by tdakanalis

New post: Tools for game masters, every week

by Shardra

Party first. Character second. It’s a game. Games should be fun.

by TeKKy21

davemossimo wrote:

For those who are coming from out of town, how are you shipping your games (that you are selling) to the con? Are you taking a board game bag and checking it in? Are you shipping to your hotel? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I think a lot of people drive and then have everything in their car and leave in hotel room and bring everything at the exchange. If you're coming from further away...I'd assume a second luggage or shipping to a friend? but YMMV.

by RxJedi

I had a past career as a software engineer, so I don't mind sliding over to Comp Tech if no one else wants it or I can backup whoever takes the role. It's all shiny with me.

How about something like Margin of Error as a ship name? Or maybe Unbroken? Just throwing them out there.

by Yugblad

Would like to pick these up! When are these available?
I missed the crowdfunding.

by paxtt

An item RPG: Generic / Universal has been added to the geeklist PAX Unplugged 2026 - RPG Freeplay: Community Game Scheduler

by SeaofStars

I can play backup on the compter tech role with my character (callsign Kitty?) as accounting/finance is adjacent to computer tech.

by SeaofStars

Yes, under those circumstances, I would just ask for a pause in the action and open the table for discussion. "Look, I think that in this situation, my character would really do the [thing which is going to cause problems] because of [character reasons]. Now I don't want to derail the game. What other reasonable and fun options do you see?" I am sure we could find a solution, even if it is only a moment of self-doubut that prevents them from taking the action that would cause problems.

But I rarely run characters these days that are so dogmatic that they would take campaign ruining actions. While some of them might take self-destructive actions (my current Deadlands character will kill themself before being taken prisoner by the Whatley family, for example, and I have informed the GM of such so he can plan around that). I try to avoid ruining other people's fun as much as possible.

by blackbirdetx

What next indeed?

At the time of writing, this is the state of play with character developments:
David - "Blackout" - Engineer - Human - secret agreed
Sean - call sign to be agreed - finance/business role - Aslan - secret to be agreed
Richard - callsign to be agreed - engineer - Vilani - secret to be agreed
Patrick - details to be confirmed
Riley - "Suture" - medic/scholar - Solomani - secret to be agreed
Terence - call sign to be agreed - Zhodani? - Psionic - class to be confirmed, secret to be agreed
Craig - details to be confirmed

The gaps we have are pilot, computer tech and fighter/muscle. Computer tech is, I think, particularly important. Perhaps one of the engineers could have some computer know how if we don't get a dedicated specialist. Everyone can have some degree of weapon skill, although you never know when greater proficiency might come in handy.

I will geekmail to David, Sean, Richard, Riley and Terence with suggested profiles, which you may tweak as you see fit to suit your backstory. That mail will also contain your secret.
I will check in with Patrick and Craig to see if they are still ok to go ahead.
I will launch the IC thread on Friday morning UK time, so that should be ample time to get everything straightened out. I will launch it sooner if say everybody is ready to go on Thursday!
This thread can remain as the OOC thread. We can relabel it perhaps.
If everybody can give some thought to the questions of name and details, and also the name of the ship, that would be great.
I don't want to overload, but if there are any more questions please do ask!

by chuckdee68

It depends. I don't intentionally try to make things less enjoyable, and I don't think that I've had an action that would do so- in most cases, less enjoyable just means harder, which is not always the same. Especially as I play games where PvP isn't off-limits at times. In a lot of ways, it's like a war game or a board game. You're all in it to have fun, but you're also in it with a particular goal. So if it was in service to that goal, then I'd do it. If it wasn't, then why would that be a logical option in the first place? In many cases, these decisions, though they make it harder in the short term, make for a more memorable experience in the long term.

Now, if it's going to make someone uncomfortable, that's a hard stop. But other than sticking to the social contract and the nature of the game (i.e. is it more cooperative? ), anything goes.

by mistermarino

Related Item: Mark Herman

Hey, everybody. I've been a bit quiet, family obligations and such. But I hope (fingers crossed) to post the GeekLists this weekend (Sunday, to be more precise). I've contacted the benevolent and all-powerful Octavian with a question about the BGG fees for auction proceeds, since it would be more efficient for people to simply pay the seller for shipping and then donate the sale price directly to either Judd's church fund or the Ronald McDonald House. I'm unfamiliar with how other charity GeekLists handle that, so perhaps I am off base here.

I plan to do two GeekLists: one for the GeekGold and game auction lists, and one for people to list games they've donated to RMH.

Any suggestions, questions, recommendations or hilariously biting comments about the insufferable beigeness of Eurogames?

by Themis Dakanalis

Beyond the daily drops, our community runs a weekly rhythm of short, practical features for GMs. Here's the calendar:

🧠 GM Digest (Tuesdays): we read the best game-mastering blogs so you don't have to. Three practical techniques, each with a tip to try at your next session, and full credit to the original authors.
🖥️ VTT Week in Brief (Mondays): Foundry, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds and Alchemy news in plain English.
🔎 TTRPG of the Week (Thursdays): one game worth discovering.
🎁 Free Game Friday (Fridays): a free indie RPG you can run that weekend.
📅 Release Radar (1st of the month): what's coming, what just came out, and what's crowdfunding.
📰 In-world newspapers (Wednesdays): The West-Fold Herald, The Voice of Arrakis, The Neon Pulse and The Griffin's Ledger.

🗳️ Shaped by votes: every drop gets three buttons (would use, would tweak, pass), and formats nobody uses get replaced.

🤝 Find a table: there's a looking-for-group channel for any system, and a board for art, maps, writing and GMs for hire.

All free, at https://discord.gg/E23J8PdFSM

Coming Friday: something new for Saturdays. One hint: it fits in a PDF. 🎲