Monthly Archives: August 2014

Chris Foss Hardware sci-fi adventure generator

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Matt Wedel

I finally got around to buying Hardware: The Definitive SF Works of Chris Foss. It’s a fantastic book, with tons of great art at an absurdly low price. Just flipping through it once gave me so many RPG-able ideas, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ideas, roleplaying, RPG adventures, RPG tables, tables | Leave a comment

Star Wars Actual Play Report: Marooned

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Matt Wedel

After taking a few months off in the late spring/early summer, London and I have resumed our Star Wars campaign. Back in the spring our characters, Wuta the Ewok (London) and Camie Wolfsun (me) had acquired a nemesis in the … Continue reading →

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“Post-plot cinema” and comic book movies as picaresques

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Matt Wedel

Steven Zeitchik at the LA Times titled his Guardians review, “‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ and the rise of post-plot cinema“. In the review he basically makes two claims: first, that the plot of GotG is complex, and second, that therefore … Continue reading →

Posted in Guardians of the Galaxy, movies, roleplaying | 5 Comments

James Gunn on his vision for Guardians of the Galaxy (spoiler-free)

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Matt Wedel

From James Gunn’s Forward to The Art of Guardians of the Galaxy (images added by me, mostly not from the book): I have loved science fiction my whole life. To be more specific, I have loved space epics, or space operas, … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ideas, Guardians of the Galaxy, movies | 1 Comment

Gamemastering, improvisation, and fairness

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Matt Wedel

The last post got me thinking about two roles of the gamemaster: deliverer-of-unpredictable-wonders, and adjudicator-of-contests. In Old School D&D, there was an understanding, explicitly stated in the rulebooks, that the rules could not cover every eventuality and that therefore one … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on combat-as-sport vs combat-as-war

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Matt Wedel

I’m using the classic EnWorld forum post, “Combat as Sport vs. Combat as War: a Key Difference in D&D Play Styles…” as my springboard here, so if you haven’t read that, you may want to do so before you proceed. … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ideas, roleplaying, wargames | 7 Comments

Good and cheap: H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Fiction

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Matt Wedel

I had been circling around this since learning of its existence a few months ago, and last week I broke down and bought it. There are innumerable Lovecraft anthologies out there. I have owned many of them, not from any … Continue reading →

Posted in Lovecraft, Summer of Lovecraft | Leave a comment