In the Powered by the Apocalypse community, we’ve gotten used to a few pieces of terminology we use regularly—in particular, we talk a lot about soft and hard moves. Steve Segedy of Bully Pulpit Games wrote a post all about...
In this series of posts, Brendan will tackle games outside of the tabletop RPG realm, dissecting them for any useful tidbits to apply to tabletop RPG design. XCOM 2: a game of soldiers, aliens, bad calls, upsetting mistakes, a really...
Vincent Baker gives some excellent advice about making Non Player Characters in the Principles section of Apocalypse World: “Name everyone, make everyone human”. He instructs you to give them straightforward, sensible self-interests to help drive the fiction, so your players...
In this piece I will outline a very basic structure of what an art director responsibilities are in the tabletop RPG scene. I thought I would take some time to explain what it is that I do, so others can...
GenCon is this week, and we’ll be there running games and standing in the IGDN booth in the exhibition hall. We’re all excited to be there! We’re bringing a bunch of the awesome books we’ve made, including Urban Shadows, all...
¡Hola, amigos! Magpie Games is proud to announce the release of Cartel: Ashcan Edition at GenCon 2015. This 48-page rulebook contains everything you need to run sessions of Cartel, including setting information, playbooks, and MC advice! If you're at GenCon,...
I want to talk about winning, win conditions, and whether RPGs can accommodate them. And perhaps more importantly, whether RPGs should incorporate win conditions. The idea of "winning" and "win conditions" came up in my work on a Fate Codex...
Atomic Badger. Quirt. Annihilator Arcryx. Kagápe. And now, the final Sentinel of the Stars. Their de facto leader. Maybe. Kinda. Human. Master-ish space adventurer. I give you Jason Penn, Spaceprince. Jason Penn – Spaceprince Jason Penn is an earth kid,...
We've had a cybernetic badger with huge guns; a water elemental with a heart of gold; and a psychotic axe-wielding "alien." Next up in my Atomic Robo RPG versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy is our fourth Sentinel of...
For this series of articles, I'm interested in actively trying to repurpose ideas from other kinds of games into RPGs in the hopes of discovering some new and interesting mechanics. It doesn't mean something good will come from it, or...
We are very excited to announce that we have a new member of the Magpie Games team! Brendan Conway, long-time Magpie Games contributor and collaborator, has accepted a position as Assistant Developer! We've had a lot of exciting success lately...
Continuing my Atomic Robo RPG versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy! Our third Sentinel of the Stars after Atomic Badger and Quirt is our murderous good friend: Annihilator Arcryx. Annihilator Arcryx Annihilator Arcryx is a bit of an odd...
Continuing the Sentinels of the Stars, my Atomic Robo RPG versions of the Guardians of the Galaxy, from Atomic Badger, here's our next Sentinel: Badger's best friend, Quirt. Quirt Quirt is one of the strangest of the Sentinels, and that's...
In honor of a movie that came out this summer that I really really loved, I decided to make a few Atomic Robo characters inspired by the protagonists. So, without further ado, I give you -- The Sentinels of the...
An Alternate Script for The Play's The Thing, by Brian Engard, has just been released! It's time to put on the mask and imagine yourself changing the life of your city. This script also has a new character type: the...
The Expansion Book is now Available! Hello folks! After much hard work and sustained effort, the Our Last Best Hope Expansion Book has been released to backers via DriveThruRPG.com and the books have been shipped out! We're really proud of...
Come Visit us at booth #571! GENCON 2013 is almost here and Magpie Games will be at the Indie Game Developer Network's booth again this year! August 15th - 18th Demos & sales at Booth #571 Play our games at...
Hey folks! The We Are Dust proof is here. And it looks awesome. I got a chance to curl up with it last night (I'm a sucker for physical non-digital reading!) and I'm so excited by how it all came...
Try Eternity for yourself! So... I've put this off long enough. I've been working on my epic, long-form, GM-less roleplaying game since early 2011, and it's time for me to finally put something out there. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give...
Thanks for all of your support this GenCon! We joined forces with the IGDN again, this year, and we did better than ever! Marissa worked the booth while Mark and Derrick ran games all weekend. This year we had the...
This past weekend, I went to Dreamation 2013 and helped to run Kristacon, a long-form convention gaming experience using the Marvel Heroic System. Brennan Taylor also ran a Bulldogs event as well using the same kind of ideas, so we...
