Tales of the Rampant Coyote

Adventures in Indie Gaming!

Attrition and Resource Management in RPGs

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 12, 2011

Okay, this is a topic that will probably make a lot of action gamers and casual gamers immediately start snoring. Actually, it may make a lot of people start snoring. But here I go throwing caution to the wind and talk about it anyway. It’s something I’ve touched on before, but I thought I’d elaborate […]


Filed Under: Design - Comments: 15 Comments to Read



Guest Post: The Roguelikes, Part 3

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 11, 2011

Yes, part 3. And this won’t finish it. I wonder if I should rename this blog, “Tales of the Rampant Coyote and Rat” or something.  But Skavenhorde continues to delve the depths of the roguelike dungeons, coming up with not only a short review / quick-take of the worlds therein, but a bit of development […]


Filed Under: Free Games, Guest Posts, Roguelikes - Comments: 6 Comments to Read



Because Sometimes Convention Just Works

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 10, 2011

A friend sent me a link to this article by a writer on the indie turn-based strategy game Battle for Wesnoth about – well, about why originality in story is often overrated: The Uses of Cliché The author states: “One of the most important lessons I’ve learned, and now teach others, is this: genre cliches […]


Filed Under: Design, Strategy Games - Comments: 7 Comments to Read



Guest Post: In Search of Sub-Creation

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 9, 2011

And now time for a guest post – this time from Anthony Salter, AKA GameDevDad, of Viridian Games. He’s currently finishing up work on the upcoming indie RPG Inaria, which will hopefully see release very soon now. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I did. It speaks to the kind of detail […]


Filed Under: Design, Guest Posts - Comments: 18 Comments to Read



Roll a D6!

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 6, 2011

This is pretty much the video of the week. Yeah, we could nitpick the details (like why is the DM fighting alongside the players?!?!?), and I might ding them a point for playing 4th edition because I’m opinionated and petty. But really, it’s just a good, fun geek parody music video. And no, I’d never […]


Filed Under: Dice & Paper, Geek Life - Comments: 22 Comments to Read



Design: Game Balance is Overrated

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 5, 2011

I swear I’m not writing this article to justify any laziness on my part in balancing Frayed Knights. Honest! But I sometimes think that of the failings of modern RPGs to capture some of the magic of older games (and face it: as a jaded gamer who’s been playing CRPGs for decades now, it’s always […]


Filed Under: Design - Comments: 21 Comments to Read



Guest Post: The Roguelikes, Part 2

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 4, 2011

Brian “Skavenhorde” Critser continues his investigation into popular or influential roguelikes here, in part 2.  The dude has done some serious dungeon-delving for this report, and it shows. He’s been privately sending me links to some more interesting roguelikes he’s found over the last few months, some of which have been included in my indie […]


Filed Under: Free Games, Guest Posts, Roguelikes - Comments: 4 Comments to Read



Guest Post: Hardcore Versus Casual (Versus Fun)

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 3, 2011

I may be back from vacation, but I’m not back from being lazy. I’ve still got some great guest posts to share over the next several days. Today’s guest post is by Chance Gibbs, who’s bio line reads, “Chance Gibbs once played Gameboy during a college English class, and that makes him more than qualified […]


Filed Under: General - Comments: 10 Comments to Read



You Mean Gabriel Knight Wasn’t Completely Accurate?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on May 2, 2011

My interest in visiting New Orleans probably originated with Anne Rice back in the late 80s. But sometime in the early-ish 90s, I played Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, which gave me another shot in the arm to some day visit the historic location. Some movies, stories, and playing an RPG set in Crescent […]


Filed Under: Adventure Games, Geek Life - Comments: 7 Comments to Read



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