Anthony Li has been pretending to be someone or something else for about as long as he can remember, which some people might consider a problem. He cut his teeth on 2nd Edition AD&D when he was 14 years old and his only regret is that he didn’t start rolling dice sooner. Due to an unhealthy addiction to Magic: the Gathering he missed the entire cultural phenomenon that was the 3.X era of D&D. After a brief stint with 4E, he was dragged kicking and screaming into the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game where he has since acclimated, adapted, and thrived. Most of his roleplaying experience has been behind in the GM screen where he has trained his dice to confirm crits on command. He always roots for the bad guys.
There will always be new material, new options, systems. This is a constant and unchanging principle of game publishing. There will always be new things for players and GMs to sink their teeth into because players and GMs are...
There’s no new Behind the Screens today due to holiday travel. I’ll be back again on December 7th with some more musings about organizing groups and play incentives. Cheers! Anthony
When starting a campaign, player backstories can provide GMs a wealth of creative fodder for to weave their narratives unfolding. A character’s trusted mentor can show up to provide a helpful clue when the party is stuck with a...
There have been a number of shocking stories coming to light featuring RPG industry giants – both individuals and entities – in the last couple weeks. Allegations of inappropriate behavior, coercive silences, and inadequate responses have arisen coinciding with...
We live in exciting times. Back at the dawn of the Dungeons & Dragons, a set of polyhedral dice could be a difficult commodity to come by. And those that were available are a far cry from the sundry...
Tell me if this sounds familiar: The PCs are tasked with acquiring a particular item from a heavily guarded camp. You’ve set up a stealth mission. They sneak in, acquire the macguffin, and make their escape with no one...
Sooner or later, every GM will be faced with a kind of question that brings their gaming session to a screeching halt. They sound something like this: “Where are we, again?” “Wait… What’s going on?” “Remind me… Who are...
Happy first day of GenCon 2017! Tens of thousands of attendees travel from all over the world and decent upon the fabled city of Indianapolis for a four-day revel of games, games, and more games. Soon, the Know Direction...
For most game companies, a steady release of product is usually taken as a good sign. Regular game support with new product means regular sales means company longevity which means that the game they put out continues to exist. Which continues...
I’m taking a bit of a break from world-building this week to stew on some ideas. So instead I thought that I’d bring forward a different collection of thoughts that I’ve had on the back burner. It should come as little...