A Butterfly Dreaming

Captain America

Scott — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:00:12 +0000

I’m still in the middle of moving — new job and new home means very few blog updates, as I’m sure anyone who’s still following me has noticed — but I had a chance yesterday to catch the Captain America movie, and it demanded comment. Captain America is a very interesting sort of superhero. He [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Captain America

The Year is 1806…

Scott — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 13:00:52 +0000

Fantasy roleplaying games, as a rule, are set in fictional medieval or early-Renaissance Europe. There’s certainly nothing limiting them to that setting, though; Dungeons & Dragons alone has featured settings derived from the ancient Middle East, China and Japan, and South and Central America. The ancient world, the medieval, and the modern era have all [...] Post from: A Butterfly...

Dealing with Disconnects: Cautious Combatants

Scott — Mon, 30 May 2011 18:00:45 +0000

Sometimes when you’re running a game, you want to emulate a novel or movie. Being unscripted, though, a game is a different sort of animal: the gamemaster may be the main storyteller, but he doesn’t have control over the protagonists. This can lead to disconnects between the way heroes act in the “source” fiction and [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Dealing with...

More Treasures of Galadria

Scott — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:00:22 +0000

I’ve just returned from an extended trip to London, which provided plenty of inspiration for posts. While I’m getting some of them in order, though, I figured I should post an update, since it’s been quite a while. Here, then, are some more magic items from my long-running Galadria campaigns. These span the various editions; [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming More...

Spectacles for Your Maps

Scott — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:00:19 +0000

In the spirit of this month’s blog carnival on maps, I thought I’d talk a little bit about map design. Not the act of creating the actual map, although there’s plenty to be said about that; rather, the art of populating it. Not with settlements, either. With spectacles. Spectacles are an element overlooked by many [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Spectacles for Your Maps

Maps and Legends

Scott — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:30:42 +0000

This month, A Character for Every Game is hosting the RPG Blog Carnival. The topic is cartography. Maps are obviously pretty vital to most campaigns. You’ve got maps of fantasy worlds, of dungeons, of the city your superheroes are based in, of the star systems (or galaxies!) your space-opera heroes are flying between, of the [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Maps and Legends

Launching a Campaign: The Ground Rules Sheet

Scott — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 14:00:03 +0000

As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s important to inform your players about some of your assumptions before you begin your campaign. I find the easiest way of doing so is to provide a handout that summarizes some of the basic information about the campaign. A cheat sheet, if you will. The sheet should [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Launching a Campaign: The Ground Rules Sheet

Launching a Campaign: Realism vs. Ease

Scott — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 22:14:39 +0000

As I prepare to launch a new campaign, I’m running into the early decisions that help shape one. They seem like useful candidates for blog posts, so today I’m going to consider one of those early decisions: How much should I emphasize realism (or verisimilitude, if you want to get semantic) in the game? Most [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Launching a Campaign: Realism vs....

Cool Alone Isn’t Enough

Scott — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:57:11 +0000

So, it’s been a while. In the midst of that real-life stuff that I’m not going to get into, my games more or less evaporated, and lack of gaming leads to lack of inspiration to write about gaming. Things seem to be picking up on both fronts, though. Fingers crossed for the gradual relaunch of [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming Cool Alone Isn’t Enough

The Humble Indie Bundle

Scott — Fri, 07 May 2010 04:47:38 +0000

Soooo… six months later. I guess this sort of fell by the wayside. And I make my return with a brief post. Ah, well, so it goes. I just wanted to direct any gamers out there who haven’t already heard of it to wolfire.com’s Humble Indie Bundle. This is a “pay whatever you want” sale [...] Post from: A Butterfly Dreaming The Humble Indie Bundle