A (Very Special) Gamer Olympics

This just in from a Gen Con press release at GamingReport.com: Brand new this year – Gamer Olympics! Ever wonder if a person could accomplish some of the feats if a Dungeon Master lays in front of a role-playing character? Now is the chance to find out! Test strength by swinging a sword as hard and as accurately as possible …

Core Stories in RPGs

Over on his LiveJournal, Mike Mearls posted some provocative ideas about something any successful roleplaying game needs: a core story. This sums up the game’s central theme from a player’s point of view in a sentence or two. It sparked off a few thoughts in my own befogged brain, which I added to his comments there. So you don’t have …

Rules Rule

Yesterday I wrote the rules for an upcoming game from Mattel. By that, I mean that the game was already developed and tested. They just wanted someone to sit down and write up the rules in a polished, publishable format. It’s been a long time since I worked on a rules set for a game with which I had little …

Modern Browsers

I just got a note from a good friend who told me that he could barely read this website in his browser. He sent me a screenshot, and I could see why. It turns out he’s using Internet Explorer 5.x for the Mac. As I wrote back to him, this site, like many others, doesn’t resolve well in older browsers. …

Character for a Cause

On eBay, Loren Coleman is auctioning off the right to become a character in an upcoming BattleTech or Mechwarrior novel. All proceeds go to the American Stroke Association, through the efforts of Loren and his wife Heather. Loren’s also writing the first trilogy in the upcoming line of Age of Conan novels I’m editing for Conan Properties and Ace Books. …

E-mail Tests Work

Stephen David Wark wrote to tell me that the e-mail notifications aren’t working. After a few tests, I figured out the problem. They do work, but only if I post directly within the WordPress backend software. If I use ecto, my favorite blogging software for the Mac, the e-mail notification plugin doesn’t recognize the post. There are a couple workarounds …

Subscribe Now!

If you check the pop-open menus to the right, you’ll see a new one: Subscribe. Click on that, and it exposes a link that lets you sign up to get an e-mail whenever I post something here. That way you don’t have to surf by here every few days to see what’s going on. You can just wait for a …

Good News for Me, Bad for Halo 2

Earlier today, I sealed the deal for the mass-market game I mentioned earlier. This should be a great game and get in front of lots of people. Add that to the CCG I’m working on for another company, and it’s going to be a good year for games for me, despite the fact I spend most of my time laboring …

Comments, Please

One of the things about my WordPress setup is you don’t need to register to comment. Just click on the word “comments” beneath any entry and go. I’d like to hear more from you readers out there, just so I know I’m not typing for myself. This should make it a lot easier.

Back from LA, with Pit Stop in Hyboria

I just got back on Wednesday morning from a quick trip to Los Angeles. I can’t talk about the main reason for the trip quite yet, but it should be good for some mass-market game news sometime in the near future. While I was there, I had dinner with Fred, Thommy, and Jay from Conan Properties. We chatted about lots …