October 6

Kickstarter – Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game

Originally released as a softback book with a campaign supplement that followed soon after Delta Green for me combined two elements I really love; the Cthlhu mythos and the conspiracy genre.  Where games like Dark Conspiracy and Conspiracy X both shine in their own niches, only Delta Green brought the mythos bang up to date.  It is a very different beast than Cthulhu Now which was the official modern day sourcebook for CoC and it taps into the idea that aliens have visited Earth using spaceships.

Now they are releasing a stand alone game which builds upon the work that has gone beforehand and it really does stand on the shoulders of giants.  There are various pledge levels available, enough to suit each persons pocket.

August 13

#RPGaDAY2015 – Day Eleven: Favourite RPG Writer

As the month has progressed I’m finding it harder and harder to answer these questions which is a good thing.  I find there is no challenge to be had  writing about something if it is easy when you can write about something that makes you think.

I am tempted to name one of my friends here but I believe that is cheating and so I won’t stoop so low.  There is one writer who really got me interested in the whole conspiracy genre and he was a prolific writer so I have many of his books; I say late because he died in 1995 aged 35.  I am referring to Nigel D Findley.

I wish Nigel was still here beavering away at his keyboard writing some new project or game supplement.   I only regret not buying the Shadowrun supplement Universal Brotherhood as that was one hell of a sourcebook and it is a shame that I don’t have it as I never got around to finish reading it.

Gurps Illuminati really opened my eyes to the whole conspiracy genre which had me seek out Conspiracy X  and eventually do some freelancing work for Eden Studios on one of their unreleased supplements for Conspiracy X.

 

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April 1

April 1st – The Silly Season

With the 1st of April once more upon us I had to find out what the latest practical jokes were being offered to the internet.

It seems that the rapid expansion of the world wide web has led to April 1st being used as a media circus to promote things that sound plausible enough to be real but are utter hogwash.  You would think that people would be able to search online to verify the facts being presented to them but that doesn’t often appear to be the case.

Which made me wonder, what if some of these ideas could be real?  Take any one you like from the current crop or an event from the past and present it in your game world as a truth, then you have something to expand upon your campaign.

What if spaghetti was in fact grown on trees and harvested for food?  Think of the fun you could have when the crop is threatened with a beetle that likes to eat a food staple.

What if there was a translation system for pets that enabled you to talk to the animals?

How about an army of pigeons that classify search results?

I used to purchase a popular American tabloid and I mined that for campaign ideas for Dark Conspiracy and Conspiracy X; some of the articles were very inspiring indeed.

Plenty of campaign fodder there to spice up a dull session

December 18

Designers & Dragons

Last August I backed a successful Kickstarter for a series of books called  Designers & Dragons, a four volume set detailing the history of the tabletop gaming industry.  So why am I bothering to mention a four month old completed Kicstarter?

Because I was able to furnish the author with scans of books he was after and when I got to the ’90s book I saw my name listed among the people who scanned their books for him to use.  So if you have a copy of the book, find page 381 and you can see my name in Appendix II.

Besides blowing my own trumpet for a few moments, the books are very well written and take a different approach than say the academic route taken by Playing at the World, another excellent read but it can be heavy going in places.

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