Part Five: Unrealized Possibilities Up until this point, my various segments on science fiction RPGs have examined what separates them from fantasy games, what games that met little to no success, the challenges that a sci-fi roleplaying game must overcome...
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Part Four: The Sci-fi Paragon Throughout this series (see parts One, Two, and Three), you’ve heard me reference the game of Eclipse Phase a few times. This is not by accident. I have previously discussed at length the difficulties faced by...
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Part Three: Science Fiction Fundamentals In the previous two installments of this discourse (found here and here), I discussed roleplaying game settings which are not actually science fiction, and science fiction games that have been less than successful for a...
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Part Two: Science Fiction Failures In my previous article, I examined several roleplaying games which utilize varying degrees of fantasy elements while still being considered science fiction. Each game discussed was at least marginally successful, though none held the market...
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My first introduction to tabletop roleplaying games was from a friend at the age of eleven. His older brother played Dungeons & Dragons and Shadowrun, and had introduced him to the hobby. I was already familiar with the Dragonlance novels...
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Few games have the breadth of play that Chess enjoys. Chess as we know it has been with western civilization since the 10th century CE, having adapted from Indian and Persian games over a few centuries before that. While the...
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Among board games, genres are often defined by their assumptions. games assume that the players will work together to win. games assume a steady economy of actions. Monopoly presumes a certain economic savvy about good investments versus bad investments (even...
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Editor’s Note: David Gordon currently writes the You Should Be Playing column regarding tabletop RPG recommendations. This is great for articles about specific games, but sometimes topics come up that fall outside this normal purview or require more in-depth analysis...
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You Should Be Playing… Dread Water drips a steady staccato somewhere in the darkness. By the dim glow seeping in through the windows of the basement, you can make out only a few shadows around you. The smell of dirt...
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Editor’s Note: David Gordon currently writes the You Should Be Playing column regarding tabletop RPG recommendations. This is great for articles about specific games, but sometimes topics come up that fall outside this normal purview or require more in-depth analysis...
Read more »