Author Archives: Brent

About Brent

21st Century Renaissance Man. My gamer resume: http://brentnewhall.com/rpg/doku.php?id=brent_s_gamer_resume

Let’s Play an Interesting RPG, episode 9: Savage Mars session 1, part 2 of 2

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Brent

In our 27 May 2012 session, we played Savage Mars, an adaptation of Savage Worlds for the world of John Carter. The Group: Let’s Play an Interesting RPG About the group (with instructions on joining or watching our games) The System: Savage Worlds Rules complexity: Light Availability: US$10 PDF Setting: MARS The Players Brent P. Newhall, GM (@BrentNewhall, this site) Brian … Continue reading »

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Let’s Play an Interesting RPG, episode 9: Savage Mars session 1

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Brent

In our 27 May 2012 session, we played Savage Mars, an adaptation of Savage Worlds for the world of John Carter. The Group: Let’s Play an Interesting RPG About the group (with instructions on joining or watching our games) The System: Savage Worlds Rules complexity: Light Availability: US$10 PDF Setting: MARS The Players Brent P. Newhall, GM (@BrentNewhall, … Continue reading »

Categories: Let's Play an Interesting RPG | 1 Comment

4 Reasons to Be Excited About D&D Next

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Brent

1. It’s a huge, open playtest, the first of its kind so early in the design process. Thousands of people will be publicly providing feedback on a game’s design, which will be improved and re-published for testing every month or two. 2. That design will go through designers. This isn’t an attempt to crowdsource rules; … Continue reading »

Categories: Role-playing | 1 Comment

$200 of RPGs for $25

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Brent

What You Get: Several dozen RPG products, including systems, adventures, worlds, and artwork, normally costing a total of $220. Price? $25. Why We’re Doing This: All the profits will go towards the Wayne Foundation, which fights child prostitution. That’s a pretty damn great cause. Why I’m Talking About It: I’ve put a handful of my products … Continue reading »

Categories: Role-playing | 1 Comment

What are Gaming Cons Good For?

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Brent

I attended my first convention twelve years ago. I’ve been going to cons off and on ever since, but the reasons have changed almost every year. Initially, cons were great opportunities to see screenings and merchandise I couldn’t find anywhere else. Back then, streaming video meant two frames per second in a window half an … Continue reading »

Categories: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

RPG Rx: Letting Players Drive Lovecraft

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Brent

In a thread on RPG.net, smarttman asked: I’m going to run a Lovecraftian adventure soon, and I…want to try the style of…having a small outline of events/places I want the players to see, and just kind of let the players do their own thing when it comes to exploring. Of course I will guide them … Continue reading »

Categories: Prescriptions | 1 Comment

Helping Players Play Better

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Brent

As a GM, how can you encourage your players to role-play more fully and effectively? That’s the trick, isn’t it? Let me introduce you to a tool called Drama Time. Come up with a term that will mark a switch in your game into intense storytelling mode. I call it “Drama Time.” Discuss this with … Continue reading »

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Create a Little World With Your Friends

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Brent

Microscope is a game of world-building. Grab a couple of friends and some index cards, and you make up a world’s history (or a significant chunk thereof). The game provides a helpful structure for keeping the players focused on world-building. If that sounds like fun, read on. The Basics of Building a World The group … Continue reading »

Categories: Role-playing | 1 Comment

Great Generic RPG Systems

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Brent

Many players come across a world that’s just begging to be role-played, but for which no system fits perfectly. So, how about grabbing a generic system? The following systems can be used to model just about any world or genre, and they’re all free (to various extents). d20 d20 is, of course, based on the … Continue reading »

Categories: Role-playing | 3 Comments

Let’s Play an Interesting RPG, episode 8: Dungeon Raiders, part 3 of 3

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Brent

In our 17 March 2012 session, we played Dungeon Raiders, a retroclone of classic D&D. The Group: Let’s Play an Interesting RPG About the group (with instructions on joining or watching our games) This session’s Google documents: characters and the upper-level temple map The System: Dungeon Raiders Rules complexity: Light (10-page basic book) Availability: Free PDF The Players Brent P. Newhall, GM … Continue reading »

Categories: Let's Play an Interesting RPG | 2 Comments