The Golden Wall of Science Fiction

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 4, 2018

I grew up reading stories from the “pulp era.” I also grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons (well, once I turned 12… so reading predated the playing by a little bit). Until I read Appendix N by Jeffro Johnson, I didn’t realize there was a connection between the two. When I first started playing D&D, […]

Filed Under: Books, Dice & Paper, Retro - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Starfinder RPG — a pulp space opera / planetary romance RPG?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 5, 2017

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I finally got the chance to play the Starfinder RPG with my family. As a major fan of the Pathfinder system by Paizo, I was was pretty excited to try out their science fiction RPG. It took me a while to wrap my brain around the game. It was not quite […]

Filed Under: Dice & Paper - Comments: Read the First Comment

Simpler Dungeon Design: Consider the Antagonists

Posted by Rampant Coyote on April 17, 2017

Jeffro (of Appendix N fame) has a suggestion for easier dungeon design for old-school style dungeon delving. DUNGEON DESIGN: Start with the Wandering Monsters In some ways, what he’s really working through is encounter design. This was a bit of an emphasis in the late 3rd edition and 4th edition D&D dungeon design style of […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper - Comments: 3 Comments to Read

D20 Traveller Bundle

Posted by Rampant Coyote on March 21, 2017

Okay, this is kinda cool. I liked the D20 version of Traveller (called Traveller20 or T20), though we only played once. I’ve been a fan of several versions of the game. The “Bundle of Trouble” has a bunch of PDFs of the T20 game available now for pretty cheap… cheaper than the original hardback core rules cost […]

Filed Under: Deals, Dice & Paper - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

Pulp RPG Bundle … Like chocolate and peanut butter…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 17, 2017

Maybe the I’m the only one around these parts that might be interested in this. I’m posting it anyway, just ‘cuz… Pulp! RPGs! In a bundle! Sadly this isn’t a PC RPG Bundle*. But if you are a dice and paper gamer, this is something pretty cool nonetheless! Four dice & paper RPGs (PDF versions) based […]

Filed Under: Deals, Dice & Paper - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Mapping my Own Creative Process – How I (Don’t) Work

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 17, 2016

I think I’ve discovered something about how my brain works. I don’t know if it’s cool or stupid, or just plain weird. All three, probably. Except cool. Maybe it’s cool that I’m finally figuring it out, and now I just need to know how to adapt to it. I’ve been Game Mastering RPGs for local […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper, Game Development, Writing - Comments: 5 Comments to Read

The World of Darkness Steps Back Out of the Darkness

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 30, 2015

As a fan of White Wolf’s old World of Darkness RPG series, this is a significant thing for me: Paradox Interactive Acquires White Wolf Publishing from CCP Games The new / old White Wolf Publishing company will run as an independent subsidiary, and will primarily deal with licensing the brands. To me, this means hope […]

Filed Under: Biz, Dice & Paper - Comments: 4 Comments to Read

How much for that Palace of the Vampire Queen?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 14, 2015

Until this weekend, I’d never heard of the Palace of the Vampire Queen. It was arguably the first official Dungeons & Dragons module ever published… if you consider the Temple of the Frog (from the Blackmoor supplement) to be more of a scenario than a full-fledged adventure module. Here I was thinking Judge’s Guild had […]

Filed Under: Dice & Paper - Comments: Comments are off for this article

Frayed Knights at Salt Lake Gaming Con

Posted by Rampant Coyote on June 10, 2015

The new Salt Lake Gaming Convention is going to be at the South Towne Expo Center August 6th – 8th, and Rampant Games will have a booth there showing the current build of Frayed Knights 2: The Khan of Wrath. The playable demo will likely be the same dungeon as last time (it’s short — […]

Filed Under: Dice & Paper, Frayed Knights, Game Announcements - Comments: 2 Comments to Read

The Improv Rule for Role-Playing Games

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 14, 2013

This one may be a bit focused on dice & paper gaming today. But hey, for me, it’s all connected. One of the few “rules” adopted for improvisational acting (and for round-robin story writing exercises) is the “do not negate” rule. That means you can only build on what those before you have said, not […]

Filed Under: Dice & Paper, Geek Life - Comments: 7 Comments to Read

Whadayamean, “Turn-Based?”

Posted by Rampant Coyote on August 5, 2013

It seems to me that the last couple of years have brought something of a resurgence of turn-based gaming. Now, it was never truly dead or completely niche – Civilization remains one of the best-selling games on the planet, and it has (thankfully!) remained comfortably turn-based for all of this time. Meanwhile, most other “strategy” […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper - Comments: 17 Comments to Read

The High-Level Game: More Than Just Bigger and Badder

Posted by Rampant Coyote on February 11, 2013

Many years ago, when the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons was still current and even kinda new, Necromancer Games created a revision of a Gary Gygax module called “Necropolis” (or, officially, “Gary Gygax’s Necropolis”). This was a massive revision and expansion to an original module created for his “Dangerous Journeys” game system, following his […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper - Comments: 6 Comments to Read

Rolling A New One…

Posted by Rampant Coyote on October 1, 2012

With another (short) campaign completed, I stepped out from behind the Game Master’s screen Saturday night and joined the rest of the group creating a character for a new campaign. I really do enjoy this. I always have. I remember creating heroes and villains for Champions in geometry class while Mr. Droneburg lectured on using […]

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Dungeons & Dragons Retreats, Goes Back to the Drawing Board?

Posted by Rampant Coyote on January 11, 2012

On Monday, Wizards of the Coast (WotC, part of Hasbro) officially announced development of yet another new edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and the story has surprisingly been picked up by such publications as Forbes and The New York Times. Fourth Edition, we hardly knew you. Why change now (which still feels sudden)? Besides the […]

Filed Under: Dice & Paper - Comments: 12 Comments to Read

Roll a D20 to Hit: Using Dice-And-Paper Rules in a Computer RPG.

Posted by Rampant Coyote on July 7, 2011

In his email to me, Craig Stern referred to his article called “The Battle System I Wish RPGs Would Quit Using” as flame-bait. He argues that the old Dungeons & Dragons rules model has long outlived its usefulness. Left at that, he’s probably in good company – even Dungeons & Dragons itself has moved pretty […]

Filed Under: Design, Dice & Paper - Comments: 12 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



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