For those that do not already know, I update my Google Buzz frequently throughout the day with links and thoughts that deal with many things Geek. In order to make all of this information more user friendly, here are the highlights for the buzzes that are related to role playing games.
Sage Advice
Someone has compiled a list of 680 questions and answers from the Sage Advice column from Dragon Magazine. Looking at how questions were answered can tell you almost as much as the answer itself. For example, when asked about their thoughts in regard to 1000th level characters fighting deities, the response was:
Not much. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I will repeat: A forty-plus-level character is ridiculous.
The Roleplayer Daily
EnWorld has created a daily Instapaper type of site populated by the blog, tweets, and videos of selected individuals in the RPG world. You’re sure to find something you like.
Linky Links
Alex Schroeder maintains an RSS feed of Old School blogs called Old School RPG Planet. I get a lot of my OSR fix from this feed. In a recent post, he also pointed to a few other collections of blogs. He continues to post more Old School Blog lists.
- Cyclopeatron’s RPG Blog List – a very long list of blogs for old school-style gamers including the number followers as reported by blogger.com
- Strange Magic – a short list of blogs by Stuart Robertson
- RPG Bloggers – a longer list of blogs by Stuart Robertson including blogs listed by Jeff Rients
- Savage Bloggers Network – news and blog posts featuring or discussing the Savage Worlds RPG by Kristian
Using OD&D for Cyberpunk
Koren n’Rhys is working on a Cyberpunk set of rules for Swords & Wizardry. Although my choice is slightly different (Labryinth Lord), it’s neat to see that I’m not the only one that sees the old rules as a platform to cover new genres. You can keep up with Koren’s progress on this thread from the OD&D Discussion Board.
Inspirational Posts
There were quite a few posts this week that started the creative juices. I hope you’ll find them equally inspiring:
Seeing a Turner’s Cube evokes images of planar travel and/or horror.
Coruscate is a word that means to emit vivid flashes of light. I could see a creature like this using blinding attacks as well as having some sort of energy immunity. N. Wright of Lawful Indifferent was also inspired by this word. For him, it evokes images of sea-raiders.
Two sets of house rules showed up this week, complete with several hidden gems. One of my favorites talked about magic-users creating mushroom men. It gave me an idea for two kinds of specialist spellcaster: one is a wizard that specializes in golem construction, the other is a type of cleric/theurge that pursues the creation of life in reverence to their deity.
- From the Hill Cantons, Swords & Wizardry House Rules Compendium
- From the Warlock’s Home Brew, the Player’s Handbook of the House Rules
Here are some things you will see in a fantasy city.
Sometimes a magic item simply has to behave exactly as advertised. Here is the Falling-Down Stick, complete with lolcat sound effects.
Free paper minis for Tekumel. You can download them here.
Lastly, using the fourth dimension has always been intriguing to me.
Here is a post that describes using the fourth dimension (and maybe the fifth) in fantasy terms. Very beautiful idea. For more on tetraspace and the possibilities in a game, read the Adventures of Fred, Bob, and Emily series at this site.
Epilogue
As always there is much more in the feed than what is shared here. To get a drink from the firehose for yourself, I can be found on Google Buzz here.
