Archive for the ‘Mike’ Category

Holistic NPCs: Creating Special Characters

Because the last part of the Economics in RPGs Series ran to three parts, I’ve decided to throw in an extra non-series article before continuing with it next week. Fortunately, I had an idea on tap. The Holistic NPC “Holistic” essentially means ‘complete’. The term derives from Holism, which is a philosophic notion that focusing […]

Comments Off on Holistic NPCs: Creating Special Characters

The Power Of Basic Utilities

Today I’m going to tell readers about something I’ve been working on a lot over the last few months, because it highlights an important principle – you can usually do a lot more with basic tools and utilities than you think. A Recurring Pattern Every now and then we seem to get waves of tools […]

Comments Off on The Power Of Basic Utilities

Economics In RPGs 6c: Pre-Digital Tech Age Ch 3

This entry is part 9 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

I’ve clearly decided to push on and get this trilogy of posts out of the way before interrupting the series for another break. As usual, because this is a direct continuation of what’s already been posted, I’m going to skip the usual preamble, so make sure that you have read Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 […]

Comments Off on Economics In RPGs 6c: Pre-Digital Tech Age Ch 3

Economics In RPGs 6b: Pre-Digital Tech Age Ch 2

This entry is part 8 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

This is literally the second part of the article I posted last week, so I’ll forego all the usual preamble bits and pieces, just as I did the last time this happened, diving straight in from where I left off – well, almost. Writing like this sometimes has strange confluences and coincidences, and in this […]

Comments Off on Economics In RPGs 6b: Pre-Digital Tech Age Ch 2

Economics In RPGs 6a: Pre-Digital Tech Age Ch 1

This entry is part 7 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

A word of advice: Each part of the series builds heavily on the content from the previous one. While you may be able to get relevant information without doing so, to get the most of out of each, you should have read the preceding article. Welcome & General Introduction With each part of the series, […]

Comments Off on Economics In RPGs 6a: Pre-Digital Tech Age Ch 1

Skating On Thin Ice: ‘Show, Don’t Tell’

“Show, don’t tell” is a common maxim when it comes to literary entertainments, and something that has been gleefully expropriated as good advice for other media. That includes TV, Movies, and, of course, Roleplaying Games. I was thinking about that during the last week, and noting how much easier it was for the other two […]

Comments Off on Skating On Thin Ice: ‘Show, Don’t Tell’

Economics In RPGs 5b: Electric Age Ch. 2

This entry is part 6 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

Because this is literally the second half of the article I posted last week, I’ll forego all the usual introductory bits and pieces and dive straight in from where I left off. Industrial Economics III: War & Depression Many of the economic influences that defined the era came together in the First World War, and […]

Comments Off on Economics In RPGs 5b: Electric Age Ch. 2

Economics In RPGs 5a: Electric Age Ch. 1

This entry is part 5 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

A word of advice: Each part of the series builds heavily on the content from the previous one. While you may be able to get relevant information without doing so, to get the most of out of each, you should have read the preceding article. Welcome & General Introduction I’ve said it before: With each […]

Comments (4)

Epic Kickstarters Deserve Epic Responses

I love being able to bring something new to the attention of others. So much so that I’m diverging from the intended schedule (which called for the next part of the series on Economics on RPGs) to bring news of something exciting to readers. The subject of today’s article has so many new elements to […]

Comments (2)

Guesstimates in RPGs: Measuring Handwavia

The subject today is Approximations and Guesstimations in RPGs. I’ve got a number of article ideas in various stages of development, intended to break up the series on Economics in RPGs. When the time comes to select between them, one of the key parameters that has to be assessed is how long the article will […]

Comments Off on Guesstimates in RPGs: Measuring Handwavia

Economics In RPGs 4: The Age Of Steam

This entry is part 4 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

Welcome & General Introduction With each passing entry in this series, we get to ground that is more familiar to all of us – either part of, or directly related to, our everyday lives, or part of the collective zeitgeist concerning the forces that influence those lives. This makes analysis easier (I know more of […]

Comments (2)

Economics In RPGs 3: Pre-Industrial Eras

This entry is part 3 of 16 in the series Economics In RPGs

Welcome & General Introduction Readers may have noticed that the previous part of the series promised the Renaissance and then barely mentioned the subject. That happened because, at least at first, there wasn’t a lot of economic difference, and what trends later started to manifest themselves were essentially the same trends that drove industrialization in […]

Comments Off on Economics In RPGs 3: Pre-Industrial Eras