“I can't make anyone Jewish with a called shot.” “I cannot start the game pregnant.” “My medical supply bag will contain more than just a bone-saw and a bottle of whiskey.” “My halfling cannot take the flaw, 'Obsession: Ring of Invisibility.'” “Even if he was a paragon of humanity in his alternate dimension, Good Hitler is not an appropriate superhero concept.” “No more Crazy Ivans while I'm driving the AT-AT.” “I do not have to check before each adventure that my fellow adventurers are not doppelgangers, Cylons or pod people.” “'Everybody Wang Chung tonight' is not an acceptable use of the Mass Suggestion spell.” 1250 things Mr. Welch can no longer do during an RPG. (SLLJ)
posted by Navelgazer on Mar 12, 2009 - 73 comments

Encounter Critical is the awesomest Fantasy/Sci-Fi RPG to come out of an alternate 1979. Full list of game-related resources here (Yahoo group, reg req'd).
posted by mkultra on Mar 10, 2009 - 17 comments

The Way is a 2D Japanese-style rpg you would do well to play if you are interested in the genre. It invests in characters, keeps you wanting to see what happens next and has one on one duels that are usually a part of the storyline. It's all fun and games until (your) blood gets spilt on the screen. First stop: Episode 1. [more inside]
posted by ersatz on Oct 17, 2008 - 13 comments

Using OmniFocus to manage a 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons character sheet. Nerds. Dungeons and Dragons. Obsessive overuse of Mac software.
posted by Artw on Jun 25, 2008 - 87 comments

If geeks talked about cookbooks the way they talk about RPG books, the results would not be pretty.
posted by Artw on Jun 19, 2008 - 51 comments

Monster's Den: Book of Dread might be the best free dungeon crawl RPG on the web. If it ain't, it's damned close. [more inside]
posted by chuckdarwin on May 14, 2008 - 30 comments

Delta Green - be part of the conspiracy. The latest sourcebook for Delta Green, the cult modern day Call of Cthulhu setting, is being financed via fundable. If the target for funding is not met it’s release will be delayed... if it is released at all. A niche setting within a niche system in a hobby in decline, Delta Green is still intensely well loved by those who know about it, making them a good target for the ransom model. Will thinking outside the usual publishing business models save pen and paper RPGs?
posted by Artw on May 11, 2008 - 63 comments

One Thousand Monkeys, One Thousand Typewriters is the largest online source of free role playing and story games. With so many choices, you may want to look at the winners of the 2006 Game Chef contest, with its interesting rules: Crime and Punishment, the RPG about being a writer for a crime procedural TV show; Liquid Crystal, about a robot with no memory; Time Traitor with its mysterious Factors; and the haunted house story Merryweather. [more inside]
posted by blahblahblah on Feb 15, 2008 - 5 comments

A Feminist Gaming Manifesto. (And part 2 is here.) "So wait, you’re wondering, maybe, why don’t these crazy men-folk just do that? I think the answer is actually pretty straightforward. People who themselves feel marginalized can’t bear the thought that they could be in a position of power wherein they could hurt someone in the same way that they feel hurt. Who out there hasn’t felt terribly marginalized? What happens, then, is there’s this conflation of “you’re doing something that makes me feel excluded or hurt” with “you’re a bad, bad man like those people with the bitch shirts.” You can’t handle that thought, so you try desperately to prove that it’s not the case. Guilt, or fear that you might be guilty, never did anybody any good."
posted by Bryan Behrenshausen on Apr 16, 2006 - 87 comments

A Brief History of Game: A nine-part review of the major highlights in rpg history. Other interesting if generally unrelated pieces on the history of gaming, pen & paper or otherwise: "Where Have All the Demons Gone?", discussing the history of Magic the Gathering; A somewhat flippant piece by GameSpy; and some obligatory RPG theory regarding the historical popularity of various styles of RPG.
posted by voltairemodern on Aug 5, 2005 - 32 comments

Legend of the Red Green Dragon. LOTGD is "a browser based role playing game, based on Seth Able's Legend of the Red Dragon."

Create a character, flirt with Violet the bar wench, flirt with Seth the Bard! Survive through the worst in the forest outside of town! Host your own game!
posted by rachsumat on Jun 27, 2005 - 28 comments

I am Mr. Roarke, your host. Welcome to Fantasy Island! The virtual economy gets more interesting. (More inside)
posted by malaprohibita on Dec 17, 2004 - 35 comments

Film Mogul is an online RPG that's "a simulation of what it is like to be a power player in the movie industry today." Take on the role of studio head, agent, producer, critic, or journalist and make virtual movies every bit as crappy as the ones that the real Hollywood churns out!
posted by MrBaliHai on Apr 6, 2003 - 5 comments

In these difficult times it's a relief to know that Nethack is still being updated.
posted by chrisgregory on Feb 25, 2003 - 23 comments

Somewhere, beneath the cover of an innocuous-looking retail operation, those with true Power have built a facility to imprison forces man was not meant to know . . . things we were never meant to comprehend... dare you peek inside...
posted by zeoslap on Jul 16, 2002 - 12 comments

Neverwinter Nights is out!!! After waiting 4 long years and wading through a fetid quagmire of let-down rumors and whatnot, I finally have a copy installed on my laptop right now! Run, don't walk to your local Software Etc. and see if they have a copy. Our local WotC didn't have a copy, and neither did our local Electronics Boutique or Best Buy.
posted by crankydoodle on Jun 19, 2002 - 27 comments

Considering marriage? Now, with the RPG You Stupid Bitch! you can experience the bliss of marriage (or, as the author of the game puts it, "the struggles between two manipulative vipers") with only your imagination and some old D&D dice. In a more literary mood? Try the Wuthering Heights RPG. [Original link via Portal of Evil.]
posted by arco on Sep 29, 2001 - 1 comment

Steve Jackson Games , the makers of such fine pen-and-paper RPGs as Gurps, has been running a blog since 1994. I've been reading it since 1996, and I just now realized: it was the first blog I've ever read. In addition to release information, they also post game industry news, personal stories, and even the Illuminated Site of the Week, all with intimacy and personality we've come to expect from blogs.
posted by tweebiscuit on May 22, 2001 - 11 comments