As a narrative tool for Roleplaying, the composition of character backstories is often highly encouraged by DMs, pretty much since the inception of the hobby. The benefit of playing the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons is that generation of a background is integrated into character creation, then summed up in a neat sentence or two after rolling on the tables. While I’m a huge proponent of integrating backstories into the game, it also isn’t necessary. One can play an amazing tabletop roleplaying game without one. |
Role Playing is a game where we all become equals around the table. Race, gender, sex, political alignment, religious beliefs and any other personal identifiers have the opportunity to be rendered moot (let's face it, people get side tracked and talk about whatever they want at the table; additionally, people of diametrically opposed ideals have a hard time being cordial these days). However, the random experience of individuals in real life is a hard thing to manage in a fictional character, or series of characters — not to mention it sucks when everyone else at the table is amazing and can kill swaths of goblins while you die after tripping on a stone. In order to make things more even for everyone, a way to track character progression and make story encounters equal are usually included in game systems. As great as this effort is, I take a fairly different stance: "play balance" is an illusion. Allow me to explain in two parts. The first thing I'd like to address is "play balance" by way of encounters.
We're excited to offer a few new products to you that have been released over the last few weeks. Wel'll talk about those and give you link to them in a second, but a quick update first: Happy Independence Day Weekend! For us, it's both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that the long weekend has given us the perfect opportunity to catch up on some back log and to get a few projects done, which has been awesome. A curse in that I've been sick, again (because kids breed germs like a Zombie Apocalypse) and it nailed my voice pretty hard, so no new video reviews -- we've even had to put off Retro Roleplaying by a week so I can actually run the game. As bittersweet as that has been, the stuff we've finished has nothing bitter to them.
In spite of our recent relative silence on the website, we've been pretty slammed with work. In our efforts to find a niche of products to provide, we've been offered a small gig providing spell sheets to a subscription box service! Once we get those a little more established, we'll post an update on their progress here. However, for the curious, if you follow our Facebook or Instagram accounts, you'll see more consistent updates on what we're doing. We've been showcasing a lot of props that we've been making for our games. Also, we're developing a simple card system for expressing the four main times of day for use at the table: sunrise, mid day, sunset, night. Once again, our social media accounts have more examples of the work.
Now, without further ado, here's you free map! We left this one "dirty" and without labels so you can customize it accordingly. We may post a follow-up copy after it's been given the tabletop treatment -- we paint a copy up with water colors and acrylic paints and make it look like aged velum. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, please leave us a note in the comments below. Happy Gaming! This week we have some exciting new updates! Other than the release of our map, and a personal table session (which is TOTALLY overdue), we started a new vlog series, Game Reviews in 5 Minutes or Less! Our first video is for Swords and Wizardry Continual Light. Enjoy all the awkward moments and lack of internet personality below!
We won't waste too much of your time before dropping the map on you today, but wanted to give a short update on our activities.
As in, "Be aware! There are new miniatures for your tables available!" and not "This is only mildly alarming, or whatever." So we've been getting in a TON of stuff lately from Kickstarters, deals, and amazing publishers giving us products and decided it was high time we started posting reviews. "But wait, wasn't Retro Roleplaying supposed to be a way to review games?" Yes. Yes, it is. However, we only review games on R&R, and don't really get a chance to talk about other things for your game table. Additionally, Those videos generally end up being three hours of struggling through games only to get to a more comprehensive review at the end. While we still feel this format is beneficial, as viewers are able to see the system in action as well as where there may be hang ups during play, we recognize its hard to sit through a whole session. |
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It's like Patreon, but we receive 100% of your donation and you don't have to sign up for a monthly withdrawal. AuthorNiklas has been a dreamer for many years and has recently decided to join with long term his associate, James Curwen, to bring their dreams of cheap, fun games to the masses. Archives
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