Have you seen this book?

Howdy yall,
I was just doing some browsing through the interwebs and saw this little beauty:

and became very curious.

Have any of you read this?

Does it offer any unique perspectives?

Will it help me as a GM/player?

Would you recommend buying it?

Thanks for your input!

Hillfolk

As some of you may know, I like Indie games. Something about creativity and innovation hold a special place in my heart when it comes to the games we play.

I mean really, how many games do we need that have a GM establish a difficulty, set the difficulty rating then have a player role some dice and add a modifier?

Hillfolk is an example of one those innovative and creative approaches to RPG's that just makes me smile.

In Hillfolk you use what is called The DramaSystem to establish scenes and resolve them in interesting and engaging ways.

The DramaSystem was created by Robin D. Laws and so far I have only played out the character creation, but if the rest of the game is only half as engaging as that then it will be twice as engaging as the norm for RPG's.

The reason? It's all about the connections. Sure you have some strong points, there are even attributes to choose from that resemble our favorites from games like D&D, but in the end the player gets engaged by connecting to other players and to the situations at hand.



Check it out for yourself HERE

On a whim I spent $30 to preorder this game, I got the PDF right away and so far I have not been disappointed.

Happy Hunting!

Adventure idea (Day Seven!!!)

The Twelfth Patrol
To conclude the adventure week (which took almost two weeks to finish :) lets take a patrol around the local villages.

There is an association amongst 12 villages that have pooled their resources in order to encourage able bodied individuals to step up and protect the lands against the resurgence of The Darkbreed by joining the Patrol. Kalmer Snavel is the chief organizer of the Patrol.

How are you involved with this association?

Who has a family member in one of the villages? How close are you to them? When was the last time you heard from them?

Which one of you has joined the Patrol? What rank have you been given? What did you do to earn that rank?

What disquieting rumors have you heard of Kalmer? What did Kalmer do for you that makes the rumors hard to believe?


In this straightforward adventure expect to fight a monstrous evil amongst the confines of small towns, dilapidated bridges, and harsh rocky terrain. In addition, be ready for the underlying tones of corruption and greed within a good cause.

Happy Hunting!

Adventure Idea (Day Five)

Seems like the questions first approach was well received. So here we go again:

How did the King of Abolone hear of your aptitude in mediation?
What was your last encounter with Hill Giants? How did it end?
In Abalone one can expect hot days and extremely cold nights, what makes you well suited for this climate?
What is it that made the Hill Giants so rich?

After the King calls for the aid of the character skilled in mediation, bonds to that character should be enough to have the characters traveling to Abalone to settle a dispute between the Hill Giants and the king. If not, the thought of riches held by the Hill Giants should be enough to get everybody on board.

Here's what to expect if this idea gets fleshed out.
-A more respectable name for "The Hill Giants" :)
-A journey through the hot hills that could well end in a struggle for survival against a hungry, tenacious, and cunning Stone Cougar
-A special "move" for surviving at night in Abalone
-Navigating "Rock Mirages" where one might have to battle themselves to survive.
-A strange "Court" in which Hill Giants and men convene under the same roof. Under the table politics, backstabbing, and positioning enough to make any Game of Thrones fan giggle.


So what do you think? Would you want to see this one fleshed out?

Full Use Prep

Full Use Prep  
When I think about my games, there are certain ideas I get excited about. They are the images in my head that I can’t wait to explore with my players. But sometimes these ideas are pushed to the side by too little or too much preparation.

In response, heavyly impacted by DungeonWorld, this is my way to use just the right amount of preparation to make a game awesome. By using GM moves and the idea of scenes I hope to prepare just the right amount of content and use 90-100% of my preparation every time. (Still untested)

The Steps

1. Write the Core Idea.
• It is important that what you write for this step excites you.
• It could be anything from a showdown to the perfect clue.
• Example:
1. One day I saw storm clouds and thought “Storm Serpents”. How cool would it be to have an aerial battle between the heroes on a flying ship and giant fear sucking, lightning breathing, flying snakes.
2. Necessary elements
• Make a list of the things that must be present for the scene to be as cool as you imagined it. Try to keep it short. Each item on this list can become a shackle that holds you to a limited and unimaginative game.
• Example:
1. I needed the players to be somewhere they could see the clouds
2. I needed the storm to roll in and catch their notice
3. I needed the players to have access to their flying ship
3. Prepare for “The three times”
• There are three times during the game that you should consider, and various responses to each of them that will help you.
1. When everyone looks to you to find out what happens, ask leading questions. This will often come at the very beginning of the game, after that, the players should have a pretty good idea of what they want to do. Either way, have a few questions ready so that if they all look to you, you don’t have to make up something and convince them it is awesome. Rather you’ll have a question ready that leads them into providing buy in, which will automatically be more awesome for them.
1. Example:
1. For my storm serpent idea I came up with the following leading questions: What about the approaching storm seems more dangerous than others you've experienced?
1. One player said that it wasn’t storm season
2. One said the color of the lightning varied in color each time it struck.
3. One said the storm made his tattoo (that he got from death herself) ache.
2. When the players give you a golden opportunity, do something cool. These are the core ideas you come up with. Slide them in when the time seems right. This will give your players the sense of a perpetually moving adventure that keeps getting better.
1. The cool things I wanted to see were as follows:
1. Someone jumping off the ship onto (riding?) a storm serpent
2. Someone grabbing someone before they fell off the ship.
3. The ship being riddled with Lightning bolts
4. Teamwork, distribution of tasks
5. Storm Serpents entangling the ship
3. When they roll a 6 or less, turn up the heat. I was going to say “punish them” but that has the wrong focus. Instead think of ways that the situation can get really bad and write those down.
1. The ways I thought I could turn up the heat were:
1. Have a character lose their balance
2. Have a character hit by lightning
3. Have a character on a dead/dying serpent as it falls from the sky
4. Have an important NPC or PC get killed
5. Have more serpents than expected be there.
4. Build quick stats
• For people and monsters include:
1. HP
2. Armor
3. Damage
4. Instinct
5. Treasure
• For places include:
1. Important names and then refer back to the people :)

As always I welcome feedback. Let me know what you think!

A game I respect.

I've come to find that I may not be the most consistent blog writer. However, so long as people are getting connected, to me or each other, I'm a happy camper. So, I think I'd like to invite you all to see some of the amazing articles/writers, games, music, and people I've come across.

I'll add more as they come, but for now, lets start at the top with +Dungeon World.



If you consider yourself a gamer, especially one who loves fantasy settings then you must get Dungeon World. It won the Ennies award for best game design (I think...Fact checkers, get on that please.), has a community on G+ with over 2,000 members, and is just a lot of fun to play.

I could rave about this game all day long, but I'll save your eyes the trouble and give you just three things that make Dungeon World different from anything else out there.

1. The GM doesn't roll. You heard me right. The GM gets to focus on all the cool stuff like describing the smell of the dungeon and deciding what that nasty looking goblin wants and why he's going to stab you to get it.

2. Players are rewarded for describing their character doing awesome things. "You're going to jump off that table and kick the orc in the face?!...Awesome!!!" There are no situational modifiers, complex charts, or need for some miraculous roll. If it fits the fiction, you can try it. This makes for awesome combat scenes! Ever want to hold open the jaws of a dragon as you slash at its eyes with an axe? Play Dungeon World.

3. It feels very natural. You add to the story, then a complication is thrown at you, you add a little more to the story and a twist is thrown in, you add a little more and then someone else chimes in. It feels like a conversation among friends...which is exactly what it is!

So that's all I've got for now.

Subscribe if you want to hear more awesome things about more awesome things. I'd love to hear some feedback if you have any questions or requests.

In the mean time,
Happy Hunting!

-Matt