As part of my review for Call of Cthulhu, 7th edition, I ran a game of it last week after finishing a first reading of the books. As I often do whenever I want to play a new game, I used Meetup to gather players in my area (Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.). Meetup allows […]
Elder (Good) Signs: A Double Review of the Call of Cthulhu Corebooks
Before “storygames” and “simulationist RPGs,” before “crunchy” and “fluff,” there was Call of Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons. D&D was all about facing down monsters, gaining wealth and power, and telling epic fantasy stories. CoC was all about avoiding monsters, staying alive and sane, and telling chilling horror stories. D&D had tons of rules and had roots in minature wargamming; […]
Undead and Loving It: A Review of End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse
What is it with pop culture and zombies? In the introductory chapter of its new roleplaying game, End of the World: Zombie Apocalypse, Fantasy Flight Games breaks it down for you, plain and simple: Zombies are the perfect manifestation of the end of the world. Inexorable, unstoppable, contagious, and beyond understanding—whatever scares you, whatever you think could destroy the […]
There and Back Again: A Review of Rivendell
The One Ring is a fantastic Middle Earth-based roleplaying game, but there’s one caveat: the corebook only covers Wilderland, the region in which The Hobbit takes place. What happens if you and your game group want to have adventures in Eriador, where much of the actual Lord of the Rings epic happens? Now, with Cubicle 7’s latest release, Rivendell, your group has […]
One Review to Rule Them All: A Review of The One Ring
“It is the year 2946 of the Third Age, and the lands east of the Misty Mountains are astir. From the cloud-shrouded peaks above the High Pass to the spider-infested gloom of the forest of Mirkwood, paths long-deserted are trodden once again. Busy merchants carry their wares to new markets, messengers bring tidings from foreign […]
Ad Nauseum: A Review of the Kromore RPG
Tired of new role playing games trying to reinvent the genre with modern design concepts? Are you frustrated with role playing games that are trying to bring the hobby in new directions, or modernized for contemporary audiences? Well, have I got a game for you. The Kromore Role-playing Game feels like a game that wilfully and […]
Everything’s Shiny: A Review of Things Don’t Go Smooth
The Firefly RPG made quite a splash when it dropped earlier this year. The game, powered by the latest iteration of the wildly popular Cortex Plus system, was custom-built for the kind of wild action and over-the-top heroics that were the hallmarks of the TV show. I’m happy to report that the game’s first major sourcebook, Things Don’t Go […]
We Are the Night: a Review of Blood & Smoke – the Strix Chronicle
After getting my mind completely blown by the greatness that was Demon: The Descent, I decided I hadn’t had enough of the new, post-God Machine World of Darkness. And so I promptly double-clicked on my review pdf copy of Blood & Smoke: the Strix Chronicle and began reading. Did I find more of the same excellent story-gaming […]
The Devil’s Advocate: A Review of Demon: The Descent
The World of Darkness got an excellent makeover in 2013 with The God Machine Chronicle. The sourcebook, which unites the entire world under the idea of a cold, uncalculating machine that makes and ruins lives for reasons no mortal could possibly understand, evolves the early gothic influences of the older World of Darkness to the […]
Elementary: a Review of Darkly Through the Labyrinth
Despite its immense popularity in other entertainment mediums, police procedurals are a relatively-untapped genre in role-playing games. Sure, there’s the old stalwart Call of Cthulhu, but hacking that horror RPG into a game that can emulate a TV show like True Detective, or a movie like Silence of the Lambs can feel a bit awkward. Enter […]
