Today marks the release of Winter’s Embrace, a winter court adventure I wrote for the 5th Edition of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game. It’s one of writing projects I’m most proud of and the one I had the most fun writing (besides the development work on core rulebook itself). If you noticed me gushing about my progress on #ProjectDatingSim on Twitter, then you saw how much excitement Winter’s Embrace inspired as it took shape. For me, the concept of the winter court has always been one of the biggest draws the L5R RPG had to offer. The endless...
You don’t need to be familiar with James D’Amato’s One Shot podcast in order to have a blast with the The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide, released this month from Adams Media. Ability Scores Title: The Ultimate RPG Character Backstory Guide Author: James D’Amato Page count: 272 Price: $14.99 Softcover, $10.99 Kindle edition Dimensions: 5.5” x 8.4” ISBN-13: 978-1507208373 Publisher: Adams Media Publication Date: October 2, 2018 Ramp up your role-playing game and make your character your own with this fun, interactive workbook—an essential addition to any RPG...
The game master wears a lot of hats—that of group leader to storyteller to rules adjudicator, and so on—but it surprised even me how much overlap there was running a game and teaching a class. When I was prepping to run my “Agency and Narrative in Games” workshop with Bree Kaiser-Powers for the Glitch Immersion Program, I wanted to learn more about being a teacher and connecting with students. Though I’m no certified educator, I found the recommendations in Dave Brugess’s Teach Like a Pirate book to be invaluable, not only for teaching workshops, but also for...
Image Credit: CDProjekt It’s finally October, which is the perfect time to cue up a dark, moody playlist and work on some RPG adventures to match! (Might I recommend my Dark Lakes, Dark Gods playlist on Spotify?) If you’ve played any Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Dark Heresy, or Witcher games, you know there’s a distinctly grimdark, gritty feel to those games. With a few tricks, you can bring some of that depth and despair to your own games. But GM beware: it’s a fine line to walk between simply punishing your players and making a game with...
Yesterday, the free beta PDF of the fifth edition of the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game was released! I’ve been working on it alongside lead designer Max Brooke, and we’re tremendously excited to dive into the beta playtesting stage. The core mechanic should be both fresh and familiar to returning players, and for new players, we hope that it inspires a whole new generation. If you’re curious about what the new edition of the L5R RPG is all about, and how it’s similar and what’s different, read the below excerpt from the...
