Shadowrun Subverted? A First Look at Subversion RPG
Remember the “This is the world liberals want!” meme? Subversion is the game they’d be talking about, and I mean that as high praise. While it has the requisite cyberpunk trappings of economic dystopia and extreme power imbalances, it flips Shadowrun’s integration of fantasy on its head, imagining a world that a) always had magic and fantastic lineages (aka, races), and b) building upon Babylonian mythology as its foundation instead of the usual European inspirations. In Neo Babylon, magic has ruled for eons and technology is trying to level the playing field, disrupting the balance of power while crushing the underprivileged between them. In this world, the cops (Lawjacks) are implicitly a gang.
Into the Shadowrun Rabbit Hole: Character Creation
I’ve had an itch to write something in this ridiculous and ridiculously cool world since I finished Shadowrun Returns a couple of months ago, like I used to for D&D, and have started sketching out my first character’s backstory.
Five Things: March 2, 2023
“It’s basically Pop-Up Video 3.0.” Five things for March 2, 2023. That’s it! That’s the excerpt.
Why I Don’t Give Career Advice: Army Dazed
I was tickled when I saw how Microcosm titled our conversation about my career path in the industry, and listening to it for the first time, it’s another reminder that my path was a relatively unusual one, difficult and unlikely to be replicated in the structure of the current industry. That said, I do think there’s still an opportunity (and more importantly, a need) for people to be more outspoken about the various challenges the industry is dealing with, dismantling whisper networks to level the playing field for those coming from non-traditional backgrounds.
Five Things: February 16, 2023
“A dim future for big publishers is not a dim future for readers.” Five things for February 16, 2023. That’s it! That’s the excerpt.
The Year-Long Scavenger Hunt (A 2023 Reading Challenge)
Comments on blogs aren’t really a thing anymore, especially on this here blog, but I occasionally have someone pop in via WordPress Reader, I think, and while checking out the blog of one such commenter, It’s The Bageler!, I discovered “The Year-Long Scavenger Hunt” at Birdie’s Book Nook.
On Mastodon — Four Months (and Five Years) Later
I still don’t consider Mastodon a straight Twitter alternative — at least not the Twitter we’ve come to know during the Trump/Musk Error — but it has replaced the Twitter I used to know and love back in the day…. Contrary to some self-serving media coverage, people continue to sign up and kick the tires — most surges apparently align to Musk’s latest shenanigans — and a lot of them are sticking around and, like me, enjoying the experience.
Five Things: February 2, 2023
“Accountability rolls downhill in Corporate America.” Five things for February 2, 2023. That’s it! That’s the excerpt.
On Shadowrun: Nostalgia for a Game I’ve Never Played
I honestly don’t know how Shadowrun escaped me all these years, but its combination of D&D, The Matrix, and Mission: Impossible is 100% my shit! Imagine: fantasy races, magic, cyberpunk, and elaborate heists sitting atop an intricately fleshed out near-future world that uses the Mayan Long Count calendar and corporate greed as its main pillars. It’s as problematic, corny, and compelling as you’d think — and I’m totally digging it.
Five Things: January 19, 2023
“We have the power to say (and do) something about the situation.” Five things for January 19, 2023. That’s it! That’s the excerpt.