Long-form analysis on tabletop RPGs, video games, sports, politics, and culture
What D&D 2e Got Right About TTRPG Endgame Design Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition is where I started in the tabletop roleplaying hobby. I was in college at the time, I found a great DM and a good group, and we had a lot of fun. As a professional RPG mechanics auditor I decided to … Read more
Horror TTRPGs: The Rules Are the Monster This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Survival TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It) Just as in my previous posts, this isn’t about what horror looks like, it’s about what it does at the system level. Most player … Read more
Survival TTRPGs: You Think Survival Is Scarcity. It Isn’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see my previous: Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: The Real Test (And So Many Games Fail It) Updated August 2026: Coriolis: The Great Dark, covered below, has since received two ENNIE Award nominations. The setting is … Read more
Heroic Fantasy TTRPGs: You Think It’s About Dragons. It Isn’t. This is part of my ongoing series on system structure and pressure models—see also: Grimdark TTRPGs: The Real Test (And Why Most Games Fail It) You think you know what heroic fantasy means: dragons, epic quests, characters who rise to save the world. This post … Read more
Grimdark TTRPGs: You Think You Know What Grimdark Means (But You Don’t) You think you know what grimdark means: dark atmosphere, high lethality, and morally grey characters in a brutal world. By that logic, Shadow of the Demon Lord is grimdark, right? Shadowdark? Call of Cthulhu? Nope. The setting is the world you’re playing in. … Read more