A-to-Z Guide to RPG Blogs, Forums and More

A After reflecting on the prior (and inaugural) A-TO-Z index, it needs to be more than a list of press releases, which accounted for most of the content. So the focus will be more on pointing to other blogs and message board discussions where people have something passionate and informative to offer.  Some products will still be highlighted, but there will also be a few other gems such as an inspirational place or other idea for your game.

B I don’t see The BARD’S Tale on the list yet, but Gog.com looks like a cool on-line store that lets you download vintage, classic computer games. Fallout seems to be the most acclaimed computer RPG game available at the moment.

C CthulhuTech is a strange marriage of H.P. Lovecraft’s CTHULHU mythos and japanese big robot anime series. CthulhuTech is also the first RPG by WildFire, a labor of love of just three people who created the game in their spare time. Knowing this makes the end result even more spectacular.

D Swords & Wizardry Released! Mythmere games has created a “0e” version of D&D with “a couple of tweaks here and there”. It is a free DOWNLOAD.

E EXCHANGE of Realities has some great insight into worldbuilding and plot-devising collaboration.

F FAT Dragon Games Sampler Pack is a great way to experiment with 3D buidlings and terrain in your game sesssion. The sampler pack was recently released.

G Flesh-out your game setting by giving buildings in different countries varying styles of architecture. Look for some real world examples. St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria is an awesome example of GOTHIC Architecture. And now thanks to the internet you don’t have to go there to find inspiring examples and even floorplans. Use these pictures to come up with descriptions (or at least keywords) so you can better describe some of the buildings in your campaign setting.

H My own Coat of Arms Visual Designer web-based software was updated over the weekend. (Yes, a shameless plug.) The user interface was improved so creatures and symbols can more easily be positioned and resized. But that’s just phase one of the user interface improvements to this HERALDRY design tool.

I An INTERESTING, mostly catfight-free discussion about 4e vs. 3e is What’s the most significant difference you’ve found with 4e from 3e? No more wand of cure light wounds. If anything changed the entire tenor of the game, it was the wand of clw. It meant basically unlimited healing, and if you weren’t killed outright by a blow you’d be saved and back to full HP after the combat. “We almost never have to look something up at the table.” “From DM side: It isn’t hard or complex to setup engaging encounters or scenarios. From a Player side: Combat both feels and is much faster.”

J How does one handle all the JUNK out there on the many RPG blogs wonders the Gamer Dome.
In the specific case of the RPG Bloggers site, maybe they could add a recomendation system. To avoid hard feelings, people couldn’t vote blog entries down, but people could vote any blog entries up. As someone once said, “90% of it is crap, but then again, 90% of everything is crap.”

K Stands for KOBOLD quarterly (again–it was also mentioned in the last A-to-Z for “K”.) Issue #7 Shipped! How can it be “quarterly” if there seems to be cool new stuff there every other day?

L Unnatural 20 has an article on “A Better Way to Craft Wondrous Items.” The article is general and doesn’t offer a specific rule, but it suggests allowing a ritual to decompose the essence or LIFEBLOOD (my term–just so I could get this to fit under “L”) of the item to create another item to avoid spending experience points. That is one idea I hadn’t considered when I put together my own article on the subject.

M Some 4E MYTHS have been posted in order to “try to bring some rationality into the discussion.”

N “PCGen, the worlds most flexible d20 character generation software, is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of the data set for Skirmisher Publishing LLC NUISANCES: Director’s Cut!”

O The Next OPEN Design Project has been Freedom’s Most Wanted (PDF) for a number of super-villians compatible with Mutants and Masterminds.

P The Ultimate PULP Era Gear Archive has a number of useful pdfs with pictures and system-neutral specs for many items appropriate for a pulp-era game.

Q Kobold QUARTERLY is defying their name by putting out great information (in this case an interview) more often than quaterly. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman discuss humor, character origins, collaboration, and much more.

R The Case For Castles and Crusades claims that Castles & Crusades celebrates an Old School RENAISSANCE.

S is for SUPER-Villians. Check out Green Ronin’s Freedom’s Most Wanted (PDF) for a number of super-villians compatible with Mutants and Masterminds.

T There’s a new fanzine called TROLL! It is put together by several regulars from the Dragonsfoot forums.

U In case you missed it, there was an UPDATE posted recently about the GSL revisions: “The ball is in my court and it has been for weeks. I have to get this out and until recently finding the time has been the issue. Not much has happened since I last reported anything here but it is now something that will get my attention. The changes to the license are done but it is the SRD that needs the most attention. I would like to add clarity to the who define and redefine issue. If you have questions feel free to call or email me like other publishers do (Clark and I spoke for an almost hour yesterday for example). I am not going to post these to a public forum but I will PM them to you. Bottom line, not ready yet and I’ll take the blame for it.

V RPG Blog 2 continues looking at VINTAGE Dragon Magazine Advertisements in a 4th installment of a series.

W Mad Brew Labs has done a (can it be a retro review for something that is four years old?) review of the WORLD OF DARKNESS core book from White Wolf. Even though the product is a bit old, the review is detailed and gives you a very good idea of whether or not you’ll like the game. You may even be able to borrow an idea or game rule for your favorite game system. Not only does the review give a rating, but at the end it also succinctly lists the good and the bad so you have some idea if you’ll agree with the rating.

X Looking for a bit of nostalgia? Take a look at this comprehensive overview of the classic X-series of D&D adventures!

Y Baba YAGA is based on a witch-like slavic folklore character according to Wikipedia. Maybe there are a few plot ideas or creature ideas in the Wikipedia article.

Z The RPG Site has a thread titled “Best Starship Combat Rules.” One of the games mentioned is an old favorite of mine from Ground ZERO Games called “Full Thrust.” There is a free PDF version of the game available at the Ground Zero’s website.