Clik here to view.
How to Run a Game Part I: Experience
@Mailanka mentioned being famous for over-prep and yet always getting a feeling of stage-fright before a session in the Tall Tales channel. I'm similarly afflicted, and I think there's a dearth of good...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wiki-Showcase: What the hell have you been doing over the past month?
I had a nice, long vacation, and also announced the up-coming playtest for the action vehicular combat system (which, alas, had to be postponed, as all the actual action vehicular combat characters...
View ArticleWiki-Showcase: the Scavenger 2.0
One of the requests I had for Tall Tales was an update to the Scavenger Template. This caused a bit of controversy, because the purpose of the original is as the Psi-Wars "tech expert." The original...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review: Power-Ups 9: Attributes
Recently SJGames released GURPS Power-Ups 9: Attributes and my Patrons asked me to review it, so here's my review: Never have I seen a bigger mea culpa from a company, except perhaps White Wolf...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wiki Showcase: the Asrathi
Psi-Wars has always been an "Aliens Everywhere" setting, and one of the things I did to show this was grabbing random templates from any book (in this case, the felinoid template from GURPS basic) and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cross-Post: The Reaver's Hand as Power-Ups
I've been a backer for Christoper Rice's (of Ravens and Pennies fame) patreon for quite awhile, at varying degrees of commitment, for a long time. A lot of Rice's material has made it into Psi-Wars,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Run Games II: Seek Inspiration
On the assumption that you guys liked last week's article, here's a continuation of the series. We talked last week about seeking experience, about learning to run games by running them, but now we're...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Run a Game III: Organizing the Session
Now that you know you need to run a game to learn to run games, and that you have a vague idea of what to do, we need to organize the session. Now, you're doubtless thinking: "But Mailanka, I don't...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Musings on Mooks and GURPS Combat Encounters
As I work my way through the session planning for Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt, I find myself pondering combat encounters, and how GURPS tends to handle them. How exactly should I stat up my minions...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to run an RPG IV: Railroads vs Sandboxes
So, we know that we need to run games, so we want to get to it. We have a rough idea of what we want, and we have at least a foundation for putting together a group and getting them to show up. You...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Heroes of the Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt
So, it's been awhile since I talked about it, as I had to postpone it, but the Playtest for the Psi-Wars vehicular combat system, the Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt, is go.I had intended to give each PC...
View ArticleClik here to view.
After Action Report: Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt, Session 1
Part 1: IntroductionsOur session starts with the Calico, Xerxes'Tigershark-Class Assault Corvette. As Xerxes pilots it into Caliban, we get treated to a view of the mountainous planet below, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to run a Game V: The Shape of a Narrative
If you managed to stay awake in English class, you've seen this diagram:Or, at least, something like it. This has to do with the structure of stories, and if you're running game with a strong,...
View ArticlePatreon Special: Minion Enhancements
As I began working on the combat scenes of Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt, I hit on the idea of expanding them from the drab rules of GURPS Action (though there is much to be said for their simplicity)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
After Action Report: Tall Tales of the Orochi Belt Part II: Welcome to the Belt
We join our heroes on the Heirophant, the Arcana-Pattern Carrier of the Grand Dame. Lady Talia Sabine greets her new wingman, the Viscontess Shay Sabine and they walk together to the briefing. They...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to run an RPG VI: Narrative Flourishes part 1 - Alternate Narrative...
We've discussed a lot about narrative structures and the basics of storytelling, but "narrative" is a topic we could explore forever, as there are literally countless stories out there, all with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to run an RPG VII: Narrative Flourishes Part II - Bisociation, Twists and...
Last time, we talked about alternative narrative structures. This time, I want to talk about diving deeper into your narrative, and allowing your players to extract more meaning from it. These tricks...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Emergency Power Allocation
While working on Trader Tech for my Patrons, I began to ponder the nature of "Cobbletech" and what possible bonuses I could use to represent it. While researching and poking around, I came across the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vehicular Upgrades
Ranathim Mechanicby Dan SmithI wrote the post on vehicular extra effort so I could write this post.I've been struggling for a long time as to how to handle people kitting out their rides. Several...
View ArticlePatreon Preview: Trader Guildfleets
Quite some time ago (December 2019, I think), I created a poll for working out the technological infrastructure of the Poll-designed alien race, the Traders. I've been busy with other things, but I...
View Article