The Complete, Unabridged Manual Of How To Play Roleplaying Games

Has it all been said before?

The RPG internet community has roots that extend back more than two decades. Yes, it's true - people were discussing roleplaying games on the internet before it was even the internet. Shocking. I know. Go here to boggle your brain. OK... back? Now that you have read advice on gaming that is some 25+ years old... you might now be wondering the same thing: Is it possible that everything there is to say about gaming has been said? Is tabletop gaming a finite creative space? If you take the collective meta-mind of the tubes (read:teh intehnetz or teh blogezfear) - is there anything really new for the community to discover? Has the community as a whole really made any DING! groundbreaking revelations in the last few years?

I might argue NO. I might even say that everything the RPG blogging community rants about has been ranted about by thousands of people for close to 30 years. I should really post some screenshots from some early Dragon magazine "Letters to the Editor" columns... but I think you get my point.

I'm not talking about new creatures, adventures, villains, worlds, creative settings, dice, types of miniatures, or even rule systems. That's all in the field of content - which is arguably inexhuastible. That would be like asking if every story that could be written has been written. Of course... that may very be true too. But that's another issue.

I'm talking about advice. Comments, shared with others, about HOW to play. HOW to be a better game referee, GM, DM, storyteller, marshall, or whatever you call it. What works - what doesn't. How to build tight social groups that faciliate immersive play. etc. What's new? If you were to read everything that has been written before, in chronological order: at what point in time would you say "OK... nothing new here". Would it be the early 80's? Gaming has changed alot since then. Perhaps the mid-1990's? Maybe never?

Is it possible that I'm completely out-of-the-park off base here?

I'm still going to say no - so if I'm not off base, and I am on to something... then has anyone tried to make a definative guide to roleplaying games? I'm not talking about D&D For Dummies. I'm talking about something akin to Black's Law , but for tabletop roleplaying games. A reference that everyone hails as being the de facto jumping off point for further discussion. A manual on RPGs in general, in all its crazy variations on a theme that is not tied to any one game.

A manual on HOW TO GAME.

If such a book exists, please let me know. Perhaps Gygax's Master of the Game counts - but I have yet to read it yet. Have you? Is it any good?

Nevermet Press Releases Its First eBook

I would be mistaken if I didn't at least announce it once here at The Core Mechanic. So.. here it is.

Nevermet Press, the micropress game company I co-own with Michael Brewer, has release its first eBook today: Portraits of a Villain: The Desire. I'm happy to report that there are a bunch of (impartial) reviews coming down the pipe from various sources over the next week or two - so I'll skip the pitch and just provide you with the link.

You can pick it up from RPGNow.com or from Nevermet Press's very own storefront.
I'd be happy to answer any questions about the eBook, how it was made, or anything about NMP in general in the comments.

Also, as many of you may already know, Nevermet Press is a community driven game design studio. We are always looking for new content developers to work with. Artists, writers, and game desiginers, all share in the creation process and potential earnings of any content developed at NMP. Just shoot me an email and let me know if you are interested.

In the meantime -- while I may be occasionally posting about Open Game Table and Nevermet Press here on TCM -- my goal is to get back into blogging about games. I have a few drafts under development now... so look for those later this week.

Cheers -- JJ

Open Game Table, Vol. 2 CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

 

After a lengthy period of consideration, and perhaps in response to the nudging from many of the people on this list, I've decided to go forward with Open Game Table Vol. 2 for target release of Summer 2010. The good news is that Vol.2 will be released simultaneously as an eBook and with retail print distribution via Studio 2 Publishing. So, I'm looking forward to a much smoother release this time around.

Now the fun part begins.

As was done for Volume 1 - the creation of the manuscript is proceeded by two important steps:

1. The assembly of an independent peer review panel (bloggers, game designers, developers, artists, fans all welcome)
2. The receiving of blog post nominations.

OPEN NOMINATION FORM

The submission deadline for open nominations of blog posts closes January 15th, 2010. I've streamlined the submission process so that all you need to is submit a valid URL. Up to 5 per submission form can be accommodated; but there's no limit to how many you can send in. The nomination form, and more information, can be found here.

 

PEER REVIEWER APPLICATION

The application period for being a peer reviewers closes December 31st, 2009. These individuals will be responsible for reading the entries (not all of them mind you, I will spread the word count around) and interacting with me during the final decision making process. If chosen, your names will be withheld until publication of the book. If you are interested, please click here for more information and to submit your information.

 

ATTENTION BLOGGERS: If you have an RPG blog -- I want to strongly encourage you to announce the nomination process to your readers. Include the links above and what ever other info you want. The broader the net we cast for nominations, the better - so I need to rely on your help to spread the word. Getting Vol.2 off the ground is going to depend on the participation of the entire RPG blogging community.

 

ATTENTION TCM READERS: I will not be submitting anything from TCM myself. However; if I have written something in the past that you thought was "Wow! Cool!" or otherwise worthy of being included in the anthology - please feel free to nominate it! The peer reviewers all swear with a blood oath to be impartial to reviewing my content. No really.. they do.

 

One more note: Although Open Game Table does not have it's own dedicated blog or website, you can follow OGT's development progress by subscribing to it's twitter feed. Just search for @opengametable. There's also a Facebook fan page, so you can share the love on FB too by becoming an OGT Fan!

Jumping Back Into Blogging About Games

Well, I guess it had to happen sometime, right? After 5 months away I've decided to dust of TCM a bit and get back into blogging. Either I don't know how to keep my mouth shut or I'm just a gluten for punishment.

Probably both.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the Joneses and actually post some material worth reading over the course of the next few months. If yesterday's post was any indication, it's nice to know that there are still some folks who stayed subscribed to TCM even though I "closed shop" last July. Well.. it's real nice to be back.

But somethings have changed, or will change - and you'll likely find that out soon enough. The biggest change to TCM is going to be the topics covered: previously I was sorta "old school meets 4E". I've seen the light, so to speak, and the content here will be much broader. Think "Games". Not just RPGs, but games in general. Some may have even noticed the by-line of the site has changed...

probably not though. =D

After all, all games have a core mechanic, right?

Well, hopefully I'll be able to continue on and write about games in general - because I don't just play RPGs after all. I'm a gamer.

So until next time - GAME ON!

The RPG Service Industry

This may be a stretch -- a great big stretch -- but it's a "what if" that I'd like to explore: What if the a game company offered custom content for your campaign? What if this content includes all the usual features of standard RPG game supplements? What if it was awesome. Better than anything you could get from WotC, Paizo, or dare I say White Wolf... just for you. What it be worth to you?

RPG companies follow a model where a group of people sit around who are "experts" and think of really cool ideas and then put then into action. They create what they want, or what they believe will sell well (read: what their customers want) - generally - and they may get feedback from the community, tweak things a bit, and eventually publish their product(s). The end result is that you, as a gamer, are faced with either taking what they produce and ADAPTING IT to fit your own home brew or variant campaign; or buy nothing at all.

More often than not the adapting part happens just about every time. Even with new campaigns. This has happened to me countless times: I buy some cool book; try to plug it into my game and then.. ding; I end up tweaking things to make it work. Endlessly. Not that I hate this part that much... sometimes this can be the most fun of a campaign build, but...

Do I have the same amount of time for campaign development as I did when I was 20? or even 30?

No way.

What if the tables were turned and you, the gamer, could go to an RPG company and ask them to produce something for you? Custom content is created all the time in other industries for very small venues. Heck, even in my industry (biotech), companies thrive on being one stop shops for nothing but custom solutions for their customers.

Imagine for a moment the following scenarios:

Scenario 1 - The Store Bought Campaign Became Your Home Brew Campaign
Mike & Jan co-DM a campaign that has been running for several years. It started out as a Forgotten Realms campaign, but over time it morphed into their own thing. Sure, the world map is the same and there are lots of things that stayed true to the FRCS canon, but there's also tons of new, custom content that makes it their own. Now, Mike and Jan are busy people. In college they had tons of time, but now with Real Life knocking on the door - time is short, but they still want to game. They have tried shoehorning store bought adventures - but they really don't fit well. Plus, who has time to slog through the hundreds of published adventures out there?

Scenario 2 - The Genre MashUp
Bill has a campaign he's recently started with some friends that mashes up Cthulu with SciFi and Western genres. Nothing, barely, is available to purchase anywhere that fits this bill. Time is short, and adapting store bought material to this unique setting takes time. What can he do?

Scenario 3 - Your World vs. Your Player's World
You've built a great new campaign setting from scratch. You've mapped it out, designed a few cities, jotted notes about a few important groups or factions, set up various story lines, plot hooks or HEX nooks (more about those another day). You're ready to play, and play you do.. and then your players head in the opposite direction you were hoping.

OMG... your rigid campaign has suddenly turned all sandboxy on you!

Fast on your feet, you adapt your world to meet the needs of the game. Your players don't know the difference, but between game sessions you're spending hours pushing out the envelope and rolling out the campaign carpet so that no matter where they go.. there you are. Isn't this exhausting though? What if you could phone or send an email to a team of game developers and say "Hey... I need your help! I've got this game going great, but I need an adventure for next week's session and I don't have the time to put it together!"? Would you?

I know this all sounds ridiculous... but with today's super-social-networked-crazy-crowd-sourcing-meta-mind it should be possible. Right? Why hasn't any company TRIED this?

SUPER GAMES, Inc.

We outsource your needs to build the campaign you want for the game system you want.

How valuable would a custom RPG gaming product be for your game? How much time do you spend prepping for gaming each week? What if you could reduce that time to ... oh... and hour? Less?

I'm not asking 'how much would you pay' -- that's a different question. This is not about price.. because this is a ridiculous idea anyway.. it's about VALUE. What would a service like this be worth to you?

OK. You have a number in your head. Let me know in the comments.

Of course... you could also always take this approach, which I'm sure is what we are all basically doing now anyway.

Oh.. and.. it's good to be back. and.. this post is dedicated to Paul King @ Creative Kingworks. He has a mind reading machine... so he's easy to talk to. Oh, and this idea was inspired by this post which linked to this post.