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80s gaming | Agon | audio | Braunstein | broken link | Chronicle | classic | classrooms & kids | Downfall | ECCC | Eden | epic | events | Explorer | Follow | game design | GMcraft | GPNW | grand experiments | guest author | history | how to play | InSpectres | In This World | K2 | Kingdom | kudos | legacy kingdomon | legacy witches | M&M | Microscope | misc | new century city | organizing | PAX | story games | Story Games Seattle | syndromes | talks & interviews | theory | translations | Union | video | west marches | what we playedRecent Comments
- Damage Per Second / emarsk : This tangentially reminds me of when I played Final Fantasy SomeNumber (VII, maybe). The most powerful attacks had loooooong unskippable…
- Do you remember Remember Tomorrow? / : If you’re dying to see all our house rules for Remember Tomorrow, now’s your chance! https://www.reddit.com/r/gmless/comments/15xn8dk/hacking_remember_tomorrow/ Be warned, it will…
- Early Access Released / : Exactly. You use elements to generate statements, but once you have the statements you can discard the elements.
- Early Access Released / : Hi Ben, Just a clarification on the Early Access Rules. When you start making worlds, elements have no purpose left,…
- A Place to Talk About GMless Games / : Yeah apparently this might not be the best timing? This is still where I post primarily, but the reddit will…
- A Place to Talk About GMless Games / : Imagine my anguish that I just quit Reddit forever. I hope you keep posting about the topic here too.
Posts by Date
2023
Now you can play In This World too
Do you remember Remember Tomorrow?
A Place to Talk About GMless Games
Combining Worlds: See You Space Cowboy…
In This World, Story Games Are Joy
In This World Kickstarter Has Launched!
In This World Prepares to Launch
In This World vs The Trident of Progress
“Ooh, let’s be bad!” Microscope player says before Breaking the Rules
Schoolhouse Rock: How you spread it around
Emic vs Etic: Invent Words You Can Use
Cars vs Clouds: A Tale of Two Kingdoms
Two-Player Creativity Is Harder
In This World, Playtesters Are Awesome
New Version of In This World Is Ready
2022
In This World, Two Things Collide
In This World, You Can’t Stop Thinking
In This World, The Playtest Chugs Along
“the stories it lets me tell with my dearest friends”
In This World, It’s Time to Game
Uncanny Valley Androids & Secret Sacred Laws
“That sparrow has seen some shit”
Classic Cartography: Star Frontiers
“The rules are there to help you get the most out of your time”
Lockdown Level-Up: Mind Over Matter
Ring the Nug: the Kingdomon Field Game
Microscope In the Classroom: Collaboration Is Not Easy
Does It Add Beauty to The World?
An Item or Object to Be Processed
2021
Kingdomon: Enter the Sub-Verse
Quest: Escape the Haunted House!
“If it weren’t for those darn kids..!”
Which Kid Touches the Giant Robot?
West Marches: A Survivor’s Story
Behold, You Can Get Email Notifications!
A Careful Balance of Agreement & Disagreement
2020
Kingdomon: Launching Into Legacy
Kingdomon: You Must Acquire Them All!
Making Characters: The Fine Art of (Not) Fitting In
What’s the Korean word for Microscope?
Kingdom Kickstarter Coming In September
“And then later they high-five each other in the hallway”
Live Interview on Electric Dice
Grand Experiments: Bloody Morder
Story Games Online: What I’ve Learned So Far
2019
Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?
The Teeth Sneak Up On You In Follow
PAX East: What Should I Check Out?
2018
Gladiator: Choose Your Champion!
Microscope meets 9th Grade English Class
West Marches: Layers of History
Story Games 101: Protagonist, Be Transparent
Story Games 101: Saying Terrible Things
“But we know… they’re gonna die” (Games and Education Interview)
Farewell, Story Games Seattle!
The Fall and Rise (and Fall) of Antal
2017
Kingdom: Return of Time Passes
Indie RPG Award for Best Supplement
Diminishing Returns of Random Fiction
Do You Think You’re Beautiful?
Teaching Teachers How to Teach
“I just like saying ‘overthrow the government'” (GMless RPGs, ECCC 2017)
Emerald City Comicon: A Full House of Story Games
Emerald City Comicon: The Game Schedule
Emerald City Comicon: Attack of the Story Games!
2016
The Scarlet Letter: Microscope in the Classroom
Lord of the Flies: Kingdom in the Classroom
Murder of Crows, Pride of Lions
Story Games 101: Angle the Chairs
Microscope Oracle: Capes & Justice
The Colony: Strength vs Beauty, Truckers vs Slugs (Follow at Go Play NW, part 3)
The Dragon: the Sacred Flame (Follow at Go Play NW, part 2)
Follow at Go Play NW: Rebels and Dragons and Truckers, Oh My!
“You know why I got the funny voices? Years of GMing”
Microscope Seeds: Secrets & Squirrels
“I have never been so proud of her…”
Microscope Seed: Brave New World
Follow the plan, or follow your heart…
ECCC: A fireside chat about GM-less games
Your Kingdom Goes On Without You
Story Games 101: Shifting to Third Person
2015
“If you like role-playing games, you have to like people” (GMless RPGs, PAX 2015)
PAX: Talking ’bout GM-less Games
“Arrr why won’t my kids grow up faster?!?”
West Marches: Secrets & Answers (part 1)
Getting ready for Microscope Explorer
“Fantasy worlds that break history’s back”
Microscope Echo Needs Playtesters
“The people at the table are what matters”
“What do people that play Microscope need?”
2014
“I asked the other 13 yr old what he liked best? Freedom.”
Fleeing From Goblins, West Marches-style
“Bring me the finest gamers in town! Bring them on a platter!”
Microscope Chronicle Playtest Closing
Watch the Unwatchable Foreign Film
Actual Play Roundup: The 53rd Focus
The Second Spawn: Microscope Chronicle
Actual Play Roundup: Unicorn vs Death (GPNW 2014)
Microscope Union Needs Playtesters
Getting Microscope Books Overseas
Uncontrolled Orders & Predictions
Necropolis: Fingers Worked to the Bone
Rewriting Your Game From Memory
Burn the Witch! A Salem Kingdom
Return to the Angry Red Planet
My Emerald City Comic Con Schedule
Emerald City Comic Con 2014: The Time Is Now
Actual Play Roundup: A Beetle Pushing the Sun
A Beginner’s Guide to Making Scenes
2013
Who’s the real witch in Salem?
ConTessa: Collaborative World-Building
Women in Gaming Communities (Norwescon 2013)
GMless RPG talk (Norwescon 2013)
Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice…
My Norwescon Schedule: Talk a lot, don’t you?
You’re no White Knight (aka kids being awesome gamers)
Emerald City Comic Con: Snatched from the jaws of defeat
Microscope Seeds: To the Stars…
Microscope Seeds: Who Watches the Watchmen?
To ECCC or not to ECCC? That is the question.
2012
“We reject Kings, Princes, Santas and other Tyrants…”
Kingdom Playtest Deadline: December 20
Actual Play Roundup: Is anything more epic than a psionic scream heard across the stars?
Playtesting While the Kingdom Burns
“There is so much more we could be doing”
Actual Play Roundup: Something Fractal in the State of Denmark
“You’re the only one who’s ready.”
Kingdom Playtest Ends in 2 Weeks
Our Ground is Level and Our Table is Round
Kingdom Playtest Deadline: June 6
“How is this possible? How can I enjoy role-playing games without a GM?!?” (ECCC 2012)
Emerald City Comic Con: Dance the Victory Dance
West Marches at Emerald City Comic Con
“Why would they do that?!? Let’s go and find out…”
Actual Play Roundup: Day in the Live(s)
“This is a family business. Emphasis on the word business. Emphasis on the word family.”
“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
Second Class Clones: PAX Microscope
“There’s a much better randomizer that we use: human beings”
I’d like to thank the Academy…
GMless Role-playing Games (PAX 2011, part 6)
GMless Role-playing Games (PAX 2011, part 5)
GMless Role-playing Games (PAX 2011, part 4)
Microscope Q&A: In a forest, in Poland
GMless Role-playing Games (PAX 2011, part 3)
GMless Role-playing Games (PAX 2011, part 2)
GMless Role-playing Games (PAX 2011, part 1)
Musashi: Suppressing Useful Actions
Actual Play Roundup: PvP (Plant-versus-Plant)
Fabricated Realities: Thing of Beauty
Microscope Reviews: Spit In Its Eye
Quake-pocalypse: That’s no moon! Oh wait, it is.
Quake-pocalypse: But A Very Dignified Squeal
Actual Play Roundup: You Banned Humans?
Quake-pocalypse: Don’t Mess With Gravity
Quake-pocalypse: Techno-priests & Infinity Boxes
Microscope Reviews: May Roundup
Lottery & The Pickup Donut (part 2)
Quake-pocalypse: A Flower for Ulysses
Actual Play Roundup: We don’t need no stinkin’ capes!
Microscope Reviews: Yep, they get it
Actual Play Roundup: Microscope Online
Actual Play Roundup: You had me at Biolords
Microscope Reviews: the First Wave
Say hello to my little friend…
2010
Behind the Scenes: What You See Is What You Get
We have always been at war with Eurasia
Pitching New Game Systems, or “Let’s play Star*Axe!”
Playtest Deadline: September 30
Microscope Quatro: the Ultimate Playtest
Expect the Unexpected: Microscope at GPNW 2010
You Will Miss That Really Cool Game
[guest author] The Chargen Circle
Crisscrossing Players and Plots and Not Losing Your Mind
[guest author] Rest in Peace, San Holo
2009
You are probably not taking enough risk
Character Monologue: Tell Us What It’s Like To Be You
Alluring Eyes, Low Social Boundaries
Many Shades of History: Microscope Actual Play
[guest author] Capes: My Story Games Eureka Moment
Microscope floods GPNW, citizens seek high ground
Shippensburg Adventure Game Camp
The Past is Never Closed, and other data storage problems
Grand Experiments: Eclipse is a Robot!
“The walls are invisible, not the ceiling!”
“Never cross the Emperor, or the Holy Ones…”
[guest author] Microscope liftoff!
The Thesis: Practice and Escapism
Instant Names: the One-Letter Trick
Partners In Crime: Teaming Up at the Table
Dauntless Mission #4: the Ruby Aurora
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
Dauntless Mission #3: Plague at Prospect Station
Making the Party: Wedge Issues
[guest author] Royale Arms 2: The Case of the Vile Vial
Dauntless Mission #2: Trapped in the Void
Games I want to play: Geiger Counter scenarios
[guest author] Time flies when you’re on The Dauntless
Dauntless Mission #1: InSpectres In Spaaaace!
Braunstein: the Roots of Roleplaying Games
Advanced Agon: Three Flavors of Myth
Advanced Agon: Wrath of the Gods
[guest author] Adventures in 4e DM-ing
Game Plugin: Instant Rivalries
Game Plugins: a Working Definition
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
Beast of Kolkoris in playtesting
Temple of Hera goes to playtesting
Bad Trap Syndrome (part 2), Curing the Bad Trap Blues
When did Zargon become such a dick?
Play is the point. Become an expert player.
Not So Grand Experiments: Dream Cantos
Kit Bashing: Polaris Spycraft (Agents of Northstar)
[guest author] You are what you play(ed)
[guest author] Making the introductions
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