This is our second article in our series on The Burning Wheel, find the first here. Character Burner The Big Picture and the current situation Before characters are created and the game officially begins, you need to discuss content and expectations. This discussion goes back to a part of the social contract. This will help […]
Author Archive: Scott E. Vigil
Burning Wheel: The Intimidating Game That is Not Actually Intimidating
Introduction Hello there, please come in and sit. I understand your teacher has found time for you to learn the secrets of the Wheel. Don’t let this large tomb scare you. I promise it’s not as intimidating as it looks. Please pull up a seat, grab your paper, ink, and quill and I shall educate […]
Playing Fair: Investigative Tabletop With the Gumshoe System
One of my favorite game is Call of Cthulhu. It brings a great mix of horror, mystery and clue gathering with the bonus of pulling from the H.P. Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos. However, one of the failings of that same system is the fact that it is possible, and very likely, that should you fail a […]
Into the Vault: Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars
From the Vault: Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars This week we’ll be going off on a bit of a tangent. I will be highlighting one of my favorite RPG’s from “back in the day.” This idea struck me as I saw both Jack Benners Savage Worlds article and Jim’s Deadlands articles. With the multitude of […]
The Tradition of Magic in RPGs – AD&D
So now, after looking at Chainmail, we’ll take a look at 1st edition AD&D. Here, we see a departure from the simple and basic rules found in Chainmail and white box D&D. Here we see a detailed magic system with a more extensive spell list. 1st edition AD&D had a detailed and odd way of providing […]
The Tradition of Magic in RPGs – Chainmail
No, don’t worry, there are no spoilers in this article, however, with the release of Doctor Strange it got me thinking about the ways that magic is portrayed in our hobby and what I like and don’t like about different magic systems. What makes a good magic system vs a bad magic system? Even more […]
OFF LIMIT THEMES? SOCIAL CONTRACT – PART 5
Welcome back to the final installment of this series. If you have been reading each of these much thanks! The topic for this week would not be the last thing you discuss with your group , but will be discussed multiple times during this whole process. So, the topic I want to cover in the final […]
WHO’s THE GM? SOCIAL CONTRACT 4
Social Contract 4: Who will be running the game if a Game Master (GM) is needed? Welcome back, once again! This week the topic is all about that very important job. The job that not everyone wants to do. The one that for some people is shrouded in mystery and veiled by a screen. Of […]
SOCIAL CONTRACT PART 3: WHAT GAME WILL THE GROUP RUN?
Welcome back! Last weeks article! This week we finally cover the all-important question of what game the group will sit down and play. For me this mainly comes down to knowing the amount of player “buy-in” that each person is willing to give for the game. This buy-in will vary between each game. Some games require […]
SOCIAL CONTRACT PART 2: WHERE WILL THE GAME BE PLAYED AND WHO WILL HOST THE GAME?
Welcome back to part two of the ongoing discussion on the social contract that exists in starting up a new tabletop RPG game. Last week we discussed the means in how to help determine the length and frequency that a game group will meet. So let’s recap that very briefly and then build off of […]