This is RPG-ology #19: Treasure Auction, for June 2019. A recent article by Michael Garcia, Treasure Division: A Case Study From Northumbria, got me remembering treasure division from the past. I was in quite a few games, and we had quite a few ways of doing it. In more than one group, the party leader … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #19: Simulationism, for June 2019. One of the complications of discussing whether what’s called “simulationism” in Ron Edwards’ Big Model is that even Ron Edwards has had trouble figuring out what it is. We have looked at gamism and narrativism, and decided that there are Christian values in those approaches … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #18: Waterways, for May 2019. We mentioned rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water in connection with maps when we talked about Country Roads and again when we were talking about the placement of Cities, but we barely touched on them, more from the perspective of their influence on other aspects of … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #18: Order, for May 2019. A lot of people think that lawful (and specifically lawful good) is The Christian alignment in Dungeons & Dragons™. They think this because they associate it with keeping the rules, and they think that Christianity is about keeping the rules. I would disagree on two … [Read more…]
Today happens to be the fifth Tuesday of April, and that actually creates a hole in our article schedule. I write two series, the Faith in Play series that appears on the first Tuesday of every month, and the RPG-ology series that runs the third week. Other members of the Christian Gamers Guild typically fill … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #17: With the Odds, for April 2019. A few years ago I launched the mark Joseph “young” web log with post #1: Probabilities and Solitaire, which talked about how to improve your success at that and other card games by considering the odds of any particular lay of the cards. I do … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #17: Narrativism, for April 2019. Two months back we started seeking what might be a Christian approach to what is called Creative Agenda, by discussing gamism. Our conclusion was that gamism was not inimical to Christian faith, insofar as it encourages us to be our best and meet the challenges … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #16: Creatures, for March 2019. In seeking a topic for this month, I kept coming back to one covered in Game Ideas Unlimited, August 3rd, 2001, which discussed envisioning and describing fantastic creatures. I thought of rewriting the idea for this column, but as I reviewed it I was more and more … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #16: Mourning, for March 2019. Dearly beloved, we gather today to mourn the passing of our companion Ralph, a bold adventurer who met his fate defending his friends and companions. Although we are greatly saddened at this loss, we can take some comfort in the knowledge that Ralph was a … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #15: Vivid, for February 2019. Last month I told a story of a real-life adventure on a canoe trip from which I have vivid memories. I promised that this month I would tell of another adventure. There were six of us. We had been traveling with a larger group through some underground … [Read more…]