Help needed

[Twin Axes]

Ok, so I need something to read online when my mind is empty, I've read the news and the Alfa forums, and I want to zone out with something nice. Like an RPG or history blog or something. Suggestions?

[CloudDancing]

http://io9.com/

http://www.fark.com/

[Twin Axes]

Thanks Cloud, this should eat up a few hours of my life!

[HEEGZ]

https://www.wikipedia.org/

http://world.guns.ru/index-e.html

http://www.alandfaraway.org/wiki/Charter

http://www.reddit.com/

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

http://www.d20srd.org/index.htm

https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie/videos

[FoamBats4All]

http://tvtropes.org/

[Veilan]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com

Definetely read Alexander Macrisse's "check for traps", starting with article #1 on page 3. I devoured them all in two days and was stunned by how well he nailed what makes for a good gaming experience, putting in words the allure of simulation over narration, and showing why agency is so important to fun. His series on DMing a game should be required reading for ALFA.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... fortraps.3

[Galadorn]

http://www.gruffalo.com

[HEEGZ]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com

Definetely read Alexander Macrisse's "check for traps", starting with article #1 on page 3. I devoured them all in two days and was stunned by how well he nailed what makes for a good gaming experience, putting in words the allure of simulation over narration, and showing why agency is so important to fun. His series on DMing a game should be required reading for ALFA.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... fortraps.3

Thanks, will have a look at these.

[Twin Axes]

agency is so important to fun

Thanks, sounds promising! Without having read the article, this sentence formulates succinctly why it is so problematic to mix higher and lower levels in a group. Enjoyment decreases in direct proportion to your PC's redundancy.

[Hialmar]

http://www.theonion.com/

[Ronan]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com

Definetely read Alexander Macrisse's "check for traps", starting with article #1 on page 3. I devoured them all in two days and was stunned by how well he nailed what makes for a good gaming experience, putting in words the allure of simulation over narration, and showing why agency is so important to fun. His series on DMing a game should be required reading for ALFA.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... fortraps.3

He makes good points but does not cover the most basic requirement of good non-narrative DMing: assembling a group of players who are willing to accept negative consequences. I'm not only referring to fair negative consequences but also unfair ones, since DMing can never be perfectly fair (the larger the group the less time the DM typically has to devote to being a fair judge). There are different playstyles and whatnot (some like more RP, others like more combat, etc.), so certain players will be bored with others. However if the above requirement is not met you're in for a lot worse than mere boredom.

It is possible to DM a group of people who are less willing to accept negative consequences with a switch to more narrative DMing, but only if their PCs are not at odds with each other. This is a tricky situation because sometimes (ok, every goddamn time in my experience) the PCs will be at odds with each other at some point in the campaign.

[Twin Axes]

agency is so important to fun

Thanks, sounds promising! Without having read the article, this sentence formulates succinctly why it is so problematic to mix higher and lower levels in a group. Enjoyment decreases in direct proportion to your PC's redundancy.

Ok it was about something else, but my comment still stands. Thanks for the links!

[Brokenbone]

I think the Dungeonomicon (and all other -icons) by some guy used to exist on some forum or other, now it seems all transcribed into a wiki... it's got a lot of humorous observations about dungeons and dragons.

http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Dungeono ... rcebook%29

The economics etc. give some particular chuckles...

Now, you may ask yourself why these coins are so titanic compared to real coins. The answer is because having piles of coins is awesome. Dragons are supposed to sleep on that stuff, and that requires big piles of coins. Consider my own mattress, which is a "twin-size" (pretty reasonable for a single medium-size creature) and nearly .2 cubic meters. If it was made out of gold, it would be about 3.9 tonnes. That's about eighty-six hundred pounds, and even with the ginormous coins in D&D, that's four hundred and thirty thousand gold pieces. In previous editions, that sort of thing was simply accepted and very powerful dragons really did have the millions of gold pieces – which was actually fine. Since third edition, they've been trying to make gold actually equal character power, and the result has been that dragon hoards are… really small. None of this "We need to get a wagon team to haul it all away", no. In 3rd edition, hoard sizes have become manageable, even ridiculously tiny. When a 6th level party defeats a powerful and wealthy monster, they can expect to find... nearly a liter of gold. That is, the treasure "hoard" of that evil dragon you defeated will actually fit into an Evian bottle.

[loulabelle]

Not exactly rpg or history, but imho, worth recommending.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/

Her drawing style is more childish (deliberately so) but her writing and humour are excellent. Be careful not to laugh out at work too much.

Also: http://www.theoatmeal.com for the same reasons.

If you are in the mood for a good short story:

http://www.dailysciencefiction.com

is excellent (even if they rejected me, philistines). A short story every day ranging across all styles and encompassing humour, drama, history, popular science. You can join their mailing list and they will send you a new story every day. I often read them in bed before I go to sleep too. It's a free magazine.

[Veilan]

agency is so important to fun

Thanks, sounds promising! Without having read the article, this sentence formulates succinctly why it is so problematic to mix higher and lower levels in a group. Enjoyment decreases in direct proportion to your PC's redundancy.

See, I think you should turn this around on its head: "A mix of higher and lower levels can be quite enjoyable as long as the group and its participants all have a sense of agency."

But I'm quite sure my pocket existentialism may not be everybody's cup of tea.

Cheers,