9 reasons why cowboys are better than superheroes

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy superhero movies and even (at a safe distance) comics. But the Avengers and Wolverine can't hold a candle to the Sacketts and the Man With No Name. When I want to relax and immerse myself in a heroic movie, I don't go looking for a Marvel flick. I...

National Not-Novel Writing Month, day 1: The Silent Kid

Apparently if you're doing the short-story-per-day challenge instead of NaNoWriMo, you're supposed to also post it on your blog. I hesitate to do this because it'll be painfully obvious if I fail to keep up, and also because I'm not sure I want everyone to see my first-draft stuff. But oh, well, what the hell....

Another gaming thing I got totally wrong

Digging into the excellent Emperor's Notepad blog, I came across this post: You are (probably) doing it wrong: Hit points, literature, and D&D. Oh, really? You're going to defend hit points? Bring it on! Good luck, because I have NOT been doing it wrong, and... Oh. Well, you've got a pretty good point there. Well, yes, as it...

Pastiche roleplaying: the system

A post by the Mixed GM got me thinking about what I'm trying to do with the FAR System and FAR Western -- in essence, what I've been doing is trying to mix RPG game styles that I like. But not simply as a pastiche. I could probably slap together Pastiche: The System and have...

State of the FAR System

With warmer weather, fragrant blossoms, and new leaves, this seems like a good time to assess the state of the FAR System and what's next. First, a bit of new news: We're on RPGnow.com and drivethrurpg.com as Two Far Publishing. Nothing uploaded yet, but I'm working on a gaming aid that will probably go up...

Friction checks: A way to add realism and excitement to your game

It's like the fog of war—but different. Where the fog of war usually refers generally to battlefield confusion, the concept of friction goes a step farther, quantifying the natural unpredictability of human reactions to threat, surprise, and stress. People who study human performance in combat have found that a predictable percentage of people—even trained soldiers—will fail...

Making a movie in your head: The role of reality in roleplaying

For the most part, roleplaying games seek to model movies, not reality. I came across this idea in a short-lived gaming zine from the turn of the new century, and it really got me thinking about the nature of roleplaying games and why they're built the way they are. More specifically, why I'm building this...

Old West prescription shades

Did you know that people in the Old West actually wore sunglasses? It was a surprise to me. I've been thinking about guns, horses, clothes, provisions, even eyeglasses...but sunglasses never occurred to me. While doing research on the Allen Pepperbox gun, I stumbled across a dramatic part the gun played in early Mormon history and...

Christmas at the sawmill – A true story of the Old West

The growing settlements in the mountain valleys of Utah needed lumber, and it was Benjamin Franklin Johnson's job to provide it. More than a job -- a mission. The Mormon church's Council of the Twelve had asked him to do it, so he regarded the task as a sacred duty. The sawmill had been sited...