I'm always thinking of new RPG systems, and ... well, it's a stupid thing to focus on. It's like having great new ideas for fax machines. No one needs them, there's no demand, no money, no purpose. Shut up and play with Bitcoin or something ( Read more... )

Not sure whether to post here or LJ, but I need a place for long-form content. Facebook links to everyone I know -- most of whom don't want my weird combo of political rants, comparative mythology, RPG experiments and middle-aged angst -- and Twitter is only good for links, jokes and expressions of disgust. (Hey, I like those things, but there's a ( Read more... )

First off the dock is The Long Dark, which I plowed through right before Christmas. Survival gaming at its most pure, you're stuck in the Canadian wilderness after "a geomagnetic disaster," and you have to stay warm, fed and hydrated. Animals will attack or (realistically) stay out of your way depending on your settings (I chose the latter). I ( Read more... )

I feel bad that I don't update this journal more often. Hell, I feel bad for not doing much at all these days. Occasionally, though, I feel compelled to write something. Sometimes it's out of pride, other times it's out of annoyance.

In my last entry I wrote about designing a fantasy campaign based, loosely, on sub-Saharan African cultures and ( Read more... )

Hey folks! It's been a long time, and I thought I'd write about my attempt to introduce creative D&D to a new generation.

A new gaming place called The Geekery opened in my neighborhood and they held D&D sessions every Wednesday. I attended one of them. The DM ran a short scenario, ended it on a cliffhanger and told us we were free to run own own ( Read more... )

Benji Netanyahu: "They sanctify death, we sanctify life. They sanctify cruelty, and we mercy and compassion. That is the secret of our strength ( Read more... )

It's been a while since my last video game update, partly because I haven't found many games that strongly appealed to me. The three that I've played the most have been Dragon Age: Origins, Just Cause 2 and Far Cry 3. The first was a bit dull, and had enough annoying features that I eventually lost interest. Just Cause 2 was fun in a goofy way, but ( Read more... )

xanoside posted a Death Wish clip on Facebook recently, and out of a sick sense of curiosity, I followed up watching Death Wish III excerpts on YouTube. My god, it is a masterpiece of awfulness. It would be horrifying, revolting and disgusting, a reflection of the evil, stupid machismo of the 1980s, if it wasn't so preposterous and laughably amateurish.

Click to view

( Read more... )

Kimberly and I have been watching Game of Thrones, and we both like it, although she likes it more than me. (That has more to do with personality than different tastes. Kimberly, bless her, just has more enthusiasm for life than I do ( Read more... )

Recent viewing included two documentaries, The Central Park Five and Èvocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, along with a famous episode of Hill Street Blues, "Trial By Fury." They reminded me of the angry politics of the 1980s, which in the Northeast was obsessed with crime, drugs and urban decay ( Read more... )