Diary of a Failed Game Designer

Phase is a game I wrote a few years ago. Born into the world back when 4th edition was announced. Jay and I said  "We don't want to pay for another D&D" With that our group set out on making our own system. I have written the story of Phase on this blog more than once. I have also called it "The best game no one has ever played." To further the point I have called it "My favorite out of the games I have written." I stand by those statements. The PDF as written has a couple mistakes in it (I'll fix them.) Some of the design choices may seem a bit contrived now that a few years have passed, but at least I know it works because our group has played an awful lot of it. Phase Abandon is available at drive through RPG for the low price of $0.00 USD. Phase abandon is  at it's heart a DM'less game. It was designed so I could play a character as well as share the G.M. duties. At the time Phase was written I was doing most of the game mastering

I have not done this for some time. "This" being just a usable map tossed on the blog for  anyone to  take and use for whatever they desire. The  story behind this map is a tragic one. a while back I Started running a good old fashioned AD&D 2nd ed dungeon crawl, as it happens the game didn't stick. I think sometimes with these side games, if they don't stick it's honestly no big deal. It's not like our main campaign completely bit the dust. (Even though due to scheduling problems it sure seems like it has.) We got a few nights of fun out of it and  that's that. I suppose I could do a whole blog about why some games stick the go on to become the long running games we all love, versus the games that  don't go anywhere. Though I think that ground has been covered before by people a boat load brighter than I am, so all you get are some maps. The maps: One is of a mining town perched on the  side of a treacherous mountain. The other map is  a section o

Small AAIE Update: On Saturday Morning I'm running a game off AAIE at " Gaming in the  woods " a new Con just starting up this year in Poughkeepsie NY. I guess this isn't  playtesting anymore, now we're just playing. Editing and such continues. I still haven't done anymore art for the game, so ... that's on me. Also One of the games I wrote back in 2006, which was played quite often between then and 2014 (when fifth ED dropped and we all decided to try it) Can now be downloaded on Drive through RPG for Free. It's Called Phase Abandon. The  document was edited and Laid out by the multi talented Jens D. From the D isoriented Ranger Blog.  The Drive through RPG was set up by the equally talented Neal T. who deserves all the credit for getting this stuff out there. Quick note about Phase abandon: It's very much a "Narrative style" game. While I hate those labels because of the arguments they cause, I had to point out the Phase Abandon is ve