One Year Old
Ars Ludi is one year old today, and it demands cake and presents. It seems like only yesterday that I posted the first entry, Making the Party.
what I'm working on
After over two years of development and playtesting, I've finally finished Microscope.
Explore epic histories from the outside in. Create entire worlds, then destroy them, all in an afternoon. It's a fractal role-playing game. Check it out.
random reading
Instant Names: the One-Letter Trick
Advanced Agon: Three Flavors of Myth
most commented posts
West Marches: Running Your Own (256)
Grand Experiments: West Marches (88)
Braunstein: the Roots of Roleplaying Games (48)
Don't Roll, Think (38)
Initiative: the Silent Killer (27)
Benefits of Tyranny (21)
posts by category
Lottery & The Pickup Donut (part 2)
Our Ground is Level and Our Table is Round
Pitching New Game Systems, or “Let’s play Star*Axe!”
You Will Miss That Really Cool Game
Character Monologue: Tell Us What It’s Like To Be You
Give Them Details (part 2), Gratuitous Details
Keeping the Peace: Applying Social Sanctions
Eliciting Reactions: Cart Meet Horse
NormalVision (part 2), When Should I Use It?
NormalVision (part 3), Preparing a Scene
NormalVision (part 4), Taking it Farther
Scaring Players: Creating the "oh sheet!" moment
Try Something New: the Indie Exploration Kit
gm craft / character creation:
Character Creation: Second Line of Defense
Game Plugin: Instant Rivalries
Instant Names: the One-Letter Trick
Making the Party: Instant Consensus
Making the Party: Wedge Issues
Flipping Coins: Dice for a Desert Island
Partners In Crime: Teaming Up at the Table
Play Constructively: Pass the Ball
Stepping Stones: Telling More Interesting Lies
Advanced Agon: Three Flavors of Myth
Dungeons & Doomsday Devices: Superhero Base Raids
Naming Games (part 2), Episode Titles
What is an Action Shtick? (part 2)
game design / adventure building:
Backdrop Plots: May You Live In Interesting Times
Crisscrossing Players and Plots and Not Losing Your Mind
Plot vs Premise: Running Crime Games
game design / grand experiments:
Grand Experiments: Eclipse is a Robot!
Grand Experiments: We’ll always have Lorngard
Grand Experiments: West Marches
Grand Experiments: West Marches (part 2), Sharing Info
Grand Experiments: West Marches (part 3), Recycling
Grand Experiments: West Marches (part 4), Death & Danger
Not So Grand Experiments: Dream Cantos
Not So Grand Experiments: the Battle of Chuck E. Cheese
Not So Grand Experiments: the Battle of Chuck E. Cheese (part 2)
West Marches: Running Your Own
Western Paranoia (part 1), Run Club Experiment
Western Paranoia (part 2), Tripod of Deceit
Western Paranoia (part 3), Tangled Threads
Writing Game Material: The Audience of My Audience
“How is this possible? How can I enjoy role-playing games without a GM?!?”
Choosing New Games: the Character Sheet Test
Computer Games vs Tabletop Games: Learning Curve
Developing a Gaming Vocabulary
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 1)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 2)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 3)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 4)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 5)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 6)
The Past is Never Closed, and other data storage problems
The Thesis: Practice and Escapism
Bad Trap Syndrome (part 2), Curing the Bad Trap Blues
Walk a Mile in Their Dice: The practical limitations of “Don’t be a dick”
Braunstein: the Roots of Roleplaying Games
Shippensburg Adventure Game Camp
Advanced Agon: Wrath of the Gods
d20 Point Buy – Wild Card Option
M&M PL balance: Picking up the bazooka
Rolling for Roleplaying: the Virtual Roll
“It was a gaming pyramid scheme.”
“There’s a much better randomizer that we use: human beings”
“You’d know because your flesh would start to melt from your bones!”
Emerald City Comic Con: Dance the Victory Dance
Fabricated Realities: Thing of Beauty
West Marches at Emerald City Comic Con
A Good Year for Gaming, Examined
Say hello to my little friend…
posts by date
2012
Our Ground is Level and Our Table is Round
“How is this possible? How can I enjoy role-playing games without a GM?!?”
Emerald City Comic Con: Dance the Victory Dance
West Marches at Emerald City Comic Con
“You’d know because your flesh would start to melt from your bones!”
Walk a Mile in Their Dice: The practical limitations of “Don’t be a dick”
Eliciting Reactions: Cart Meet Horse
“It was a gaming pyramid scheme.”
A Good Year for Gaming, Examined
2011
“There’s a much better randomizer that we use: human beings”
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 6)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 5)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 4)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 3)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 2)
PAX 2011: GMless Role-playing Games (part 1)
Fabricated Realities: Thing of Beauty
Lottery & The Pickup Donut (part 2)
Say hello to my little friend…
2010
Pitching New Game Systems, or “Let’s play Star*Axe!”
You Will Miss That Really Cool Game
Crisscrossing Players and Plots and Not Losing Your Mind
2009
Character Monologue: Tell Us What It’s Like To Be You
Shippensburg Adventure Game Camp
The Past is Never Closed, and other data storage problems
Grand Experiments: Eclipse is a Robot!
The Thesis: Practice and Escapism
Instant Names: the One-Letter Trick
Partners In Crime: Teaming Up at the Table
2008
Stepping Stones: Telling More Interesting Lies
Not So Grand Experiments: the Battle of Chuck E. Cheese (part 2)
Not So Grand Experiments: the Battle of Chuck E. Cheese
Making the Party: Wedge Issues
Braunstein: the Roots of Roleplaying Games
Advanced Agon: Three Flavors of Myth
Advanced Agon: Wrath of the Gods
Game Plugin: Instant Rivalries
Try Something New: the Indie Exploration Kit
Grand Experiments: We’ll always have Lorngard
West Marches: Running Your Own
Keeping the Peace: Applying Social Sanctions
Bad Trap Syndrome (part 2), Curing the Bad Trap Blues
Not So Grand Experiments: Dream Cantos
2007
Flipping Coins: Dice for a Desert Island
Grand Experiments: West Marches (part 4), Death & Danger
Grand Experiments: West Marches (part 3), Recycling
Grand Experiments: West Marches (part 2), Sharing Info
Grand Experiments: West Marches
Backdrop Plots: May You Live In Interesting Times
Rolling for Roleplaying: the Virtual Roll
Plot vs Premise: Running Crime Games
Choosing New Games: the Character Sheet Test
Western Paranoia (part 3), Tangled Threads
Western Paranoia (part 2), Tripod of Deceit
Western Paranoia (part 1), Run Club Experiment
2006
Computer Games vs Tabletop Games: Learning Curve
Play Constructively: Pass the Ball
M&M PL balance: Picking up the bazooka
Dungeons & Doomsday Devices: Superhero Base Raids
What is an Action Shtick? (part 2)
Give Them Details (part 2), Gratuitous Details
Scaring Players: Creating the "oh sheet!" moment
Naming Games (part 2), Episode Titles
Developing a Gaming Vocabulary
Writing Game Material: The Audience of My Audience
NormalVision (part 4), Taking it Farther
Character Creation: Second Line of Defense
2005
NormalVision (part 3), Preparing a Scene
NormalVision (part 2), When Should I Use It?
Making the Party: Instant Consensus
Congrats, Ben! ars ludi is one of my favorite RPG blogs — here’s to another year!
Happy Anniversary! Here’s to many more.