ars ludi

Ever wonder if you’ve read every single ars ludi post? Afraid you might have missed some gold? Well to make it easy for you I’ve added a chronological list of every single ars ludi post. But pack a lunch before you head out because there are over 300 of them all the way back to 2005.

Talk about a walk down memory lane. I’m pretty sure I’ve read them all. Pretty sure.

Now I just need a way to flag the classics…

UPDATE: Lo and behold, the classics are marked. I’ll probably refine the list over time but right now those are the best of the best. I added separate icons for favorite articles and epic game summaries.

I’m going to be on a stack of panels at Norwescon. To wit:

System Matters: The Right RPG for the Job (Fri 1-2 pm)
Like the invisible hand of fate, the rules you use weigh on every aspect of your game sometimes in ways you aren’t even aware of. Are you using the right tool for the job, or do you always use the same hammer for every task? You may be sabotaging your game before you even sit down at the table.
John Harper, Ben Robbins, Chris Pramas, Aveloc Twiceborn, Ryan Macklin

GM-less Role Playing Games (Sat 1-2 pm)
Or “Oh my god who’s running this game?!?” Good GMs are awesome but you don’t need a GM to play an awesome game. Explore games designed to play with no GM, like Fiasco, Shock and Microscope. Whether you’ve never played a GM-less game before or you’re already an expert, come examine what makes them tick and stretch your gaming muscles. Microscope creator Ben Robbins gives an introduction to GM-less Role-Playing games.

D&D vs Story Games (Sat 2-3 pm)
D&D and Pathfinder may be the most well-known role-playing games, but indie games like Fiasco and Polaris are becoming more popular. Can these two genres co-exist in the same room together? What do they have in common, and what are the benefits and limitations of each style of play? Is it possible to like both? Industry experts and indie creators discuss the differences between traditional tabletop role-playing games, GM-less story games, and everything in between.
Ashley Cook, Ben Robbins, Erik Mona, John Harper, Jonathan Tweet, Ryan Macklin

Women in Gaming Communities (Sat 6-7 pm)
Gender inequality among gamers continues to be a frequent topic. Women and girl gamers often feel unwelcome in the boys club, and gamers can be clueless or dismissive of gender inequality. What are some successful ways to get women into gaming? What are some things to avoid? How can event organizers and game designers make women that show up more comfortable?
Lillian Cohen-Moore, Ashley Cook, Ben Robbins, Gwen Yeh, Mickey Schulz

Apocalypse World: The New Rosetta Stone of GMing? (Sat 7-8 pm)
Hidden in between the crowbars, shotguns and radioactive mutants, Vincent Baker (Dogs in the Vineyard, In A Wicked Age) snuck in a doctoral thesis dissecting the fundamental nature of what GMs have been doing since the dawn of RPGs. Forget vague gaming advice: this is step-by-step method. Learn how you can take the lessons of Apocalypse World and calmly whoop ass and bring fun in any game you run.
Ben Robbins, John Harper, Ogre Whiteside

Running a Sandbox RPG (Sat 8-9 pm)
Sandbox RPGs put the players in the driver’s seat. Hop off the railroad and go where you want, do what you want. But GMing a good sandbox requires iron discipline and a solemn oath to follow a very different set of rules than most RPGs. Learn the dark secrets of running a successful sandbox game and not falling back into dangerously “normal” GMing habits.
Erik Scott de Bie, Ben Robbins, Clinton J. Boomer, Erik Mona, John Harper

And no, your eyes do not deceive you: there’s a lot more indie gaming content in the role-playing games track this year. Will it be awesome? Come and find out.

For bonus points guess which of these panel descriptions I wrote. Difficulty level: T1 Village of Hommlet.

How fast can the Story Games Seattle squad go from zero to sixty when it comes to busting out a big can of con gaming goodness? We now know definitively that the answer is: extremely fast indeed.

Despite getting the green light at the last minute our troops assumed battle formation and rocked games all weekend long. Forty-five games total including Fiasco, Microscope, Zombie Cinema, Durance, Quiet Year, Shock, Dungeon World, Polaris, Coyote Won’t Talk, InSpectres, Kaleidoscope, Baron Munchausen, Remember Tomorrow and Serpent’s Tooth.

I’ll be honest: I didn’t think anyone was going to show up. I expected all our facilitators to sit around and entertain each other. Yep, I said the same thing last year but this year I had a very good reason to be worried: there was nothing about the gaming area on the Emerald City Comic Con web site (there still isn’t). No one had any way to know we existed and we didn’t have any gaming panels to spread the word. As the weekend went on some signs went up telling people there was gaming on the lower level but that was a pretty late fix. No one would know to come to ECCC to game.

But despite that, even if it wasn’t the apocalyptic deluge of gamers we got last year we got a solid stream of people looking to game, including a surprising number of people who had never played role-playing games before but who (inexplicably) seriously, definitely, absolutely wanted to sit down right now and play some of these newfangled story games. Brave and, as it turns out, fantastic new gamers. People can argle-bargle about the state of the industry or whatever but let me tell you: the gamers are out there and they are ready to play.

We also got to reconnect with lots of the awesome folks we met last year, all of whom have clearly spent the intervening year sequestered in monasteries training in secret kung-fu gaming techniques, because: damn!

Just like last year, being right next to Gamma Ray’s table was a perfect match. People would wander up and ask about games and the nimble Gamma Ray staff would flag one of our tireless volunteers to come answer any questions they had.

A fantastic weekend of gaming, defying all the odds. Hats off to the tireless facilitators who made the magic happen. Adrienne, Alex, Ashley, Caroline, Jay, Jerome, Jess, Marc, Martin, Miles, Pat, Sam, Shuo and Xander: you are a peerless crew and shining ambassadors of gaming. Kudos one and all.

Story games at Emerald City Comic Con is a go! We’ll be in Lower Level of The Conference Center, just like last year. That’s the building across the street from the main convention center.

The gaming area is open a lot later than the main show so you can drown yourself in comic books and still come play. I suspect we’re some of those tables marked “tournament” on the map, but if you have a hard time finding us look for the enormous glowing green sign proclaiming our credo far and wide:

Just like the sign says, come find us and you get to play. We’ll have a crack squad of facilitators on hand so all you need to bring is your brain and a good attitude.

We are not particularly shy.

Folks have been asking if we’re going to run a game area again at Emerald City Comic Con this year. You remember last year, right? The hordes of gamers? The awesome partnership between Story Games Seattle and Gamma Ray Games? Yeah, I thought you did.

The answer is: we want to, but we’re not sure if it’s going to happen. No promises.

Stay tuned and you’ll know as soon as I do.

“Shall I always be chosen?” she said bitterly. “Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?”

“A time may come soon” said he, “when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.”

And she answered: “All your words are but to say: you are a woman, and your part is in the house. But when the men have died in battle and honour, you have leave to be burned in the house, for the men will need it no more. But I am of the House of Eorl and not a serving-woman. I can ride and wield blade, and I do not fear either pain or death.”

–The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien

If you have a discussion about women’s roles in Tolkien and no one brings up this exchange between Aragorn and Eowyn, hang your head in shame.