Mausritter Musings

We played Mausritter last night and it really felt like, well, playing. Setting matters, even implied setting, and it affects the kinds of stories we can tell.

Necronautilus review

I have never played another game like Necronautilus, and that's a shame. If you like wordplay, thinking about the relationship between memory and reality, and psychedelic fantasy in space, then you should check out this game.

My first look at Ghost/Echo

Last night, I played "Ghost/Echo" by John Harper with some friends. The video is embedded at the end of this post, but I'll explain a bit about the game first, because it's not what most people might expect. The actual Ghost/Echo page says: GHOST/ECHO is presented as an 'oracle game'. It provides only a starting point … Continue reading My first look at Ghost/Echo →

D&D Essentials Kit: the Disappointment of Icespire Peak

The rulebook and accessories are pretty good. Otherwise "Dragon of Icespire Peak" stands on its own about as well as the DM screen in the same box: it doesn't, really.

Delving Into the Odd

So right now, Into the Odd has my attention. This game has a super light rules framework inspired by older versions of D&D (even lighter than you probably think) that also lends itself well to episodic play. Each session consists of a self-contained "expedition" to recover strange magical devices called Arcana. The author, Chris McDowall, … Continue reading Delving Into the Odd →

Signal Boost: D&D YouTubers

I watch YouTube a lot. I work from home, so while I sit on conference calls on average about half of my day, the rest of the day often involves YouTube videos playing on another screen or computer. Some of those need no introduction (Critical Role, Wizards of the Coast's D&D channel, etc.) But I … Continue reading Signal Boost: D&D YouTubers →

Review: X Marks the Spot (Ixalan)

I finally got the chance to run "X Marks the Spot," a one-shot D&D adventure from Wizards of the Coast set in the plane of Ixalan (a setting in Magic the Gathering). My review follows, but you can watch the session I played (with folks I met via Variant Roles) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88RKrrgggGg NB: A … Continue reading Review: X Marks the Spot (Ixalan) →

Castle Gargantua

Note: I originally wrote this post a few years back but never actually hit "Publish". I've polished a tiny bit and put it out there because I really do like the product still today! Castle Gargantua from Kabuki Kaiser bills itself as the "biggest megadungeon" in the history of the OSR. This is a little bit … Continue reading Castle Gargantua →

Kickstarter: Nahual (Mexican Urban Fantasy)

I have scaled my Kickstarter activity way, way down over the last few years. But this one really grabbed my attention and I felt the need to back it: Nahual. (For clarity, I have no association with this project or its creators.) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1971035968/nahual-a-tabletop-rpg-of-mexican-urban-fantasy/description Nahual is a tabletop roleplaying game of Mexican urban fantasy. In Nahual you play as … Continue reading Kickstarter: Nahual (Mexican Urban Fantasy) →

DDAL07-02 Over the Edge (review)

Unlike previous Adventurers League seasons, the Tomb of Annihilation storyline provides a set of introductory missions for tier 2 (levels 5-10) characters. The module here gives players a good taste of the sorts of enemies and puzzles they'll face in ToA, and in that sense it's quite good. But it shares some weaknesses with earlier DDAL … Continue reading DDAL07-02 Over the Edge (review) →