Category: Fantasy

Stormbringer

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • September 14th, 2020

Will you face your doom head on or seek to outrun it?

Your Choices Matter: The Real Power Fantasy

By Ruth Cassidy • August 28th, 2020

An interview with the co-narrative leads on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire about subverting that power fantasy of the Chosen One.

Self Insert

Quarantine Fics

By Amanda Hudgins • August 10th, 2020

When the entire world is on lockdown, even alternate universes start hitting closer to home.

The Schwarzenegger Conan Movies

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • August 3rd, 2020

Vintage RPG Podcast listeners, what is best in life?

Self Insert

No Beta We Die Like Men

By Amanda Hudgins • July 8th, 2020

Readers never know what they’re going to get with this tag. It may be a warning, but it’s not always deserved.

No Accounting for Taste

Beyond the Farthest Shores

By Adam Boffa • June 10th, 2020

Ursula K. Le Guin leaves no stone in Earthsea unturned, even when that means challenging her own history.

Try Reading...

Buck Destiny

By Harry Rabinowitz • May 14th, 2020

In Norroway, is destiny something to fulfill or defy?

This Mortal Coyle

Iris From the Drawn Trilogy

By Deirdre Coyle • May 8th, 2020

The concept of turning artwork into reality—into an escape—has never been more tempting.

Feature Excerpt

Sticks and Stones Might Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me

By Autumn Wright • May 4th, 2020

Marvel’s New Warriors series is an attempt to land the most expensive “how ya doing fellow kids” meme in the history of late capitalism.

Here's the Thing

I Hope the FFVII Remake Changes My Mind

By Rob Rich • April 10th, 2020

Rob isn’t the biggest fan of Final Fantasy VII (to put it lightly) but he’s hoping that the upcoming remake will change that.

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New Kid on Earth

By Harry Rabinowitz • April 9th, 2020

Space Boy Volume 1 proves that – even eons into the future – moving still sucks.

Feature Excerpt

Expanding Worlds with Video Game Tabletop RPGs

By Scott Roepel • April 2nd, 2020

Unlike in roleplaying videogames, for tabletop roleplaying, all you need is an imagination, a good storyteller and a set of dice.

Feature Excerpt

Carrington’s Dreamscape

By Daniel Lipscombe • April 2nd, 2020

Videogames, especially those of the horror variety, could seriously stand to take a leaf from surrealism’s book.

The Shadow People

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • March 23rd, 2020

Descend into the depths of the earth to meet The Shadow People!

Feature Excerpt

Picking Fruit in Hyrule: Playing Breath of the Wild Like It’s Animal Crossing

By Alyssa Wejebe • February 21st, 2020

If you’re sick of emptying your pockets to Tom Nook and microtransactions, another Nintendo mainstay may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Feature Excerpt

Heavy Metal Hits the Tabletop

By Tom G. Wolf • February 21st, 2020

For both metal and tabletop gaming, the allure of the forbidden draws in similar crowds.

The McMaster Files

The Dreamers of the Dreams

By Jason McMaster • January 14th, 2020

Jason says goodbye to the architect behind one fondly remembered virtual bastion.

Feature Excerpt

The Art of LARP

By Sharang Biswas • December 20th, 2019

LARPing is as much about community and art as it is about roleplaying.

The Burnt Offering

Fracas in Freshtovia

By Stu Horvath • November 5th, 2019

Wendy’s admittedly committed attempt at a tabletop RPG is every bit the corporate advertisement it tries not to be.

Feature Excerpt

Two Hands Off the Wheel: Learning to Embrace the Chaos of Zweihander

By R. M. Jansen-Parkes • October 24th, 2019

Most tabletop RPGs boil down to a roll of the dice.

Feature Excerpt

Grim, Perilous and Inclusive

By Adam Brown • October 24th, 2019

Zweihander: Grim & Perilous is a fresh take on dark fantasy and tabletop RPGs.

Feature Excerpt

Dwarves in Space

By Ian Williams • September 24th, 2019

The gig economy is everywhere, even in our videogames. At least Deep Rock Galactic makes it fun.

Checkpoint

Sometimes, Pixelated Spectacle Is All You Need

By Corey Milne • September 12th, 2019

Domina wasn’t what Corey expected, but, hey, at least there’s wine to go with all that gore.

The Burnt Offering

Grab Bag

By Stu Horvath • July 5th, 2019

Stu has a handful of thoughts on everything from The Name of the Rose to dungeon synth.

Self-Insert

A+ Parenting

By Amanda Hudgins • May 12th, 2019

Fanfics dive into how one generation’s crappy fictional dad makes the next generation’s neurotic protagonist.

The Burnt Offering

Metal is My Church

By Stu Horvath • April 4th, 2019

Stu Horvath ponders the alchemy behind taste as he reconsiders a “cheeseball” artist from his nascent metal education.

The Burnt Offering

Hail to the King

By Stu Horvath • March 8th, 2019

There are many King Arthurs.

The Burnt Offering

The Feels

By Stu Horvath • December 3rd, 2018

What happens when a horror story tries to manifest in the real world?

Lore’d of the Rings: The Horror of Knowledge

By David Shimomura • November 27th, 2018

They say knowledge is power, but sometimes it is just isolating.

Middle Earth Role Playing

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • November 12th, 2018

Vintage RPG journeys to the Shire to check out Iron Crown Enterprise’s Middle Earth Roleplaying.

The Burnt Offering

The Rulebook Tarantella

By Stu Horvath • October 12th, 2018

The mind behind Unearthed Arcana stumbled on a roleplaying publishing paradox: you need rulebooks to make money, but the more rulebooks you publish, the more unwieldy your game.

No Accounting for Taste

Studio Ghibli and the Climate Crisis

By Adam Boffa • September 10th, 2018

A pair of ‘90s Ghibli films reveal the depths of our environmental problem but refuse to give up hope.

The Burnt Offering

Dungeons & Dragons Is a Double-Edged Sword

By Stu Horvath • August 15th, 2018

Dungeons & Dragons is the gateway into tabletop roleplaying, but for many players, it is also the final destination.

Polishing Up the Ol’ Dragonlance

By Levi Rubeck • March 21st, 2018

The War of Souls continues the Dragonlance series’ penchant for a willingness to let its characters fail—to be broken down completely while chasing meaningless power, given the chance for redemption, and convincing the reader when they stand or fall.