I love tabletop RPGS, and am currently in Pathfinder, GURPS, and Traveller campaigns. I love GMing but time restraints limit me to mostly convention games and one-shots. For video games, I play mostly MMOs and games with a fantasy or comic book theme. Master of MMO guild politics since 1997 and host on the Happy Jack’s RPG podcast.
Achievement Unlocked: Learning from Video Games
This week, a fellow teacher asked me to help her grade the California Mission projects that are a staple of 4th grade. She explained that the students were allowed to make models of their assigned mission out of whatever materials...Read More »
Review: Drinking Quest RPG
I take my gaming and my drinking very seriously. You have to when you’re on a podcast with the tagline, “Pursuing the RPG Hobby with Reckless Abandon… and beer.” Perhaps...Read More »
Herding Dragons: My Wild Talents Con Game
I love adding a unique twist to my convention games, and my Wild Talents game for Gateway 2012 was no exception. Months earlier I had been inspired to set my game in...Read More »
The Legend of Drizzt Board Game
I don’t know anything about Drizzt, so when my friends pulled out The Legend of Drizzt board game at a recent tabletop night, I was a bit clueless. I didn’t know anything about the characters or...Read More »
Empowering Players
We all have seen players completely take their GM by surprise. Usually, the GM has planned one or two specific ways for the players to handle a challenge… and the players try something completely different. This creates a crossroad for...Read More »
Dealing with Player Ignorance
Running one of my convention games. (Not the game in question)
I have GMed many convention games, but I ran into a new problem a few months ago. One of the players in my game had...Read More »
System Spotlight: Traveller
Are you a fan of Firefly? Do you love the idea of gunslingers on the edge of civilized space? Traveller might be the game for you! In fact, Firefly is so similar to the Traveller universe that I would bet...Read More »
The Geek Girl Problem
The problem with the geek girl subculture is the unrelenting expectation of uniformity.
I have seen countless articles and posts about the problems with the geek girl subculture. Some are written by geek girls and some are simply commenting on us....Read More »
Comprehending Cross-Gender Characters
Cross-gender role-playing can be a controversial topic at the gaming table. Opinions are as varied as one could imagine and while some gaming groups are very open to cross-gender characters, other groups are flat out against it. So why is...Read More »
Jumping into GMing
GameMASTER. The title itself has a way of excluding about half the population, and that fact is reflected in every game shop and on every convention floor. The number of female gamers may be rising, but the number of female...Read More »
Acquiring Accents for RPGs
Accents are one of the most powerful tools in a role-player’s arsenal. Using them can make characters stand out at the gaming table, and differentiate between in character and out of character comments. They can also be...Read More »
Diving into Diablo III
After finishing Act II in Diablo III, I finally feel like I have experience enough of the game to write about it. I’m having a blast, but there are definitely some pros and cons to this long-awaited...Read More »
Farewell to Fear... or Fun?
Many people love to complain about what is wrong with the world, but do little or nothing about it. That is not the case with David Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions. He didn’t like the...Read More »
Skyrim, Dawnguard, & Kinect
Skyrim has been a huge success for Bethesda Softworks. The average person’s playtime for Skyrim has been about 90 hours since its release in November. The nonlinear gameplay provides endless hours of entertainment. This is not a...Read More »
RPG Podcast Listener Survey
The 2012 RPG Podcast Lister Survey is up! Please visit rpgpolls.com to fill it out. This information is very useful to podcast hosts and gives great information on the demographics of our...Read More »
Thou Shalt Not Play with Assholes
Should subjective tabletop RPG rules be eliminated since they can allow the GM’s biases to influence the game? This rather hot topic has arisen lately, especially regarding mechanics where the GM can reward players for their role-playing....Read More »
RPG Inspired Comedy Music
My good friend Stu has put his lyrical genus to use for RPGers everywhere. “Let Me Tell...Read More »
Middle School History RPG
It is a constant challenge to keep students engaged in middle school. You know the age, spring has sprung and suddenly girls no longer have cooties. In fact, they are darn attractive. Suddenly, school is the last thing on your...Read More »
OrcCon 2012 - Laser Ponies Game for Adults
I didn’t know what to expect when I ran my adult-theme Laser Ponies convention game at OrcCon 2012. Convention games are an unpredictable beast. You never know who will show up at your table, or if they will buy the...Read More »
Laser Ponies Review - Gateway Game for Girls?
“Feel the Pony Power! On a faraway magical world, in the heart of Glitter Valley, there lives a tribe of beautiful creatures known as the Laser Ponies.” – Hex Games Website
Hex games created this very simple RPG in...Read More »
Laser Ponies RPG
For the next Strategicon gaming convention, my friend Casey and I decided to run a game called Laser Ponies. No, I’m not kidding. It’s an actual RPG game that you can buy. It was mentioned in...Read More »
Wild Talents Review
A review I wrote in March of 2011 for The Douchey DM, my friend Stu’s gaming rant-blog. It is also the official rant-blog of the Happy Jack’s RPG podcast. I had just run my first...Read More »
