BIND's Magic, Part I
My third BIND campaign ended in glorious disaster and nonsense which forced me to reforge magic.
Read MoreWeaving Stories
My RPG games follow a format which avoids railroading, without any need for elaborate settings or difficult NPC relations. I call it ‘story weaving’, because it lets me stretch the metaphor.
Read MoreThe Joys of Automation
I don’t think any sane individual could write something like BIND without automation tools. Games with a similar scope require a team.
Read MoreHaving a Bash at Travel in BIND
They say you have to playtest, but they forget that I’m a lazy man, so when it came to travel rules, I didn’t feel like simulating a bunch of journeys. So it’s time to get the computer to do the work for me.
Read MoreExtrapolation & Necessity
When designing Fenestra, I noticed it had no magical universities. I really mean ’noticed’, rather than ‘stipulated’, or ‘invented’.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreDesigning 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.
Read MorePrint it Yourself
I’ve decided against having online printing available for BIND. This may change, but here’s the thinking so far:
Read MoreConsumers of BIND
I’ve rather gone off the notion of ‘collectibles’. Collectible RPG books are special because they can’t meet the demand. We can’t all have a copy of those original D&D books, or whatever swanky thing White Wolf brought out with the expensive full-page art.
Read MoreSubraces Should be Cultures
Referring to elves as a ‘race’ makes perfect sense. They’re clearly different from the other humanoids, have their own features, and biological properties and oddities.1
Read MoreSpreadsheets are Great
Whenever I’m unsure about a rule, I pull out a basic spreadsheet, and start populating numbers.
Read MoreFate Points in BIND
Remember that book or film where the protagonist received a nasty wound, then persevered, and won the day? Well that can’t happen in RPGs, and that’s a shame. So my solution is Fate Points (FP).
Read MoreThe OGL is not Open
The Open Gaming Licence (OGL) does not in fact produce terribly open games, so I wish people would stop referring to such RPGs as ‘open source’.
Read More