This is Faith in Play #15: Gamism, for February 2019. Glancing back over previous articles, I am often reminded that although I did an article on DFK—Drama, Fortune, and Karma, Faith and Gaming: Mechanics—I never addressed the more controversial three-letter set found in Ron Edwards’ Big Model, GNS. After all, what we get out of … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #14: Shock, for January 2019. About a year ago a discussion in the Christian Gamers Guild group reminded me of a couple articles I’d published in the Game Ideas Unlimited series that were lost but worth reviving. This is a recreation of the first of those. I’m pretty sure it was 1973. … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #14: Wickedness, for January 2019. In discussing Dungeons & Dragons® alignment, as we began last May with True Religion and continued looking at that which the game calls “good” in Goodness, it is important to remember that each alignment is something in which people actually believe. That becomes a problem … [Read more…]
Last November we published Overview of the Articles on the New Christian Gamers Guild Website, in which I attempted to index everything that had been posted to the site in the previous eighteen months–the time from when our capable webmaster Bryan launched the new web log-driven format through the republication of the entire Faith and … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #13: Cities, for December 2018. When I wrote about Country Roads I promised to return at some point and write about city streets. However, as I thought about it, I realized that before you can understand city streets, you have to understand cities–why they exist, why they form where they do, and … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #13: The Evils of Monopoly®, for December 2018. It is perhaps almost a joke, that whenever uninformed people begin talking about the evils of role playing games a gamer will respond with the notion of the evils of the game Monopoly®. I mentioned it myself in my 1997 article Confessions … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #12: Aphorisms, for November 2018. One of the hardest aspects of creating worlds is creating cultures. Different cities, different countries, different peoples all have differences in everything from dress to architecture to courtesy. The elves of Lothlorien have a different culture from those of Mirkwood. One article is not going to serve … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #12: Fiction and Lies, for November 2018. I once encountered someone who held the view that all of Jesus’ parables were literally true, that they were recountings of real events of which He in His omniscience was aware. There really was a Good Samaritan, a Prodigal Son, a woman who … [Read more…]
This is RPG-ology #11: Scared, for October 2018. Every once in a while I will surprise someone, that is, my abrupt appearance causes them to jump. Usually they say, “Oh, you scared me.” I always think, and sometimes say, “No, I startled you.” I always say that when the situation is reversed, if I jumped … [Read more…]
This is Faith in Play #11: Halloween, for October 2018. One of the unofficial “traditions” of the Faith and Gaming series was that in October we always talked about something related to magic. It happened entirely by coincidence (and we have discussed that recently) the first year, and thereafter I looked for topics for October. … [Read more…]