With the exception of cult films like Blade Runner (despite its disappointing sequel) and the success of Mad Max: Fury Road, our obsession with the end of the world has, in the past, been relatively low-key. Now, with games like Fallout and arguably the unstable climate we’re currently living in, even those who aren’t seriously […]
Which authors influenced H. P. Lovecraft?
H. P. Lovecraft is one of that select band of authors who lived in virtual obscurity in their own time, but whose influence and popularity have grown hugely since their death. Many of his contemporaries, once considered significant talents by the reading public, are now unknown. Whereas H. P. Lovecraft’s fictional world strikes a chord […]
RPG Ideas: Running games in a historical context
Tim Chant is a gamer and author (and baker) based in Edinburgh. His latest project, The Frost Fair, asks ‘what if?’. What if history worked out slightly differently. Would the world be very different? Geek Native invited Tim to suggest some ideas for running RPGs in a historical context and he stepped up to the […]
Grotesquerie as a sub-genre: a disturbing narrative or a unique perspective on taboo themes and imagery?
If you’re interested in sub-genres of science fiction, one you may not have heard much about this particular sub-genre, grotesquerie. There is not an very much information available on it and you might think it is more of an amateur fiction genre not worth serious exploration. However, it has a rich and meaningful range of […]
A game designer’s perspective: Storytelling from computers to RPGs
Based on data from the US statista homepage the sales figures for computer and videogames in 2015 was staggering 16.5 billion US dollars, whereas a similar sales figure for tabletop RPGs in 2015, according to ICv2 correspondence letter #90, was a solid 35 million US dollars. From sales figures alone, the computer game industry is […]
The Dark Void: Davide Tramma
Davide Tramma is an Italian living in Mexico and he has a Starfinder Kickstarter which has already met its campaign goals. You can check out ‘From Beyond: Distress Call’ over at the Campaign Page. Geek Native sometimes works with authors to help promote their Kickstarter. With Davide we started to talk about sci-fi genres and […]
Game of Thrones: fan theories that have gone the distance
Like it or not, the sense that GoT is building to a crescendo as it nears its final few seasons is growing pretty much by the episode these days. We’re now officially ahead of where the books ever took us up to, and so there’s something of a teetering inevitability to the idea that the […]
7 tips to building a game world on the fly
Tim Chant is a gamer and author (and baker) based in Edinburgh. His new novel Sam Cane: Hard Setdown follows the ex-con artist and ex-soldier Sam Cane as she flees to fringe of humanity’s scattered worlds and finds a whole lot of danger. Geek Native wanted to tap into Tim’s experience and unearth some tips […]
Tips for Running Delta Green from Dennis Detwiller
This post is a feature contribution from Delta Green designer Dennis Detwiller. The iconic RPG from Arc Dream Publishing ran a successful Kickstarter in 2015 and can now be pre-ordered via Backerkit. The fantastic art on display here also comes from Detwiller. Now lock the door, pull the curtains closed for safety and read on… […]
A sense of wonder in SF roleplaying games
Author Sarah Newton talks about what should really be at the heart of SF RPGs: the sense of wonder, and the conflict of great ideas. Sarah’s company, Mindjammer Press, is running a Kickstarter campaign, currently approaching x3 funding, for the next phase of the transhuman RPG. [Back this Campaign] A sense of wonder in SF […]