Endless Lands is a fantastical RPG about traveling across the titular lands. As laid out in the rule-book, the game begins with everyone sitting down to talk about what kind of game they want to play, and then building the world that allows them to do so. The campaign’s Great Threat is discussed and decided on, all before the characters are created. Character creation is not particularly difficult, and the rules are simple enough to learn quickly and master easily.

Lancer is, to quote the book: “a mix of gritty, mud-and-lasers military science fiction and mythic science fantasy, where conscript pilots mix ranks with flying aces, mercenary guns-for-hire brawl with secretive corpo-state agents, and relativistic paladins cross thermal lances with causality-breaking, unknowable beings…players adopt the roles of mechanized chassis pilots — mech pilots — comrades together in a galaxy of danger and hope.”

The system itself is quite rich. With a defensible claim to the most strategically balanced RPG currently available, Lancer is a system that requires careful consideration of forethought, resource management, teamwork, and luck. There are ranges, area-of-attacks, damage types, conditions, statuses, hit points, stress points, structure points, core powers, and more. By managing to make all the complex economies interact and play off each other in a dizzying array of complexity, Lancer manages to make each combat a puzzle.

I described FATE as a system earlier; but my description was a poor one, abbreviated to get to the point I wanted to make. The actual rules of FATE are more detailed and interesting than I perhaps first made them sound.

Characters in FATE Core have two fundamental things that influence their abilities: aspects, and skills. Skills are simple enough; they’re what your character is good at and have a numerical value from 0 to +5, usually. Aspects are simple sentences that apply to your character. “The best star-pilot in the galaxy” is an aspect, for example. Or perhaps “Never gonna take no guff from nobody.” They can be quotes, phrases, explanations, descriptions; anything the player and GM agree describes the character narratively, rather than numerically.

Richly Gothic in tone, Blades in the Dark sees you and your fellows playing scoundrels in a wrought-iron steampunk city, working together to score heists, claim fortunes, and establish yourselves in positions of power in the city. The world is well designed, providing a fertile ground for intrigues, cloaks-and-daggers, and unseen dangers. Character design is detailed, including character sheets for each individual as well as the gang as a whole. You pick your backstory, select your class, put points into your skills, and set out to make or take your fortune.

GURPS is technically not an RPG, but an RPG System. It’s a distinction without much of a difference; an RPG is at once distinct-from and inexorably-linked to the ruleset used to play it. It could be said that D&D is a system, while settings like Greyhawk, the Forgotten Realms, or Ravenloft are the actual RPGs.

At the same time you could call Greyhawk a game setting, and say that The Keep On The Borderlands module that you’re playing is the actual RPG. Or you could call The Keep On The Borderlands a pre-built adventure, and it’s not until you and your friends are sitting around a table rolling dice that there is an actual RPG, but that’s mostly a matter of taste.

What If We Kissed calls itself the “same genre of thing as Dungeons & Dragons,” and I understand the mistake.

As I said before, for better or worse D&D is the entry point for most anyone who is curious about RPGs. Unless they have a friend who is both well versed in RPGs and believes D&D is an imperfect introduction to the medium, a newcomer is first going to take a look at D&D. There’s no avoiding it.

Dungeons & Dragons, as you may know, is an RPG.

No, that’s doing it a disservice. D&D is the RPG.

Arguably the first of its kind, D&D certainly became the definitive example of the medium. It has dominated the cultural dialogue about RPGs to the point that even if you know nothing about RPGs, you’ve still heard of Dungeons & Dragons. It’s difficult to explain how ubiquitous D&D is as a concept, not just a game in and of itself: It has spawned books, clones, parodies, movies, and even a children’s cartoon show, although we can probably blame that last one on the ethos of the 80s more than any inherent merit.

You probably have an image in your head about what Tabletop Role-playing Games “are.” Even if you’ve never played one, you have a shape in your head, defined enough that you can see a group sitting around a table with dice, paper, pencils, and a cardboard screen and say “ah yes, that is an RPG. I saw it on Stranger Things.”

Welcome one and all, to my collection of all my books, short stories, posts, musings, and other little oddscrawls that crawled across my brain.

If you’re new here, you’re probably wondering where to start. If you want my recommendations:

The Macabre Tale of Edmund Moulde (Novel)

This is the book I think of when I wonder what is my best work. Is it? I have no idea, but it certainly underwent the longest period of revision and polish out of everything I’ve done. If anyone were to ask what story I was most proud of, this is certainly in the top three.

The Chains of Gods (Novel)

A more experimental work inspired by John Gardner’s Grendel. It explores the philosophies of morality and questions the ethical abilities of those who have more power than others. Can anyone ever be good if there is a power imbalance? And if so, what does that look like?

The RPG Medium (RPGs)

I love tabletop RPGs, and I’ve always believed there was something “more” to them than just a fun kids game. In this treatise, I explore the core concept of what an RPG “is,” and how — as an artistic medium in its own right — it can be used to fulfill and enrich our lives.

The Watch in the Sand (Short Story)

This is my origin story. I half-cringe at it, but it’s the first work I finished and published while I was still wrapped in the complex struggles of depression and crippling social anxiety, so it’s kinda symbolic of my being able to overcome those obstacles in my life.

Of course, you are free to browse wherever you like, but these are some of my favorites. The rest is a mix of good, middling, and experimental work that I’ve been plugging away at for over fifteen years. I upload regularly — or try to, internet availability permitting — on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday of every week.

This story was made using the solo RPG Last Dispatch, by Symbolic City. I used the Freestation Tethys template, to ensure quality structure.

Event	Roll	Cards	Result	Rescue/Promote	Discard
Background	3	5c,3c,6d	Opposition	6d	3c
1	2	7c,3s	Opposition	3s	7c
2	5	Jh,7h,6s,As,3d	Intervention	As	Jh,3d
3	3	Kd,5s,2h	Intervention	Kd	5s,2h
4	6	Kc,2c,Ac,Qs,6h,5d	Assembly	Kc	2c,Qs,6h,5d
5	3	Kh,4h,2d	Opposition	Kh	4h,2d
6	6	Jd,7d,Ad,8h,3h,6c	Intervention	Jd - Ad	3h,7d,6c
7	3	Ks,Js,7s	Assertion	Ks	Js
8	5	Qh,9h,5h,Qd,Jc	Intervention	Qd	5h
9	6	Qc,10c,8c,4c,8s,2s	Opposition	Qc	4c,2s
10	4	9d,8d,4d,9c	Opposition	9c	4d
11	6	10c,9c,4c,10h,Ah,10d	Intervention	Ah	10d,4s
12	6	8s,3s,8h,7h,6d,8c	Assembly	8c	7h,6d,3s
13	5	Qh,9h,10c,9c,9d	Intervention	Qh	9h,10c,9c
14	4	10s,7s,8d,5c	Intervention	5c	7s,8d
15	4	9s,6s,As,Ac	Opposition	Ac	6s
16	2	10h,10s	Opposition	10h	10s
17	1	8c	Assertion	8c
18	5	9s,8s,9d,8h,5c	Assembly	9d	9s,8h,5c
19	2	As,9d	Opposition	As	9d
20	4	END

B Homestation Defense has ignored recent Gleaner attempts to adjust resource distribution, taking their old share regardless. 1 Defense resists demands from Lifeboat Corp to acquiesce to new distribution 2 Spy Researcher gives preliminary research to Lifeboat Corp, who reveals political machinations and the coming economic crisis. Researchers suddenly viewed as political, Lifeboat Corp seen as “voice of the people.” 3 Head of Mining Kd holds “science round-table” with members from scientists and Lifeboats, revealing new tech/supplies/food, promising a new and better life for the station, urging unity. 4 General Ks calls a summit to officially take supply distribution out of the Gleaner’s hands and into the military. Public hearings result in new shares of supplies. 5 Head Researcher Kh speaks out against gleaner’s new tech aims, as the sentience of the planet’s ecosystem is still in doubt. 6 Scoop! Kd is ousted by vote of no confidence, Jd takes over and increases Researcher supplies to keep conversation going, while reducing Military to keep them from acting instead of discussing 7 Newly elected Chief of Lifeboat Corp uses Manifesto speech to remind station how vital the lifeboat corp is, which several agitators and radicals turn into threats. 8 General Kc is assassinated. Qd, newly formed owner of organics collection, is challenged by Xenoethicists, delaying if not halting completely operations, suggesting they are responsible. 9 Second in Command Qc is ordered to turn Lifeboat Corp into occupied martial law industry to maintain function in light of threats and assassination. 10 Gleaners push back, reducing Military’s supplies and reducing their effectiveness 11 Military withdraws defense protections from scientists during researches, blaming gleaner cutbacks 12 Peace talks attempt to find new accord with distribution and resolve ethics. Gleaner collection program is halted, giving ethicists time to study 13 Gleaners protest and refuse cooperation, but Military interceeds and ensures Xenos get their due. Gleaners seen as petty and weak. 14 Open conflict begins, but the Lifeboat Corp threatens life-support shutdown and calms with the nuclear option 15 Scoop! The Lifeboat Corp is now throwing their weight around and is claiming judicial control over the station, demanding the Defense stepdown/surrender their role 16 Xenos develop new food source from planet, challenging Lifeboat Corp’s monopoly 17 Military refuses to back down, public address threatening violence if they are not respected 18 Violent riots break out on station. Lifeboat Corp space several decks 19 Gleaners sabatoge their own equipment and wipe the database of their tech. Station is abandoned