The Washington Post and several other newspapers recently ran a story on how Dungeons & Dragons is still a popular after school kid’s program. This was nice to see, since in recent years the marketing of RPGs has shifted from where it was in the early 80s when Dungeons & Dragons was aimed at an audience of “ages 10+” and the Red Box was the best selling version of the game. Other games like Marvel Superheroes and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also had a younger player in mind than the …

Peter Mullen is a Fantasy Illustrator who’s work graces the pages of many of the small press RPG books and magazines that have been published recently. I’ve been a fan of his art since first seeing the cover for Swords & Wizardry, and always pleased when he publishes something new. I’ve dabbled in drawing and painting for years, and I’m interested in talking to artists who’s work I’m impressed with.  I was very pleased when Peter agreed to let me interview him about his work and post it here at …

My son is now at an age where he thinks superheroes are pretty cool. I’ve been ordering the Tiny Titans Trade Paperbacks for him from Amazon, and they’re a pretty big hit. Especially when I read them and “do the voices”.
So it’s not too surprising that he’s been getting asking about the Heroclix minis I have down in the office and the old Marvel Superheroes RPG box that’s on the shelf. He has lots of question about what kind of games they are and how you play them.
I’m a …

Thanks for the feedback on the first part of the new combat system. Here we go beyond the basics a bit and look at how things like Dexterity, Shields, Armour and Weapons affect work. The combat maneuvers are taken directly from the excellent idea presented with Super Simple Combat Maneuvers.
I’m not entirely sure about the Armour system, but I think this might be what I want.
Dexterity Roll
Characters with above average dexterity can either roll a d4 vs opponents combat roll to block their attack, or increase any existing armour roll …

Here is the basic rules for the new combat system I’m thinking of using for our Weird West game in place of the current system (Swords & Wizardry aka Original Dungeons & Dragons).
I recognize that I’m trading some of the balance and granularity of results by considering moving from a d20 + modifiers type system, and there may be some unexpected ways this could interact with other parts of the game… but I’m okay with seeing how it goes.
This system is based around these things I like:

Reducing down time while …