I’ve been chipping away at Appendix N since 2012 (although I’d read a number of Appendix N works prior to that, just not as Appendix N works), and my thinking on how to approach it has changed over the years. As I was logging a recent finished book, Michael Moorcock’s excellent The Stealer of Souls, […]
Doing a comprehensive survey of Appendix N Read More »
I had a fun conversation last night with my Friday RPG group about campaign length. I’ve been chasing what I think of as the platonic ideal for campaigns for almost 40 years: the ongoing game that doesn’t end, or at least runs for a good long time. I’ve never even come close. If memory serves,
Chasing the endless campaign Read More »
I had no idea SJG had done a licensed sourcebook for Andre Norton‘s excellent Witch World series. It feels awesome to crack open a book from 1989 — my salad years as a gamer — that I’d never heard of until recently, based on a universe I enjoy, for a game system I enjoy. I’ve
I like using X-in-6 rolls to resolve things on fly when I’m GMing, particularly stuff for which there is no rule and for yes/no questions. I also love using oracle dice — in my case Rory’s Story Cubes — and tarot card pulls to answer questions and give myself inspiration on the fly. These sorts
Tales of Argosa oracle dice Read More »
I can trace a lot of my hobbies along crooked paths back to a fuzzy origin, a ball of time and memory that might be as narrow as a year or as wide as a range of years. But it’s rare that I can look at specific interests in the present and say, “That, right
The rare clear, bright point of origin Read More »
I mentioned last July that I wasn’t far enough into my group’s Traveller campaign to write a full blog post about it, but here in January after 9 sessions I feel better equipped to talk about how things are going. The crew of the Volitant-class Far Trader Neutrino Phoenix has been exploring the Cidrogal Subsector
How I’m running my zero-prep Traveller sandbox Read More »
One of the joys of having no posting schedule and, let’s be honest, a very small audience, is that I don’t feel any pressure to post. Usually when Yore is quiet I’m up to a bunch of stuff and just don’t have anything to say. How about a quick round-up of the Yore-adjacent stuff? Reading
Quietly reading and playing Read More »
Any attempt to read Appendix N is necessarily going to involve some interpretation. If Gary just listed an author’s name and nothing else, how many of their works should you read? And which ones? How literally do you take “et al”? If Gary listed a book in the middle of the series, do you backtrack
Some thoughts on reading Appendix N Read More »
Since I decided to get back to reading Appendix N back in October 2024, I’ve had a great time tracking down old paperbacks and reading books. The mental shift to this being something I can do as much or as little of as I like, however I like, has been great. I’m currently chipping away
Ticking along on Appendix N Read More »
The other day I came across the phrase “play with gray” on Reddit, a reference to playing miniatures games without, or before, painting the minis. It immediately resonated with me. The state of the miniature union I’ve pretty much stopped painting minis. The last minis I recall finishing were a couple of Blood Angels Infiltrators
