all, enjoying the game for all it was meant to be, but one thing always stuck in my mind: what the hell is a Halfling and why is it here?
Ahhh yes, another rant about Blizzard. Don't you love it? I start this off with one statement; Money Maps bite the big'un. How can you in all honesty say you're a melee-player, but have NEVER played something as simple as Lost Temple? This map is fairly much the Ladder world as it stands. . .and I've known people with 1000-25-0 records, all Easy Money. Of course, I challenge them to any map that doesn't have four hundred THOUSAND minerals per patch, and wipe the floor with them. Now I've played with great players, Random being one of them, if you know what I'm talking about, and I still don't understand how this works.
On May 1, 1996, Elfwood was opened by Thomas Abrahamsson. Orginally, the "Lothlorien" project only focused on high fantasy art done by amateurs, featuring the art of only three artists (Thomas being one of them). Gradually expanding to include more artists, in August of 1997 the Extranet was opened; before this point, all new art was emailed to Thomas who put it up by hand. But now, users could at last manage their own accounts. And that's when things took off.
Those of you who LARP in Europe may be surprised to read that most American LARPs (the ones I've been to, anyway) do not use realistic-looking sculpted latex weapons. Here in the US, we tend to use 3/4" PVC pipe covered in insulation foam, the whole thing covered in duct tape. Why on earth would anybody do this? It's easy to make a sword, and boy, is it cheap! Plus, the large surface area of the 'point' of the sword makes thrusting reasonably safe. The downside, though, is that at the end of the day, you're still swinging a length of padded pipe.
