Cool Stuff – Andrew J. Luther

Talislanta: The Savage Land…still no elves!

Back at the beginning of 1987, a small company named Bard Games released a very cool new roleplaying game called Talislanta. Ads in Dragon Magazine loudly proclaimed “no elves…” and explained that it was for people “tired of ‘look-alike’ fantasy games.” The world of Talislanta was densely populated with alien cultures, strange races,Continue reading “Talislanta: The Savage Land…still no elves!”

The One Ring is a Work of Art

No one can deny the influence that J.R.R. Tolkien has had on the fantasy genre. Many of the elements from his books have become genre tropes that dominated novels for decades. There are countless books that include Tolkien versions of elves, dwarves, and hobbits (though they might be called halflings, or little people, or someContinue reading “The One Ring is a Work of Art”

T.I.M.E. Stories

Recently I had the opportunity to play a very interesting boardgame called T.I.M.E. Stories. The primary publisher, Space Cowboys, calls it a “decksploration” game, and that invented word actually describes the game play fairly well. The premise of the game is that the players are temporal agents of the T.I.M.E. Agency (the acronym stands forContinue reading “T.I.M.E. Stories”

Jason Bourne versus…Vampires?!?

I’m not afraid to admit that I have a problem. I buy more role-playing game books than I will ever have time to play, despite my sincere desire to do so. There are whole lines of games that I absolutely love, and for which I have purchased all (or at least the vast majority)Continue reading “Jason Bourne versus…Vampires?!?”

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”

A D&D for everyone

The Dungeons & Dragons game has been around a long time. As befitting a game with more than forty years of history, the publishers of the game (first TSR, now Wizards of the Coast) have gone through multiple editions. And while the current edition of D&D is referred to as the fifth edition, this isContinue reading “A D&D for everyone”

Blood Rage

I enjoy gaming in all forms, but my first love is roleplaying games. Having said that, I do enjoy a good boardgame. For me, a “good” boardgame has to have three elements: It has to be “fun.” I know this is a nebulous criteria, but basically I have to get a feeling of enjoyment fromContinue reading “Blood Rage”

Storytelling Card Games

Those who read this blog already know I’m a big fan of roleplaying games. I started playing Dungeons & Dragons back in 1981 with Tom Moldvay’s Red Box set, shortly followed by Dave Cook’s Expert Set. Since then, I’ve played every edition of D&D at least once. In fact, the current edition (5th) is theContinue reading “Storytelling Card Games”

Cool Stuff – Podcasts

As mentioned in my previous blog post earlier this week, I’m now following a schedule for regular posting on this blog. And this week is the first on the schedule. Let’s see how this goes… I have a lot of podcasts that I’ve listened to and enjoyed over the last few years. Some I’ve stuck withContinue reading “Cool Stuff – Podcasts”