Uncategorized – Andrew J. Luther

How Much Crunch Is Right For You?

I’ve been gaming a long time (more than three decades), and in that time I’ve played a great number of different games and all kinds of genres. I’ve played some very cruchy (i.e. rules-heavy) games, like Rolemaster and Champions. I’ve played some games with little or (almost) no crunch, such as Wushu or HeroQuest. AndContinue reading “How Much Crunch Is Right For You?”

Betrayal at Shadewood Keep Now Available

I’m happy to announce that Betrayal at Shadewood Keep, a licensed adventure for the Mythras roleplaying game using the Classic Fantasy supplement, is now available for sale on DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. Raiding parties have been emerging from the dark Shadewood Forest to attack local villages. The paladin responsible for protecting the area is unable to stem theContinue reading “Betrayal at Shadewood Keep Now Available”

RuneQuest and Mythras

I first played the RuneQuest RPG back in the mid-80’s when my best friend ran a campaign centered around Griffin Island, a setting that had been adapted from the earlier Griffin Mountain of Glorantha fame. We spent a long time exploring the island, fighting orcs and broos, getting arrested and thrown in prison at leastContinue reading “RuneQuest and Mythras”

Free Story – Inheritance

This month’s story has a great deal of personal meaning to me. March 12th will be six years since my father passed away. At the time, he was experiencing severe dementia and was forced to live in a facility where he could be properly cared for. I wrote this story quite some time ago butContinue reading “Free Story – Inheritance”

Introduction to Sword & Sorcery

I’ve been reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series to my son and my wife over the last couple of weeks. My wife is familiar with them, but they are complete new to my son, and he’s enjoying them immensely. However, I’ve found that there are opportunities for me to read to myContinue reading “Introduction to Sword & Sorcery”

The First Few Levels

As mentioned in a previous post, I’m running a first-edition AD&D game for my son a few other kids in the 10-12 age range. My primary goal is to give them a great experience so that they enjoy the game and look fondly at the RPG hobby in the future. I’m not trying to indoctrinateContinue reading “The First Few Levels”

Writing Update – October

The Soldier and the Slave The launch of The Soldier and the Slave last week went off as planned, and all the people who pre-ordered the book received it on Sunday. On Monday, Black Gate published a review of The Soldier and the Slave by Donald Crankshaw. Donald also reviewed The Severed Oath back inContinue reading “Writing Update – October”

Novel Announcement: The Soldier and the Slave

I am pleased and excited to announce that Storn A. Cook—illustrator of many excellent role-playing game products, collectable card games, and more—has agreed to provide the cover painting for my next novel, The Soldier and the Slave. I’ve been seeing Storn’s artwork on products I’ve purchased for years, and I felt he had the perfectContinue reading “Novel Announcement: The Soldier and the Slave”

Dragonlance – Nostalgia only goes so far

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I continue to read to my 10-year-old son on a regular basis. I’ve been going back through some old fantasy books and series that I read myself when I was much younger. First was the Belgariad series by David Eddings. This time, it’s Dragonlance. I read theContinue reading “Dragonlance – Nostalgia only goes so far”

RPGs and novels – where gaming and writing intersect

The last few months saw the release of newest edition of Dungeons & Dragons, the granddaddy of the entire tabletop roleplaying game industry. As someone who has played roleplaying games (RPGs) pretty steadily for the last 33 years, this is kind of a big deal. Or, at least, it was supposed to be (more onContinue reading “RPGs and novels – where gaming and writing intersect”