Roleplaying
Step right up, folks, just 5,414.3 gold pieces and this marvelous short sword of +1 Monetary Discussion can be yours! That’s right, it’s time to talk about the mechanics of money in roleplaying games. This is something that has been a thorn in the side … read more »
Storytelling
In my last two posts I discussed the importance of belief, and how setting audience expectations are crucial to maintaining it. But setting expectations requires planning ahead. For episodic stories in particular, it’s impossible to plan for everything: An actor on a show could suddenly … read more »
Podcast
Mike, Oren and Chris discuss the weaknesses and strengths that come with episodic, overarching, and anthology stories. They analyze TV shows that fell victim to the Monster of the Week or the Reset Button Ending, and praise American Horror Story for being new and innovative. Read more »
Worldbuilding
What do the Borg from Star Trek, the Formians from Ender’s Game, and Gaia from Foundation have in common? They’re all group minds. What is a group mind? Essentially, a group mind is the connected consciousness of at least two individuals. There are lots of … read more »
Storytelling
In the film version of The Return of the King, Gollum falls into the lava and slowly sinks. But as it turns out, lava is much too heavy for people to sink into. Gollum should have remained on the surface and burst into flame instead. A science columnist made a point of this inaccuracy. Read more »
Roleplaying
The Mouse Guard roleplaying game is based on a comic book series of the same name by David Peterson. The basic premise is mice with human level intelligence trying to protect their fragile civilization from all that threatens it. I have never read the comics. But I love this game. Read more »
Reviews
If you’ve watched the first of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, part two won’t surprise you. While it has more action than the first, it has the same strengths – and weaknesses. If you’re looking for a powerful and gripping story you’ll be disappointed. But if … read more »
Roleplaying
Most roleplaying games have a very slow start. A game master must do hours of prep work, and players must build complicated characters. That makes it difficult to change plans on the fly, or to add a friend that doesn’t know the rules system. Fortunately, … read more »
Storytelling
People argue that critics shouldn’t complain about the realism of fictional stories, either because it’s hypocritical to critique just one thing, or because fictional stories don’t need to be realistic. It’s not real — so what if it’s technically incorrect? Read more »
Podcast
Mur Lafferty joins Oren, Mike, and Chris to talk about classic creatures. They revisit the long history of werewolves, vampires and zombies, share their favorite depictions of monsters in stories, and question whether it’s better to use existing creatures or make up new ones. Read more »
