On the Limits of Random Tables

I love random tables. Knowing that I can roll a few dice and get a solid idea to build from gives me confidence when running my games. Sometimes the ideas I get go well beyond what I can come up with on my own in a short time. These are all positive points about tables.

But there's a downside.

Every table has limits. Limits on how many options exist. Limits on the scope of ideas available. Limits on what the table can do for you. Don't get me wrong: A d% or d66 table offers plenty of options. But vanishingly few tables exhaust the limits of options available in reality.

Republishing Old Projects

So I've been re-releasing a few old projects on my itch store. I want everything I've made in one place, and I've settled on itch as my publishing home for now.

NanoRegent

First up, NanoRegent (originally mentioned over here) strives to create a more free-form domain management game. Players take on the role of nations on an international stage. The nations ebb and flow, conflicting and cooperating, mostly through creating and using Aspects to fuel or resist changes as directed by Edicts made by each country. Actions resolve through a roll of 4 Fate Dice, with the victor being able to narrate the results. The game ends by mutual agreement when the story seems to have run its course.

It's not for everyone, since all of the creative burden falls on the players rather than the system, but I'm excited to see if this resonates with the more adventurous groups out there.

Musing About GM Philosophy

I recorded a video about a month ago, representing my first time talking to a camera in literally years. I watched Matt Colville's video about GM Style (see below), and I had a couple of ideas about stylistic axes (the plural of "axis" and not multiple wood chopping tools). Honestly, my ideas speak more to a GM's philosophy rather than style, but there's enough overlap that still feels relevant.

I wanted to mirror Matt's walk-and-talk format, though that's much more of a challenge on a busy stretch of road during the first warm day of the year in late March. Plus I have crappier equipment.

Tabula Mortis

I made another weird little game add-on for you.

It's filled with a dozen random tables that detail horrific scenes of murder, mayhem, and death.

You'll love it. It's right up your alley.

Characters As Hope

Why do we make characters? What compels us to keep rolling up characters we may never play or even look at again? What's the point of spending time breathing life into numbers on a piece of paper if that life only ever sees that glimmer of reality and never a full table?

For me, it's a form of self-soothing.

Lemme 'splain, using Mongoose Traveller. Also look at Hanlon Greyrazor.

Lance Sgt Malachi Dobbs (Human, Age 30, ex-Army Scout)
B46686 - Athletics 0, Carouse 0, Drive 0, Gun Combat (Slug) 2, Heavy Weapons (Vehicle) 1, Investigate 1, Leadership 1, Melee (Blade) 1, Navigation 1, Recon 2, Streetwise 0, Survival 1, Vacc Suit 0
Gear: Cr 8,350. Augments: Enhanced Vision, Subdermal Armor. Cloth Armour, Suppressed ACR (DNA-locked), Cutlass, Mobile Comm, and an assortment of Grenades.
(Created Summer 2021)