Blog Posts

Extrapolation & Necessity

When designing Fenestra, I noticed it had no magical universities. I really mean ’noticed’, rather than ‘stipulated’, or ‘invented’.

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The Module Decalogue

Ronald Knox wrote ten rules on how to avoid ruining a murder mystery with an unsatisfying solution. They apply very well to writing and running RPG modules, with a little alteration.

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Designing around Spike-Traps

When making things, once in a while you spot a pit-trap laden with spikes, and screech to a halt to think about the route ahead carefully. When making chairs, I guess people test by sitting in the chair. Writers and RPG designers can’t get this kind of snappy feedback, so I guess we’re all a bit fumbly when testing solutions. I certainly am.

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Open Source RPGs

New RPG creators and tech-startups both enjoy giving themselves the badge of ‘open source’ without having to open up a single source file. In the tech world, they call the company ‘Open AI’, and in the RPG space, they call their licence the ‘open gaming licence’, or simply declare they have an ‘open RPG’, then let people infer their good intentions from the name alone. This simple illusion has bamboozled just as many RPG enthusiasts as tech optimists.

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