Author Archives: fakedtales

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About fakedtales

I'm a writer, a podcaster, a reviewer of games. Here's where I share my own fiction and my encounters with other people's media.

RPG a Day 2020, Part Seventeen – Some Cosy Games

Posted on August 17, 2020 by fakedtales

Today’s theme is “Comfort” so I thought it’d be good topic to have a look at some slightly more cosy games. I like the idea of RPGs with some slightly calmer concepts, especially in this year of our Hellworld 2020. … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Sixteen – Dramatic Battles and Managing Epic Scale

Posted on August 16, 2020 by fakedtales

We all like a big fight, don’t we? Those bits in things like Game of Thrones where we’d have a lot of drama and tension, then a massive cathartic battle and the fallout. Or in Lord of the Rings, or … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Fifteen – Framing Scenes

Posted on August 15, 2020 by fakedtales

Establishing a scene can be tough sometimes. You need to communicate information to the group quickly, and as a player you need to parse what’s being said for value. It’s easy enough to say, “There’s a room with four kobolds” … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Fourteen – Online Game Banners

Posted on August 14, 2020 by fakedtales

Here’s one in the “Charlie’s been running RPGs for twenty-six years but is still learning” category of entries. I love a good online tool for managing a campaign and have mainly used Obsidian Portal for these past few years. My … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Thirteen – Short and Long Rests are a Dull Mechanic

Posted on August 13, 2020 by fakedtales

I’ve resisted the D&D bashing so far this month, but here we go. Rests are a really dull mechanic and should be changed. Admittedly a lot of D&D needs changing and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone run it … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Twelve – Sending a Message to Players with Love Letters

Posted on August 12, 2020 by fakedtales

I first heard about Love Letters in the Gauntlet’s podcast and I instantly knew it would be something fun to play with. The main games I heard of using Love Letters were Apocalypse World and Monsterhearts, but I’ve used them … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Eleven – My RPG Reading Stack

Posted on August 11, 2020 by fakedtales

I have a stack of books on one arm of the sofa. Sometimes it gets moved over to the coffee table or the little end table next to the sofa. They’re all on my reading list and some have been … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Ten – Games I Want to Play

Posted on August 10, 2020 by fakedtales

My list was as follows: Earlier this year there was a whole thing about people listing a dozen RPGs they hadn’t played or run and wanted to. I joined in as it seemed like a fun thing to do. Back … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Nine – Light and other minor spells

Posted on August 9, 2020 by fakedtales

Back when I ran AD&D I kind of stumbled into good bits of DMing from time to time. Not always and I didn’t really know to weaponise them as much as I should have, but I had my moments. Potions … Continue reading →

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RPG a Day 2020, Part Eight – Shades and Other Props

Posted on August 8, 2020 by fakedtales

I was running a campaign of the Cubicle 7 Dr Who Adventures in Time and Space RPG when my group started to get a real habit of using props to represent their characters. It started with a hammer, as we … Continue reading →

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