Mobile RPGs: A Necessary Experiment

A death foretold happened last week: my laptop, which I had bought pre-owned, died after approximately three years of use. I admit it, I might have played a big role in her demise. I put her through thousands of hours of more intensive gaming than she was built to handle. I know there is a chance that she can still be salvaged, although not in my current financial situation. So, these days, I find myself without a computer to work and play on. It’s a pretty tough spot. (more…)

Dystopic RPGs for Dystopic Times

For at least the past couple of centuries, dystopian fiction has arisen time and again as a resource used by writers to criticize—and probably cope with—the society and circumstances of their times. The most brilliant works of this kind have emerged at the darkest moments in history, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this decade has seen a rebirth of the genre. Two of my favorite tabletop RPGs, Cyberpunk and Paranoia, are dystopian games originally published during the Cold War in the 80’s, and they are currently on course for new installments. (more…)

Remote Role-Playing: Keep the Dice Rolling

My favorite kind of social event is a good role-playing session with friends, when we’re sitting around a messy table cluttered with books, maps, papers and dice, littered with snack wrappers and empty coffee mugs. But this idyllic kind of gatherings have become increasingly hard for me to arrange: as we grow up, schedules become harder to coordinate, friends move to different cities, school and work get in the way.  But this doesn’t mean we have to hang the dice bag and wait for the perfect role-playing conditions to return. There are plenty of resources online that we can use to keep the dice rolling. (more…)

Summer Glamour: Game Recommendations

It’s late August, and for most of the writers and readers of WWAC, summer is almost coming to an end. It’s such a beautiful time of the year, with long afternoons fading into warm evenings, perfect for a good roleplaying session. One could say it’s almost magical. (more…)

Sex and the Dungeons

I think roleplaying and sex are two intimately entwined concepts. Even when we’re not discussing that kind of roleplaying, I’ve found it to be true that sexual dynamics are likely to rise whenever a group of adults is cooped up together for an extended period of time. Add to that the tempting factor of veiled identities and the endless possibilities of an imagined universe, and you might find yourself right in the middle of situations that range from the enticing to the hilarious to the downright uncomfortable.

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