whatdoiknowjr
What Do I Know? RPG Games and Geekdom
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What Do I Know About Reviews? The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide
This time around, instead of looking at a game or game supplement, we're going to look at a book that's all about making GM's better at what they do, as we take a tour of The Ultimate RPG Game Master's Guide. #TTRPGs
Among other things that I have a hard time passing up, gamemaster advice books are on the list. I’ve been doing this since 1985, but I’ve never felt so sure of myself that I didn’t want to check in once in a while and see if there are things I could be doing differently. I am thrilled that we live in an era where gamemaster advice isn’t confined to books about a specific system, where some of the…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? The Valiant 6 (5e SRD)
Despite only needing to wait about a month to answer my questions, I still picked apart the six pregen characters Kobold Press posted on their site to see what they might say about Tales of the Valiant. #TTRPGs #5eOGL #TalesOfTheValiant #DnD5e
Today I wanted to take a look at what we learned from the 4th level pregens that Kobold Press released ahead of the release of Tales of the Valiant. The pregens have their own names and backstories, and the company even has its own name, the Valiant 6. I know Pathfinder still has their iconics, but I kind of miss that on the 5e SRD front, so I’m happy to see that tradition revived.
I know my…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye (D&D 5e)
We're on the Eve of Ruin, so let's take a look at the prequel adventure to the next big #DnD5e campaign adventure, Vecna: Nest of the Eldritch Eye, a D&D Beyond exclusive preorder bonus.
I’m interested to see what happens with Vecna: Eve of Ruin. I’m interested because it’s the 50th anniversary adventure, because it’s in a unique position of bridging the 2014 version of the game and the 2024 version, and it feels a little like a “proof of concept” that an adventure for either edition of the games can be used interchangeably. I’m also interested because while the 2024 edition…
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What Do I Know About Reviews? Revenge of the Super-Skrull (Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game)
It's time to explore some interstellar espionage in the Marvel Universe with the adventure, Revenge of the Super-Skrull, for the Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game. #TTRPGs
I end up having affection for some strange comic book characters. Certain character arcs sink their hooks into me, and even when I don’t see the stories referenced that often, those character’s appearances always remind me of some of those moments, pulling on those nostalgia strings. I can also tell when a character has sunk its hooks into me when I start thinking of them in terms of their “real”…
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It's Podcast Day!
Nothing on the blog today except an invitation to check out the latest episode of THAC0 with Advantage. Today, Ang and I talk about adding science fiction elements into your D&D games, as well as the history D&D has with adding those kinds of elements.
If you’re interested in that topic, you can also check out Ang, Chris, and Josh on last week’s Gnomecast, talking about a similar topic, mashing…
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Follow the Thumpers to Gnome Stew Today!
No review here today, just me rambling about Dune while I tell you to go see Gnome Stew for my look at Fall of the Imperium.
Nothing new to see here today, but if you are interested, you should head over to Gnome Stew my review of Dune: Fall of the Imperium, for Modiphius’ Dune–Adventures in the Imperium 2d20 system roleplaying game. You can capture your own inner Denis Villeneuve and adapt the story your own way. But you may want to see what that entails first, and to do that, you can swing by the Stew!As long as…
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What Do I Know About Reviews? You Find Yourself in a Forgotten Temple (5e SRD)
Are you ready to wander into a lost temple potentially populated with the vestige of a fallen god, while dodging traps and discovering a long lost secret? Let's find out by examining You Find Yourself in a Forgotten Temple. #TTRPGs #5eOGL #DnD5e
One of the joys of my early D&D experiences was discovering Dragon Magazine. I wasn’t just excited to have new optional rules, I was excited because I could read ideas shared by other people running the game. Sometimes these articles would open up ideas that I would never have had otherwise. Other times, I would have a general idea that certain adventures or campaign elements would be fun, but…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? Character Lifepaths (The One Ring 2e)
We're continuing our journey across The One Ring, looking at another short supplement from Free League for the game, this time, Character Lifepaths. #TTRPGs #TheOneRing
Have you ever just sat back and wondered, “what have I done with my life?” Do you ever search for meaning when looking back on your youth, wondering if you derived any meaning from your early years, or if they are just lost to you, years that you know existed, but can’t grasp? I mean, when making your characters. That’s what I mean. What did you think I meant?
Lifepath systems have become…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? Peoples of the Wilderland (The One Ring 2e)
This week, we're going to take a journey into Middle-earth, as we gather new allies from the Peoples of the Wilderlands, reintroducing some classic cultures from the original edition of The One Ring. #TTRPGs #TheOneRing
The snows retreat, and the warm winds begin to blow again. The muddy roads reveal themselves, so that those whose hearts yearn to see more of the wonders of this world quicken in their beating. Prepare, travelers, your travel songs and what comforts of home you can carry with you in your pack. Find a stout pony, and set off for adventure, yet again!
Yes, I’m still trying to deal with winter…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? Coriolis: The Great Dark RPG Quickstart (Year Zero Engine)
You've got about a week to take a look at Free League's latest, Coriolis: The Great Dark on Kickstarter, and I wanted to take a look at it with a least a little bit of breathing room. Time to brave the blight! #TTRPGs
So much crowdfunding, so little money! It’s always tricky trying to look at quickstart rules or previews and still get something written in time for it to potentially matter for the funding campaign. What we’re looking at today should have about a week left (until April 11th, 2024) from the time this first impression goes up for you to decide what you think about this one.
Today we’re going to…
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No Posts, Only Podcasts
No new post today, save for the post which tells you about the podcasts I've been on this week. See you around soon! #TTRPGs #TheTomeShow #THAC0withAdvantage
No new post from me today. Well, there is a new post, but it’s a post to tell you what else is going on. But before I do that, I wanted to take some time to apologize to anyone that has tried to contact me via that blog.
Some of the messages I missed were due to the last half of 2023 just being kind of a nightmare. My wife had a double bypass, and we spent some of her convalescence at our…
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What Do I Know About Books? Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks - Bound for Ruin
I read a book! We're going to take a look at The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin, a Forgotten Realms novel with nary a Drizzt in sight, and not tied to a multimedia event! #DnD #ForgottenRealms
Today we’re going to head back into the D&D novel library and take a look at the most recent official D&D novel. These come out way less often than they used to, especially when you’re looking at authors that aren’t R.A. Salvatore or Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis (and Hickman and Weis only write new Dragonlance trilogies very infrequently). You know what I found out while researching this…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? One Bad Apple (Shadow of the Weird Wizard)
Today I'm handing out my first impression of the very first Shadow of the Weird Wizard adventure, One Bad Apple, and looking at what it might tell us about the setting of the game. #TTRPGs
The Shadow of the Demon Lord Kickstarter is one of the crowdfunding projects that I backed where I felt almost guilty for all the material I received, in comparison to the amount of money I invested in the project. At the level I backed, I just kept getting more and more material. Rulebooks, sourcebooks, adventures, it all just kept coming. Schwalb Entertainment also approached game material in a…
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What Do I Know About Reviews? Astonishing Adventures: The Lost Library (Mutants & Masterminds 3e)
We're going to take a visit to Titan City today, a setting that's being explored in the Mutants & Masterminds 3e adventure The Lost Library. #TTRPGs
The recent Valiant Adventures Kickstarter gave me a reason to dive back into Mutants & Masterminds 3rd edition, and I appreciated that, because I enjoyed the games I’ve run and played in with the system. Every so often I’m reminded that M&M 3e just keeps on going. It’s not always with big, flashy products, but with a lot of consistent releases.
When I was still running and playing the game, we…
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Review Today at Gnome Stew
Nothing to see here today, head over to Gnome Stew. But if you do want to visit, I won't be mad.
I don’t have a review today on the blog, but I do have a review today on “A” blog. If you want to see my review of Girl by Moonlight, a Forged in the Dark game that uses the various tropes of Magical Girl stories to explore marginalized people in a society. Spoilers for the review, but exploring the game, it becomes evident that exploring how characters with queer identities exist within…
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What Do I Know About Reviews? Shadowrun Anarchy 2050
Normally I don't reach this far back for reviews, but this poor thing kept getting put on the backburner. From way back in 2021, we look at Shadowrun Anarchy 2020 from Catalyst Games. #TTRPGs #Shadowrun
Agreements with Indigenous people being undercut in a rush for resources. A nation declaring genocide because they feel threatened after terrorist attacks. Worldwide pandemics that devastate the world, fade out of the public consciousness, and then resurge. US Supreme Court decisions that erode the legal assumptions of modern life. Russia gets into a war in Europe for trying to annex the domains…
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What Do I Know About First Impressions? Daggerheart (Beta Playtest)
It took a little bit of effort to set aside the time to dig into this, and I definitely didn't make it through all 300+ pages of the playtest, but I've got some thoughts on Daggerheart now that I've wrapped my brain around the edges.
I’ve gone through a few cycles of thoughts since I’ve been looking at the Daggerheart playtest rules. First, I was really interested in diving into it and very intrigued. Then I was a little daunted with the amount of material that was in the playtest packet. Then, for a while, I didn’t even want to talk about the game, because the RPG discourse became . . . disheartening. So, before I start…
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