#RPGaDAY: What Has Been The Best-Run RPG Kickstarter You Have Backed?

Is Bat Boy a hero or a villain, a monster, mutant, or simply misunderstood?This week's collections of headlines from back issues of the Weekly World News throw up a mixed passel of gameable story hooks, NPCs, settings etc for the gamesmaster willing to inject a bit of the ...

And then, once you've recovered, here's some spoilerific behind-the-scenes chit-chat about the episode:

Our tale begins as Conan the Barbarian arrives on the shores of an unknown land, and soon meets the world’s most fearsome arena fighter - Wonder Woman. Ill-fated circumstances force them both into slavery. As they attempt to free themselves from the grips of the rich and powerful slave-owner Dellos ...

While there are a number of cine-literate members of The Tuesday Knights, and we goof around as much as any group, I don't recall there being a particular 'go-to' film or TV show that we quote from regularly.We've never been ones to rely heavily on the perceived ...

Turns out Alice can drive a mobility scooter!

This weekend, Rachel, Alice, and I attended he living history show at the county showground, Military Odyssey, and - as always - hired a mobility scooter from the wonderful people at Top Marks Mobility.

At one point I'd parked the scooter at the ...

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the legendary Jack Kirby, the visionary artist, writer, and creator who helped shape the comic book medium we know today, through his groundbreaking work for both Marvel and DC.

Plenty will be said, by more literate people than I, about his ...

Me, Nick, Clare, Steve & Pete - The Tuesday Knights, circa 2008

The single most essential tool for good gaming is a group of enthusiastic and attentive players.

You can't game without them.

Then dice, lots of dice.

The world is already ready for another celebration of the marvellous cosplayers and artists who bring Supergirl off the comic book page and into real life.Not all of these are "screen accurate" - and some are a bit saucy - but it's Sunday, just kick back and relax... there are ...

This was a bit of a head-scratcher, but in the end I plumped for good old Dungeons & Dragons.

For instance, several editions, including the current, have offered official packs of cards with all the useful spell details and class abilities on (cutting down the amount of time wasted flipping through ...

Combining two of my great loves - the original Dungeons & Dragons campaigns of the First Generation of roleplayers, and Game Of Thrones - Mike Bridges, of the Greyhawkery blog, has just published an inspirational post on how to make your Greyhawk campaigns a bit more "Game Of Thrones-y".

Continuing the Game Of ...

The facetious answer would be "cold, hard cash", but the serious answer - for me - is a simple "thank you".

Being a Gamesmaster isn't a thankless task. We wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it, and in that sense it's its own reward.

But it doesn ...

I've been psyched for this Russian superhero flick since I first learned of it back in October 2015, and now that I've finally gotten to see Guardians I have to say I wasn't disappointed.

It's far from perfect, but as silly fun goes it's hugely ...

By sheer cosmic coincidence, the print copies of latest issue of the gorgeous Black Pudding fanzine - subject of last night's #RPGaDAY entry - is now available from +Peter Regan's Squarehex.co.uk (which will, itself, be making an appearance in a future #RPGaDAY entry!)

Issues one, two, and three ...

Another week, another wonderful miniatures Kickstarter with only hours to run!

The crowdfunding campaign for Bruegelburg – A Day At The Fair (a new range of 28mm fantasy miniatures sculpted by Igor Karpov, for use in RPGs and other tabletop games) - closes its doors to investors on Sunday.

There's a ...

Random Order Creations' +James V West deserves a shout-out here for his gorgeous PWYW fanzine Black Pudding. Each issue is a work of art, a mix of largely hand-drawn and hand-written character classes, monsters, and variant character sheets for use with old school Dungeons & Dragons (and its various descending armour ...

Ethan Gilsdorf, author of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms, shows us how this groundbreaking game involving communal storytelling, dice-rolling, and imaginary adventures in lands filled with dragons, quests, elves and evil wizards actually gives ...

Who doesn't love Ray Harryhausen's Kraken in Clash Of The Titans?

Recently, I came across a couple of interesting articles collating facts, myth, and speculation on this giant sea creature.

Mental Floss has 15 Kraken Facts And Myths To Unleash In Conversation; and On the BBC, we have ...

PIPPIN: I didn't think it would end this way.

GANDALF: End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.

PIPPIN ...

An unexpected side effect of this month's focus on roleplaying games (thanks to #RPGaDAY) has been one of my readers, over on the HeroPress Facebook page, asking me a question about gaming. I've tried to answer their question as best I can, but welcome any input from other ...

I have two answers for this question: one positive and one negative.

The most "jaw-dropping" (in a good way) game layout I have seen recently is Tales From The Loop, a beautifully designed book that makes the text easy to read (and therefore the game easy to grok), while capturing ...

Grand Canyon!

For those following along at home, last month the Tuesday Knights' heroic band of secret agents (in Pete's 1980s Top Secret SI campaign) were test driving high-tech motorbikes for ORION, in the Grand Canyon, when we got ambushed by WEB agents. They stole a couple of the ...

And the usual behind-the-scenes spoilerific jibber-jabber:

As should be becoming obvious from my #RPGaDAY answers this month, my default setting for running games - like so many people - is fantasy and the lingua franca of fantasy gaming is, of course, Dungeons & Dragons.As long as I'm working in a pre-Third Edition universe, I can stat monsters ...

How do you make ghosts interesting in your roleplaying games? Are you interested in making them more than just 'another monster'? Do you add pathos and motivation? How do their powers manifest in your games?

Following on from yesterday's piece about different ways of using ghosts, Stacey Lemmon aka ...

This week's selection of Weekly World News stories is a random slice of faux reality that can serve as plot hooks across a range of genres, from superhero games to urban fantasy, conspiracy theory investigation to all-out monster hunting.

click to embiggen - and read!

Because why not?

Another easy answer: the 1977 blue book edition of the original Dungeons & Dragons (pictured above), by John Eric Holmes.This is the book that introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons, and gave me all the rules I needed in a few pages. Brevity was the order of the day, allowing players ...

This is a repost from 2011; I don't know if the issue has been addressed in more current games but I'm interested in hearing your take on this and how you would model it at your table...

A random thought I had about 'ghosts' in roleplaying games the ...

With the current season of Game Of Thrones racing towards its climax, it's time to bring back my Adventurers Wanted! feature from 2013, but with a definite Westerosi vibe to it.

Previous posts, depicting sundry adventuring parties from film and TV, can be found here, here, here, and here ...

Sköll and Hati

It's total solar eclipse day, so let's mark the occasion by examining a handful of mythical creatures believed to have been responsible for such events in the past.

From plague gods and sun-devouring wolves to fairy folk and monstrous snakes, this list on Atlas Obscura ...

"Bards of Greyhawk is ground breaking Medieval Fantasy Folklore Rock with songs about classic Dungeons and Dragons adventures in the campaign setting of Greyhawk.

Each song, tells a tale about an adventure in order to convey the fun, magic and creativity behind classic D&D adventures for a new generation."

Before international postage costs went completely insane, I was a regular(ish) costumer of Noble Knight Games, but generally the best source for old games has always been eBay... aided by a well-worded search alert and a lot of patience.

If you wait long enough, everything eventually pops up on ...

SPOILER ALERT: When commentating on the end of this eight-hour epic movie, it's inevitable that some plot details will be given away. I'll try and remain vague, but somethings will need to be said!

Catch up on my thoughts on the previous two episodes here.

The end of ...

As before, massive hat tip to Cal at Calvin's Canadian Cave Of Cool for bringing back his Mondays With MJ feature.

I have a confession to make: I'm not that big a fan of the TV show Buffy The Vampire Slayer. There was lots about the series I really enjoyed, but there was also a lot that annoyed me. Ultimately, I was more taken with the 'idea' of the show ...

Catch up on my thoughts on the first three episode here.

The bulk of the action in the fourth episode goes down in a Chinese restaurant that our heroes have retired to, in order to lay low.

Stick (Scott Glenn) shows up, having made a dramatic escape of his own ...

GOOD BUSINESS (Sci-Fi Short) 2017 from Ray Sullivan on Vimeo.

I'd like to say Villains & Vigilantes, because that would be appropriate for my superhero-heavy blog and love of the genre, but if I'm being honest - and factoring in all the different editions, hacks, clones, reworkings etc - it has to be Dungeons & Dragons.

When I was first introduced to ...

At time of writing, this is what you get at the Dragon Slayer pledge level...

You've only a few days left if you want to get in on this Kickstarter for some incredible looking 28mm miniatures suitable for use roleplaying games and skirmish wargames.

Funding for Dungeons Of Doom ...

SPOILER ALERT: I've tried to be as vague as I can on story details, but there may be some details here that you might not want to know before you see the show, if you want to enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Picking up from ...

A new faction has been introduced to Savage Core, Lucid Eye's pulp Hollow Earth skirmish game.

The Id are androgynous alien invaders suitable for use in multiple arenas outside of this game (I'm eyeing them to add to my alien contingent for a more outré Dungeons & Dragons scenario ...

The latest collection of light-hearted memoirs from genre icon and all-round legend Bruce Campbell, entitled Hail To The Chin: Further Confessions Of A B Movie Actor, are now available from all good bookstores.

Campbell is, of course, the star of the Evil Dead movies, as well as the Ash vs ...

This is a slightly tricky question. For instance, I've owned - and treasured - the original three Arduin books since I first found them through a tiny ad in the back of White Dwarf, I guess in the early '80s, and while I've never played a pure Arduin campaign I ...

Saturday is the ninth anniversary of the first meeting of The Tuesday Knights, when I ran Castles & Crusades for Nick, Clare, and Pete.

With the reminiscing brought on by my first participation in the #RPGaDAY blog event, and this momentous landmark just round the corner, I've been reflecting on ...

Godzilla: Planet Of The Monsters opens in Japan on November 17, and after that will be available worldwide via Netflix.

If you're looking to keep abreast of the latest goings-on in the world of kaiju you could do worse than following the Godzilla Movies news site.

Until the return of the Berlanti-verse DCTV superhero shows (i.e. Supergirl, Flash, Arrow, and Legends Of Tomorrow), my current viewing schedule is looking very lean:

Game Of Thrones (Sky Atlantic) Twin Peaks: The Return (Sky Atlantic) Thronecast (Sky Atlantic) The Leftovers (Sky Atlantic) American Ripper In London (History Channel ...

By 'adapting', I presume the Question Gods mean "houseruling", which again leads to a very easy answer: first edition Crypts & Things.For the longest time I thought Crypts & Things - a human-centric, gritty swords & sorcery adaptation of Swords & Wizardry - was the closest I'd ever come to finding my 'holy grail ...

Continuing my meander through movies based on video games I know little about, the immediate takeaway from Warcraft: The Beginning is that it's a million times better than Assassin's Creed.

Up to this point - barring a very short (we're talking a matter of minutes) and unrewarding stab ...

And some spoilerific behind-the-scenes waffle from this week's episode:

And a couple of scenes with actor commentary: