On my birthday, I try to present a magical ritual/performance for my friends. I call them “spellings.” The first one I ever performed was called “A Magician Looks at 40.” While I do write the thing down, there’s a lot of improvisation and extemperaneous stuff going on, so what you’re about to read isn’t…
I played Call of Cthulhu before I played D&D and I read Michael Moorcock’s Elric before I read Lord of the Rings. What can I say? I was always like this. I discovered Moorcock the way most people in the Twin Cities did: by hanging out in Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Bookstore. I…
Recently on my FB page, a very long chat about D&D’s alignment system came up. Instead of bitching about how much I dislike it (and whoah, do I have reasons), I’d like to offer an alternative. This is the Alignment system from Santa Vaca, my hack of the World’s Most Famous Roleplaying Game. Enjoy. And…
The Deepest Dive The Pegasus Plateau and Other Stories is a collection of adventures for players new to Runequest and its world of Glorantha. I wrote for this book. I wrote two adventures (which got squished into one big adventure) and a small environment for new players to get a foothold in Glorantha. Also, this…
A lot of talk about orks recently (the proper spelling is “ork”; “orc” is how the elves spell it with their silly hard c’s) and so here’s a story inspired by a game I ran not too long ago. It has orks. I hope you like it. * * * This is a…
(This is from a spelling I performed on my 50th birthday and part of a roleplaying game called “Secret: A Little Game about Magic,” which will be the last RPG I ever publish.) Thursday November 15, 2018 Spent all day listening to different versions of the Sloop John B. All day. The Kingston Trio version…
Unreview Rules I have to like it I have to pay for it I do my best to use E-Prime NO SPOILERS I grew up with Sherlock Holmes. He taught me the value of reason and logic (even if he did mix up “induction” and “deduction”). The quirky detective with all his faults and foibles…
My name? I do not have a name. I am called The Heinig. My people were a peaceful tribe living in the mountains. We abhorred violence, but we understood its necessity. That is why I was chosen to carry the wrath of the tribe. When I was old enough, I went with the other children…
At Gencon this year, I ran a 7th Sea LARP for about 40 people. Afterward, I got a lot of positive feedback and people asking me exactly how it worked, what game design process I went through and a bunch of other questions. Since I’ve gotten so many questions, here are some answers. Now,…
(With acknowledgement to Mike Curry without whom this story wouldn’t exist.) A bank robbery. Six suspects, all with incredible, inhuman speed and strength. Their eyes glowing an eerie cobalt blue. Fortunately for them, they decided to rob a Metropolis bank and not a Gotham bank. If they had chosen the latter, they’d all have…