Compromise and Conceit

Infernal adventuring…

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An Australian statistician and role-player living in Japan, interested in the theory and practice of role-playing…

Category: RPG Systems

  • Cyberpunk 2: If You’re Not Living on the Edge, You’re Taking Up Space

    Date: 3rd September, 2177 Weather: Rainy Mood: Frustrated Outfit: right now I’m in a Gun Teddy crop top with ice packs on my belly, but yesterday was a job interview so I went conservative, pastel colours and a pleated a-line, nothing too fancy because I didn’t want to look arrogant, which is just as well…

  • Cyberpunk Session 1: Ungrateful Extraction

    1st September, 2177. Weather: rainy. Outfit: today I punk styled, because I was shopping for some bullet belts when the call came in. Misfits t-shirt, tartan mini, black tights and sensible boots, pony tail, no heavy guns. My e-bags were patterned to “lacrima is my drug,” and that cheerleader squad Nirvana Crush from the computer…

  • The Impossibility of Dice Pools

    In my recent post on principles for RPG systems I put dice pools near the top of the list, because I think they’re fun. Unfortunately, however, I think it’s hard to make a simple dice pool that doesn’t break several of the other principles in the list, and it’s difficult to make a dice pool…

  • Some Design Principles for RPG Systems

    Over the past few years I’ve looked at a lot of the probabilistic and statistical aspects of specific game designs, from the Japanese game Double Cross 3 to Pathfinder, including comparing different systems and providing some general notes on dice pools. I’ve also played various amounts of World of Darkness, Iron Kingdoms, D&D, Warhammer 2…

  • RIP Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay

    Fantasy Flight Games have announced the completion of the Warhamer Fantasy Role-playing Game 3rd Edition (WFRP 3) “line,” i.e. they’ve decided to stop producing any material for it and move on. I suspect this is at least partly because it was not very popular or successful – it’s a somewhat unusual form for a role-playing…

  • Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition: Not Revolutionary, but Good Anyway!

    Last  week I had the opportunity to play an extended session of D&D 5th Edition, using the pre-generated characters and adventure from the starter kit. We had three players so I played two PCs: an elven wizard called Althiel Moonwhisper (Chaotic Good, indeterminate gender, overly elegant in speech and manner but completely lacking in empathy…

  • Mysteries of the Red Empire: Background to a Compromise and Conceit One-shot

    On the weekend I ran a one-shot set in my Compromise and Conceit world, using my improvised high-speed Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3 (WFRP3) rules. This adventure was set in North America in 1865, in the Red Empire. This setting is 100 years after the death of George Washington at the hands of my London group, and…

  • 13th Age Character: Cog 11

    Cog 11 is the gnome rogue I am playing in my new 13th Age campaign, the Eroding Empire. Cog 11 (“Cog”) is a cold-hearted, selfish and anti-social wretch. Orphaned (or abandoned) on the edge of the Wild Wood when he was very small, Cog grew up as a wildling, a member of a small group…

  • 13th Age: Intersections and Beginnings

    A smear of grey across the sky A warning in the distance An indecipherable alarm And there you stood, your mouths agape Your minds adrift and far from harm Smoke on the horizon … – Black Company mantra The boy and the wildling Lithvar was just finishing shelving the day’s manuscripts when he heard the…

  • Compromise and Conceit Characters: Clare de Lune

    Clare de Lune is one of the characters I generated for the Compromise and Conceit one-shot. She is an ex-exotic dancer for the French troop known as the Cirque de Lune, probably kicked out for some kind of crime against the circus’s managers. Her magic uses nature, perception and deception. She has some combat skills,…