Oooooh, look what I got in the mail! Yep, it’s Fedora Noir, where you can be a Detective… or you can be the detective’s Hat. I’ve been using the online tool to play but it’s great having the actual cards. Soooo pretty…

I’ve been working on a long post picking apart the movie Inception for ages, analyzing what I think are truths the movie hides in plain sight. But looking at the finished essay, I decided it didn’t add to the beauty of the world. So I’m scrapping it.

When I’m noodling away, doing that thing we ostensibly call work, I bump into three kinds of insight. There’s the kind of insight that you hurry to write down, so you don’t forget it. Then there’s the kind of insight that changes the way you think, so you *know* you’ll never forget it, even if […]

Social media is awful for actually communicating, so how’s a clever person like you to avoid missing the stuff I post here in the dark hours of the night, when even the owls are asleep? Well now it’s easy, because I’ve set up email notifications. Sign up and you’ll get a message every time I […]

It is essential that players like their characters. The character is the lens through which the player experiences everything in the game. It is also essential but no so obvious that they have to like the other players’ characters as well. An ideal party is not so much about balance as it is mutual appreciation. […]

“Hey, I want to film a story game! Round up the hottest players in Seattle and bring them to my office! Stat!” That’s Peter Adkison talking, a little over a year ago. He needed to make a documentary for his film class and story games seemed like the perfect topic and would I help out? […]

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 […]

Many years ago I raised my magic sword high and sliced my blog in two. On one hand there was Ars Ludi and on the other the Lame Mage blog. But like the kinslaying at the havens and the haughty oath of Feanor to claim the Silmarils from Vala, demon, elf or man, this division […]

So as I already posted, I had an epic year of gaming. Sixty percent more games than any year for the last decade. We’re talking raw college-levels of gaming. How did this magical thing happen? For one, 2011 was the year of the West Coast game tour, with convention and gaming events large and small, […]

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? That’s how many times I gamed each year for the past decade. I know it’s quality not quantity that matters, but 2011 was a fiery ball of gaming win. So next time you’re wondering why I haven’t posted on Ars Ludi in a while, there’s your answer: […]

I gave the Lame Mage website a much-needed overhaul. In addition to all sorts of Microscope info, it now includes live feeds from ars ludi, twitter and this blog. It’s a one-stop clearing house for all my ranting.

“Fire up the Orbital Mind Control Lasers! Aim them at the Seattle area!” Bob thinks I’m being lazy and ignoring ars ludi, but it’s not true! I’m actually just really busy. On the volunteer front, I’m helping organize Go Play NW 2010, plus I’m organizing weekly meetups for Story Games Seattle. That’s right: slaving away […]

I got my copy of Open Game Table, The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs. Is there some ars ludi in there, you ask? On yeah. The Braunstein: Roots of Roleplaying article is reprinted, along with all five West Marches articles and Making the Party: Wedge Issues. My only regret is that because of concerns over […]

I’ve been so busy gaming and scheming that I almost missed that we had hit 1000 sales. That’s a nice round milestone. I was going to say “it seems like only yesterday when Zodiac Ring was the first third party release for M&M2…” but that would be a total lie — it seems like a […]

In case you haven’t seen it yet, I’ve spun off a second blog specifically for Lame Mage stuff. Why a second blog? The Lame Mage blog will have things like product updates, release information — all the kind of stuff that to me just clutters up Ars Ludi. It is also a place where I […]