Author / guyeatsfood

by guyeatsfood

You Don’t Have to Like Everything

I’ve been sick this past week. Nothing too major, just ongoing stuff that I should have sorted ages ago, mostly just requiring a full stop, and resting. My recovery period (and subsequent not being in work) has coincided with the explosion of BlueSky as a place where a lot of gaming chat happens – it’s finally overtaken twitter and seems to be becoming the major place for short-form TTRPG discussion, memes, and general bantz. Which of course has led to me spending a lot of time on my phone scrolling through feeds and being barely entertained by gaming “discussion.”

And with it, there’s been an opportunity to practise good social media management, for many of us starting from scratch the way we wished we started on twitter. And subsequent accusations of BlueSky being an echo chamber, and a few of the bad actors from twitter trying to make their way across.

So it’s a good time to remind myself, and you, that a useful approach with gaming social media is to remember that you don’t have to like everything. In fact, you might like things that some other people think are terrible, and you might dislike things that other people think are good. And that’s fine; even (especially) in TTRPGs.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Existential Road Tripping – Review: Electric State RPG

Electric State is the latest setting / art collection to come out of Simon Stålenhag, the force behind Tales from The Loop and Things from The Flood – both TTRPGs published by Free League. The artistic inspiration fits really well in converting to a roleplaying game, and it gives a chilled-out post-apoc(ish) 1990s vibe that is something genuinely different.

I’ve run this game in a one-shot, and you can watch the Actual Play of this on the Unconventional GMs channel here. We played through the first “Stop” (adventure location) from the book in just under 2 hours – and like everything we’ve done, there’s minimal editing and proper engagement with the rules – so if you want to watch it in action, check it out there.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Trindie, But Make it Cool – 5 Games I’m Jiving To Now

I’m always looking for new TTRPGs. I have a lot of different game styles I like to run, but I’ve come to think of what I’m looking for for games that really jive with me. I like games that have a mixture of crunch and player agency – 13th Age is in many ways my ideal game. So, here are 5 games I’ve not played yet that I’m itching (no pun intended, although I think you can get most of these on itch.io as it happens) to get down!

For legibility, I’ve put the links in a group at the bottom of this post, rather than clutter them through the paragraphs – most of these have free samples / quickstarts, so check them out!

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Prep Technique: The Solo RPG

You can’t escape that there’s been a massive rise in Solo RPGs over the past few years. A glance at itch.io makes it look like the industry is drowning in solo journaling games, and there’s a whole culture of youtubers and streamers who play solo and share their thoughts and approaches. 

It’s true, it can feel a bit awkward to start with. But if you’re ignoring this part of the hobby, even if (like me) you’d much rather play with a group, I think you’re missing out. In fact, solo RPGs can be a huge part of your prep arsenal, giving benefit to your group play.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

I’m going to talk about three ways Solo RPGs can help you prep for group play, and then go through what you might use for them.

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by guyeatsfood

“I never drink… wine…” – Three Gaming Things from Dracula (1931)

Last week, I watched the classic Todd Browning 1931 Dracula film. It’s Bela Lugosi’s career-defining masterpiece, and without doubt a horror classic. Dated, of course, and it shows its origins as the film of a play of a book a little too obviously. It’s definitely imperfect to a modern viewer like me, which means it’s ideal to mine for TTRPG advice! So here’s three things in Dracula that we can use in our games, horror or otherwise.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Conventional Pleasures – Five Fantastic Games at Furnace

I’ve just returned from Furnace, one of the UK’s longest-running and most cherished conventions. Every year, around 70 punters (small cons give the best games, you know) descend on the Garrison Hotel in Sheffield and play for 5 slots. That’s pretty much all they do, too – there’s no seminars, no trade hall (stalls from Patriot Games and All Rolled Up are open throughout however), and no other activities – it really is All About The Games.

And I had one of my most consistently excellent gaming experiences at a convention. Five games that all really sang in their own way – I’m going to tell you about them, and try to identify the one thing that brought the magic. For all of these, I’ve not identified the GMs, although I’d recommend all of them if you get to sign up to one of their games.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Prep Matters – how much I do, and why zero-prep is wrong

There’s been a bit of chatter on the #TTRPG internet again about zero-prep games, and whether this is a misnomer, a false claim, or even harmful to the hobby. So, in an attempt to clarify what some people are saying, I’d like to talk you through an example of prep for a convention game that I’ve got coming up.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

First Look: D&D 2024 Player’s Handbook

Look, it says on the top it’s “The World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game,” which is patently false (it’s not Mouse Guard). And it’s attracted it’s fair share of deserved ire with the OGL fiasco. But, it’s still the biggest game in the world in terms of market share, and what goes on in here will cause ripples through the rest of the hobby. So I got hold of it. I’ve not played, I’ve only skimmed, I know, I hate unboxing videos too. This isn’t a review.

But I’m neither in the “Never D&D!” or the “No other games exist” camps, and so I thought I’d share my impressions of the 2024 Player’ Handbook. Here goes…

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Showcase Prep – Showing Off A Game

I’m prepping some games for Unconventional GMs at the moment, and I usually prefer to run my own stuff. Why? Well, we need it to work in the 2hr format, which not only reduces the scope of what I can run, but also means I need to be able to confidently busk a resolution – all easier if I’ve rolled my own stuff to start with. The method I’m using for these is something I’m calling Showcase Prep – and I think it’s great to use for lots of one-shots, whether these are for conventions, streaming, or just to play with you friends.

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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by guyeatsfood

Dungeoneering Done Differently

I’m prepping some location-based adventures for Unconventional GMs at the moment, including a game of the excellent His Majesty The Worm, and one of the many interesting bits of game design it has in it is a different approach to exploring dungeons.

It made me think of other interesting ways games structure exploring locations, and how we can rig together similar systems for other games. 

While you’re reading this, I should tell you about my Patreon. Patrons get access to content 7 days before they hit this site, the chance to request articles or content, and the chance to play in one-shot games, for a very reasonable backer level of £2 per month. If you like what you read, want to support the blog, and have the funds for it, please consider supporting here. Telling people about the blog, and sharing links/retweeting is much appreciated also – thanks!

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