News

Since posting “Two Minutes Hate,” I’ve received dozens of emails, read hundreds of comments, and spent 20+ hours talking on phone/Skype with people from multiple communities. After those conversations, I feel I need to both make some apologies and clarify...

UPDATE: I wrote this post in 2016. In the wake of information that has since come to light, including Mandy Morbid’s post <LINK>, it has become apparent to me that I was wrong. I’m leaving the post up so that...

Dark Souls 3 came out recently, spurring much writing on it and the Dark Souls series. In particular, this pair of articles, one from Adam Smith of Rock Paper Shotgun, one from Rob Fearon on his blog We Make The...

You can read part 1 here. Navigating the Territory In the first post of this series, I talked a lot about harder moves and softer moves, how to make them, and what those terms mean. I argued that any move...

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...