Behind the Screen Archives - Tribality https://www.tribality.com/columns/behind-the-screen/ D&D / Role Playing Wed, 16 Jan 2019 05:16:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.tribality.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cropped-logo-2020-icon@2x-32x32.jpg Behind the Screen Archives - Tribality https://www.tribality.com/columns/behind-the-screen/ 32 32 Upwind Project from Biohazard Games https://www.tribality.com/2016/10/11/upwind-project-kickstarter-from-biohazard-games/ https://www.tribality.com/2016/10/11/upwind-project-kickstarter-from-biohazard-games/#respond Tue, 11 Oct 2016 14:46:17 +0000 http://www.tribality.com/?p=18285 Imagine Bakshi’s classic animated film Wizards has a head-on collision with Disney’s Treasure Planet and the resulting fire is put out with a whole lot of Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky. That, in an unexpected, animated mash-up, is Upwind. Upwind is a narrative style RPG set in a strange alternate world of floating island nations, flying sailing ships, long lost technology, wild elemental powers, looming war and forgotten legacies. Upwind is powered by the Q-system, an original stakes-based, playing […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2016/10/11/upwind-project-kickstarter-from-biohazard-games/feed/ 0 10 of My Favorite Things from June! https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/29/9-of-my-favorite-things-from-june/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/29/9-of-my-favorite-things-from-june/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2015 12:00:43 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7993 Another month has gone by and another stack of amazing things have floated down my social media stream. This month includes podcasts, artists, novels, RPG supplements, and two cool new Kickstarters! PLEASE NOTE: These are not presented in any particular order. There’s no #1 or #10 favorite thing, they are all items I’m incredibly excited about. Also, the number of Favorite Things each month will likely vary; if there’s only 1 cool thing, it will be a short article, though I […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/06/29/9-of-my-favorite-things-from-june/feed/ 3 8 of My Favorite Things from May! https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/23/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-this-month/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/23/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-this-month/#comments Sat, 23 May 2015 06:20:39 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7974 It’s been a pretty incredible month of geek. Here are a few things that are getting me talking.   Champions of Aetaltis Most of what I have to say about this Kickstarter is covered in the video. What I can add is the talent between these covers is bordering on absurd, and there’s still more to come. If you’re a gamer and fantasy fan, I doubt there are many names involved in this project that you don’t know.   “No Thank You, Evil!” […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/23/a-few-of-my-favorite-things-this-month/feed/ 2 Weekend Shout Out: The Adventure a Week Blog https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/03/weekend-shout-out-the-adventure-a-week-blog/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/03/weekend-shout-out-the-adventure-a-week-blog/#respond Sun, 03 May 2015 21:13:30 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7146 If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out the 3-time ENnie nominated, 2014 Silver ENnie-winning, AaWBlog, now’s the time! The focus of AdventureAWeek.com is primarily on publishing adventures compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game such as Rise of the Drow and Snow White, but has recently started adding 5th edition conversions to their awesome Pathfinder monsters and adventures. Like this week’s Statblock Sunday: the River Beast. AdventureAWeek.com was started by Jonathan Nelson, interviewed last September over at Sword for Hire, but includes a bank of brilliant designers including Mike Myler, the […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/03/weekend-shout-out-the-adventure-a-week-blog/feed/ 0 Games Change Lives: Hero Kids RPG for Ages 4-10 https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/01/games-change-lives-hero-kids-rpg-for-ages-4-10/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/01/games-change-lives-hero-kids-rpg-for-ages-4-10/#comments Fri, 01 May 2015 20:28:17 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7208 It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of gaming with kids as early as humanly possible; I do own a website called www.gameschangelives.com after all. When my wife and I decided to have kids, I spent quite a bit of time researching alternate RPGs that might be helpful in introducing kids to gaming earlier than 10 years old and came across several excellent candidates. One of my favorites is from designer and kid-fan, Justin Halliday, who created the ENnie […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/05/01/games-change-lives-hero-kids-rpg-for-ages-4-10/feed/ 1 RPG Bookmarks: Beautiful and Elegant https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/28/rpg-bookmarks-beautiful-and-elegant/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/28/rpg-bookmarks-beautiful-and-elegant/#respond Tue, 28 Apr 2015 16:23:17 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=7071 J.M. Perkins posted about this Kickstarter a few weeks ago, but I love this concept and needed to remind people that they have only 5 days to go. There isn’t much to say about this that J.M. and the Undead Viking review below doesn’t already, but there is something wonderful about a straightforward Kickstarter that is both inexpensive and incredibly useful. I can’t wait to get these on my table and they are cheap enough for you to buy full […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/28/rpg-bookmarks-beautiful-and-elegant/feed/ 0 “Clear!” Shocking Medicine in Games, Literature, Film, and TV https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/24/clear-shocking-medicine-in-games-literature-film-and-tv/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/24/clear-shocking-medicine-in-games-literature-film-and-tv/#respond Fri, 24 Apr 2015 17:40:50 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=6944 Aside from being a writer and game designer, my secret identity is as a critical care nurse. I’ve been wanting to write this post for the past couple of years, but a couple of TV shows this week caused me to pulled the trigger. Arrow is the first episode I’ve seen on TV where they ran a Cardiac Code even close to what I would expect. Unfortunately, the previous week’s Flash had its entire storyline revolve around bringing people back from the dead […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/24/clear-shocking-medicine-in-games-literature-film-and-tv/feed/ 0 Interview with Aquatic Gaming Guru, Emily Kubisz https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/14/interview-with-aquatic-gaming-guru-emily-kubisz/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/14/interview-with-aquatic-gaming-guru-emily-kubisz/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:55:35 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=6683 If you follow my column From the Depths, or have listened to the Under the Sea episode of the Dungeon Master’s Block, then you’ve heard me talk about Alluria Publishing’s incredible Cerulean Seas line. Cerulean Seas is the definitive work on running aquatic fantasy RPGs and is one of the best 3PP settings out there. This week I had the chance to chat with Alluria’s founder, the ENnie-nominated designer, Emily Kubisz, about the future of Cerulean Seas, her history in the gaming industry, and […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/14/interview-with-aquatic-gaming-guru-emily-kubisz/feed/ 2 Paizo’s “The Emerald Spire” for 5th Edition, Part 4 https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/06/paizos-the-emerald-spire-for-5th-edition-part-4/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/06/paizos-the-emerald-spire-for-5th-edition-part-4/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2015 12:00:47 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=6365 Late last year, Paizo Kickstarted a superdungeon called “The Emerald Spire“. Along with the characteristicly beautiful production value and stunning art, each of the 16 levels of this detailed module has its own fold-out map in the style of Paizo’s other excellent flip-maps, making it a very easy crawl to run. I recently decide to host a series of all-day “Retro 80s” Game Days for my players who never had the opportunity to come home from school on Friday afternoons and […]

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]]> https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/06/paizos-the-emerald-spire-for-5th-edition-part-4/feed/ 3 Reining in Dexterity: Initiative House Rule Option #3 https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/06/reigning-in-dexterity-initiative-house-rule-option-3/ https://www.tribality.com/2015/04/06/reigning-in-dexterity-initiative-house-rule-option-3/#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2015 12:00:11 +0000 http://tribality.com/?p=4675 Michael Long has posted two articles on interesting ways to make Initiative faster and more fluid in 5e. Those articles, plus an ongoing conversation with J.M. Perkins about Strength vs Dexterity in D&D (and roleplaying games in general), inspired the house rules I use for Initiative around my own table. A short version of these rules were presented in the first installment of the Emerald Spire conversions. This article goes into more detail on design considerations and other rules. The Awesomeness […]

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