Long-form analysis on tabletop RPGs, video games, sports, politics, and culture
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) This post is not about what heroic fantasy looks like, it’s about what heroic RPG systems do. If you’re designing … 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. This analysis is meant to help you predict … Read more
The Most Complete One-Book TTRPGs The best one-book TTRPGs give you everything you need to run a full campaign without buying a single supplement. No three-book treadmill, no “optional but mandatory” expansions, just a complete game in one volume. That means robust character creation and progression, GM tools that actually support play, and enough content … Read more
Top 6 Underappreciated Tabletop RPGs I’ve been writing several posts about underappreciated video games on various consoles in the past several week. I began thinking, aren’t there underappreciated tabletop RPGs too? Those that are very well-made, creative, innovative, fun, but slid under the radar? There must be hidden gems out there. So I did a … Read more
The most enjoyable Superhero Tabletop RPGs This guide is for TTRPG players who want to bring superhero action to their table but aren’t sure which system will deliver the best experience for their group. Superhero TTRPGs are more popular—and more ambitious—than ever. Whether you want to tell the coming-of-age story of teen heroes, team up … Read more