Brilliant Gameologists

In this episode we quickly discuss and review the books nominated for the 34th Annual Origins Awards in the categories Publication, Non-Fiction and Best RPG.

We separated each into the classic Trichotomy- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The nominees are…

PUBLICATION, NON-FICTION UGLY Grand History of the Realms Published by Wizards of the Coast Written by Brian R. James and Ed Greenwood No Quarter Magazine Published by Privateer Press Nathan Letsinger, editor-in-chief; Eric Cagle, editor; Josh Manderville, art director

BAD

Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl’s Guide to the Dungeons & Dragons Game Published by Wizards of the Coast Written by Shelly Mazzanoble

GOOD 40 Years of Gen Con Published by Atlas Games Written by Robin D. Laws

Hobby Games: The 100 Best * Published by Green Ronin Edited by James Lowder

* 99% Ed Greenwood Free!

ROLEPLAYING GAME

Ugly

CthulhuTech Published by Mongoose Publishing Written by Matthew Grau and Fraser McKay

Aces & Eights Published by Kenzer & Co. Written by Jolly R. Blackburn, Brian Jelke, Steve Johansson, Dave Kenzer, Jennifer Kenzer and Mark Plemmons

Bad

Battlestar Galactica Published by Margaret Weis Productions Written by Jamie Chambers

Faery’s Tale Deluxe (Debatable as to which category it really belongs) Published by Firefly Games Written by Patrick Sweeney, Sandy Antunes, Christina Stiles, and Robin D. Laws

Good

Grimm Published by Fantasy Flight Games Written by Robert Vaughn and Christian T. Petersen

The Savage World of Solomon Kane Published by Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group Written by Paul “Wiggy” Wade-Williams (with Shane Lacy Hensley)

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The 7 Words you don’t say while gaming! Taken directly from George Carlin’s “7 Words You Can’t Say on TV”, these words are highly emotive and when you call someone one of these names at the game table, no good can come of it.

This episode talks about why heavy emotion is detrimental to logic, what you can say instead of just calling our fellow player a retard.

And the 7 words are…

Drama Queen (or Rigamarole Player), Power Gamer, Rules Lawyer, Munchkin, Metagamer, Railroad, Realistic, Fair

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Icebreaker: Childhood fantasy crushes.

Main Topic: Love, Sex and Boning in your game.

1) Use sex as a tool in the game- to excite or anger your players. Have consequences and adventure related to it.

2) How to know when you’ve gone too far. And then how to take it a little bit further.

3) Ways to make interesting sexual characters.

Share your sex stories!

… in game of course.

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How to insert and inflict grit into your game. First, we define grit by giving gritty examples in TV, Movies and Books. Then, we discuss tropes of grit and the common elements. Finally, we give specific examples of how to make a gritty game.

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