The Illuminerdy: Nominated for a 2016 ENnie Award
It is my distinct pleasure to confirm that the Illuminerdy — yes, the very blog you are reading — has been nominated for the ENworld/Gen Con RPG Awards again this year. It’s a distinct honor within the...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Chemical Imbalance
I used to believe fair play was the necessary foundation to any kind of tabletop gaming if you wanted everyone to have fun. The moment fairness and power balance went out the window, so too did your...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Filling Filler
Time to talk about one of the F-words of tabletop campaigns: Filler. While not every GM does it, a good number of us have to rely from time to time on filler sessions or side-arcs to pad out a campaign...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – 10-foot Poll
It’s almost cruel in an election year to talk about polling in gaming, but when it comes to new games and especially new groups, a little poll goes a long way. A GM of mine years ago introduced me to...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Poring Through the Lore
History has a surprisingly high Intimidate score. Really, it’s the size of it. History is like astrophysics in the 4th dimension, the sheer scale is mindblowing and can scare off even brave souls from...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – A Second Opinion
It’s a well-known fact that gamers like to be unique (some to the point of making it an issue), and yet in almost every game there is at least some overlap in terms of the skills and capabilities of...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Just Super
This year I was invited to my first-ever superheroes campaign, and it immediately brought to mind how odd a genre it is for gaming. Of all the dozens of games I’ve run and played, I’ve somehow avoided...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Two, No More Than Two
Finding enough of the right players for a game is a pain point I hear all too often, so it’s past time to talk about the real numbers we’re dealing with when it comes to filling the other side of the...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – In the Mood
We’re three weeks into this year’s Skeleton War (where the score is currently 109 to 12 – we lost Neighbor Steve in the first quarter to a concussion), so it seems like a good time to talk about...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – The Sixth Man
To a lot of us, the best thing about gaming is the chance to hang out and do something fun with our friends. Unfortunately, that lovely quality can also work against us at times and turn fun into...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Genderfication
We’ve talked a bit about race and culture at the gaming table, it’s long overdue that we talk about gender as well. To preface this, I’m a cis dude, and easily the last person who should be writing...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Virtually Impossible
Because adulting makes scheduling into a nightmare hellscape, many gamers have been looking to online platforms to ease scheduling pains and expand their potential player pool. Going virtual cuts out...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – The Science of Running Sci-fantasy
For my entire gaming life, the genres of fantasy and sci-fi have had a complicated relationship. Frequently mashed together in an unruly pile under the banner of speculative fiction (or simply “nerd...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – Apocalypse Sync Battle
Happy New Year’s Eve Eve, everybody! Just think: this rancid trashfire of a year is nearly done, and a whole new one is sparking up on the horizon. So let’s forget all that for a moment and talk...
View ArticleBehind the Screen – In the Army Now
Ever since the days when I pitted my entire G.I. Joe collection against my brother’s Transformers in the Great Toy Wars of 1987, I’ve been a fan of army-scale combat. Also of LEGO third-party...
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