“A ‘sin’ is something which is not necessary” – G.I. Gurdjieff
After seven months of running sessions of Beyond Thule (the placeholder name for this homebrew), I’ve begun to notice what is necessary and what is unnecessary. Continue reading
Category Archives: Tabletop Gaming
Investigative Horror RPG Homebrew, Part 4: The Hollowing Curse
Standard diseases in most roleplaying games are often quickly detected and easily cured with low-level spells. Pathfinder Unchained disease rules as well as the Horror Adventures disease rules can be useful for making more dangerous diseases. The following is an example of a disease that is more challenging and is especially suitable for investigative horror roleplaying games.
Gurdjieff and Games, Part 3: Where Games Can Go Wrong
To understand, according to Mr. Gurdjieff, where games can go wrong, besides the previously mentioned depriving of children of time to play games or depriving oneself of work-rest balance, one must understand where humans can go wrong (and have gone wrong).
The same problems experienced in life are the same problems experienced in games, only on a smaller scale. This difference in scale can be used to one’s advantage—one can use games to learn about oneself and others to understand the basic problems of humanity in a limited and relatively safe environment. Some of these problems are detailed here in brief.
Homebrewing an Investigative Horror RPG, Part 3: Advice
original photo credit: Martin Schmieder, Stuttgart
Recently, I read an excerpt from a new horror supplement for the most well-known roleplaying game in the world—you know the game. The excerpt was advice to players and game masters on how to play or run a horror roleplaying game, or any roleplaying game for that matter. I won’t rehash the advice—it can be found all over the internet. For players and game masters alike, it was bad advice. And rather than rehash why the advice was bad—as has already been pointed out by so many others—I’ll just offer the advice I follow when I run horror or other genres of roleplaying games.
Gurdjieff and Games, Part 2: Children’s Games and Fun Fair Games
Salem, MA Carnival Games. Credit: Toby McGuire
A survey of Mr. Gurdjieff’s writings revealed that games are mentioned many times: in ‘games’ played by the Greeks and Romans, in the English ‘sport’, in children’s games, in games played at French fairs, in games specified by name, including baccarat, roulette, snip-snap-snorum, chess, wrestling, and billiards.
Here we look briefly at what Mr. Gurdjieff wrote about children’s games and fair games, and their value in relation to the Work.
Coral Palace of the Marid—Published!
GPH2: Coral Palace of the Marid is now available on DM’s Guild!
Finally, after five years, I’ve completed and published the sequel to GPH1: Alabaster Palace of the Dao. This new adventure is the second in a series of short adventures or heists that take place in a genie palace, this time, in the coral-covered basilica of the pelagic marid.
I created the series of four adventures to test for myself and my group how D&D 5e plays at mid to high levels (11-15). The long delay between publishing this next adventure was because the adventures were created and run in a theater-of-the-mind mode, with flowcharts instead of maps and scant written details.
Two down, two to go! On to GPH3: The Marble Palace of the Djinni!
Page 14: Palace Map
Pages 3-4: Table of Contents and Introduction
Homebrewing an Investigative Horror RPG, Part 2
original photo credit: Martin Schmieder, Stuttgart
Aside from the system, for the setting of this investigative horror RPG, I use an alternate Earth history as the basis of past events, peoples, and locations that lead up to a different present. Robert W. Chambers used this technique in his collected short stories, The King In Yellow, to produce a subtly unsettling effect on the reader. Alternate history also serves as protection for the lazy gamemaster from history buffs.
The alternate pivotal moments of history in this setting include the following:
- Scandinavian explorers successfully settled the northeastern parts of North America in the 10th century.
- The Yellowstone Cauldera erupted in the 15th century, plunging the world into a little ice age, delaying further European exploration, expansion, and the so-called “Enlightenment” by centuries.
Homebrewing an Investigative Horror RPG, Part 1
[This post may seem arcane for the uninitiated; it is on the topic of roleplaying games.]
For a long time, I have wanted to gamemaster an investigative horror roleplaying game that involved the Cthulhu mythos. The problem was finding a game system and setting that balanced my players’ expectations with my own. I’ll focus here on system, and detail setting in subsequent posts.
Gurdjieff and Games, Part 1
Gurdjieff said “there is everything” in his book Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson.1 In addition, this book is subtitled “An Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man” and has the stated purpose of the merciless destruction of all our long-rooted beliefs and views about everything.
Putting these statements to a small test, I ask a few questions of narrow interest to myself (and I hope others): “What does Beelzebub’s Tales have to say about games? What objective and impartial criticism is offered about games? What ‘merciless destruction’ must our beliefs and views on the subject of games undergo?”
Alabaster Palace of the Dao—Published!
I was pleased to hear the news that Wizards of the Coast was opening up an avenue to self-publish Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition content, called Dungeon Masters Guild, and I knew immediately what I wanted to do when I heard the news—publish the Genie Palace Heist adventures.
So after a few weeks of illustrating, editing, and formatting, I have finally published my first in a series of adventures: Alabaster Palace of the Dao. Here are screenshots of the first few pages.
Page 9: Palace Map
Page 3-4: Table of Contents and Introduction