One game designer's fantasy setting plays with gender roles and has women, rather than men, in the position of dominant power in a society. Why the upset responses from some male readers? Some thoughts on the subject. [Continue]

Need to overthrow a kingdom in a story or game setting? Here are five ways to do so, in a 5-part series. Part 1 talks pros and cons of armed conflict and 3 things to keep in mind if you go that route. [Continue]

Rules lawyers can be a GM irritant and derail game play. Here are the tactics I use to make rules lawyers a non-issue in my games. [Continue]

Gamers often create RPG campaign settings that don't click. Here's a look at a major game design issue that often causes this problem, and a recommended approach to set things straight. Part I of a two-part post. [Continue]

Here's a look behind the scenes on the development of the Tiptree Award nominated short story "Live Fire" by Deborah Teramis Christian. [Continue]

Why do 'bad guy' encounters often feel repetitive, derivative, or shallow, especially in rpgs and CRPGs, but also in much genre fiction? The "COG" model explains that dynamic, and suggests how to stop it from dragging our stories down. [Continue]

Aliens in fiction need to be more than humans in rubber suits. Growing complex aliens means rethinking their psychology from the ground up. [Continue]

I find that I write best, both plotting and characterization-wise, when I can get inside the skin of the characters I am writing about.  I don’t mean only “understand how they think”, which is such a common prescription for [Continue]

Mendel Schmiedekamp's RPG Theory Review blog is a great place for discussion of game theory. In 2009 I'll be running an interactive "storygame", which brings me close to ARG or alternative reality gaming. This reminds me of Mark Keavney's City of If [Continue]

I’m noticing a severe lack of real story lines, much less storytelling, in free online rpgs.  The problem isn’t only found in free online rpgs - it’s in many paid rpgs as well -  but the free ones are ubiquitous these days, [Continue]