Oren, Mike, and our returning guest Johnathan discuss the pros and cons of different character advancement systems. Leveling up in class based systems, ability point buy systems, and learn by doing systems are all discussed. What is best? Who will win? Listen and find out! Read more »
The first in Fantasy Flight’s End of the World series, Zombie Apocalypse is a game about… well, you know what it’s about. The dead rise, and you must fight to survive or have your brains devoured. Zombie survival stories are natural fodder for roleplaying games, … read more »
Third Edition D&D was widely hailed as a massive improvement over Second Edition. 3.5 refined the game further but still had a number of problems. Fourth Edition made radical changes to solve those problems and created entirely new ones. Now we’re in Fifth Edition, which … read more »
In all the hubbub about Dungeons and Dragons, some of you might have missed that another venerable roleplaying game spawned a new edition this year. Call of Cthulhu (CoC) 7th Edition is upon us, ready to make our sanity drop like a stone. At time … read more »
Chris, Oren, and Jim discuss how roleplaying systems succeed or fail at implementing mechanics that match their settings. They describe why systems need mechanics that fit their setting, and spend ten solid minutes discussing a Pathfinder spell that removes your skin. Read more »
While Mike is away with a cough, Oren uses his perfectly objective viewpoint to declare which systems are superior to others. Jim praises games he can break with power combos, and Chris raves about mechanics that make GMs do all the work. They all share … read more »
Dungeons and Dragons was first published 41 years ago. Since then, a lot of progress has been made. Dice pools were invented. Many games now have social conflict mechanics. Groups who want more than a dungeon crawl have options. And yet, the same errors crop … read more »
For those of you not plugged in to all the happenings of a Galaxy Far Far Away, Edge of the Empire is a Star Wars roleplaying game by Fantasy Flight. It’s the first in a series of three core books and focuses on life in … read more »
When our favorite roleplaying character finally meets their maker, we all hope it’ll be in glorious battle, standing firm against all odds to protect what they hold dear. Or maybe they’ll go peacefully in their sleep after a long life of accomplishments. But who are … read more »
We’ve talked before about overpowered character abilities, but that was only scratching the surface of all the balance issues that roleplaying games wrestle with. It’s one thing to have character options that are more powerful than they should be, but what about the weapons those … read more »
