The Unknown in Tim Horton’s
Shortly before Gen Con, I decided to ransom some blog posts. I’ve been feeling the urge to blog lately, and you know what they say: don’t do anything
Why I’m Cool with Phones During Games
A lot of people hate on phones at the game table, and to some degree I get that. But every time I hear someone talk about how they
A Few Words About My Friend Stepto
Yesterday, I found out my friend Stephen Toulouse—better known in so many communities as Stepto—passed away. Stepto was a friend, perhaps one of the more surreal friendships I’ve been honored with. I didn’t know him as well as I wish I had, but for some reason I struck a chord with him enough for him to
Our Empathy Problem in Tabletop Game Writing
With tech writing, my colleagues and I keep user empathy at the forefront of our minds. The emotions going into and out of a given experience aren’t afterthoughts, and what is writing if not crafting an experience with intended effect? When I talk about this in tech writing circles, I get variations of “of course,” “I
Revisiting Fate Compel Refusal
It’s more than halfway through 2017—quite a few years after Fate Core came out—and Lenny & I still occasionally have thoughts about how to tinker under Fate’s hood. Here’s the result of our texting one another last week. Let’s take one of the weakest parts of Fate and turn it into a strength. To be totally honest,
A Different Way to Play Low-Stat Characters
I’m playing in a Dungeon World game, and my ranger/cleric has a low Intelligence and low Charisma. But somehow, I’ve become the face of our adventuring party (which I’m calling the Maestros of Failure). Now, I don’t want to play someone who is stupid/clueless or bad at talking with people, because that would bore me,
