It always rains in Nuln

As an avid roleplayer a lot of things that I do in life are connected with my hobby. That said, I would have never imagined that my friends would organise me a... Hunter-themed bachelor party! Oh yeah, it happened. Last year, during late Autumn I got married. Before the ceremony my closest friends decided to threw me a bachelor party that I'd never forget. It was a tricky task, since I'm not into clubbing, strippers (obviously my wife is reading this), not even racing or gambling! So these absolute madmen gathered together one day, and decided that Hunter: The Reckoning-themed bachelor party is the right way to go. Oh boy, do these boys know me well! Survive your bachelor party, inherit the Earth! Simply put - it was awesome. Those of you who follow my blog for some time, know that I'm a huge Classic World of Darkness fan. In fact my favorite CWoD splat is the underdog of this whole line - Hunter: The Reckoning, a game from 1999. I will write a comprehensive review/love let...

A few days ago I've posted a rather controversial tweet about sandbox games, and why I think they're infinitely less appealing than those "on the rails". I also made a terrible mistake of forgetting about how much people get offended these days. My meme-based tweet twisted a lot of panties, fortunately most of the people interacting with it were reasonable and understood its tongue-in-cheek nature. To those people I say: thank you. Now back to topic. I dislike sandbox games a lot. They're boring, sluggish and only offer the guise of freedom. Shit, I almost forgot - this is of course only mine opinion, even if I present it as a revealed truth. Introducing the meme that started it all! Anyway, sandbox games - they're boring. Every single sandbox that I was playing or running was suffering from that problem. Even the ones that I watched on YouTube were horribly boring. The main problem here is that sandbox only works if the players have a clear goal for both thei...

Last week Cubicle 7 dropped a bunch of info about their future WFRP releases. It's quite impressive, and it actually made me rethink a lot of things about the current edition of the game. Yeah, no scenario review this week, sorry. You see, on the 30th of April we've been given a long and impressive list of upcoming 4th edition titles from the developers at C7. You can find it here . Among these we have a bestiary of sorts, a book about magic, both human, elvish and dwarf (in the form of runes, naturally), more parts of the "Enemy Within" remaster and a bunch of other sourcebooks. All in all, that's pretty impressive. Is it finally time for the 4th edition to pick up the pace a bit? Yeah, I'm not even kidding. That is genuienly impressive stuff. Mind you, I don't believe that we'll see any of these titles this year, but kudos to the C7 team for giving us a long and easy to read list of books which we might see... someday. Perhaps. You see...

I'm triggered. I've been triggered for almost a week now, and there's no visible end in sight. Fucking hell, I don't even want to write this post, but without some venting, I'll probably get only pissed off even more. I've created my hobby-only Twitter account more than a year ago. Since then I've been quite active, tweeting about my ongoing RPG campaigns, posting Horus Heresy-event photos, and sometimes, and generally enjoying the content that the other people provide their on a daily basis. One thing that irked me a bit was all the DnD stuff flying around. There are a lot of folks there who play Dungeons and Dragons, and are really into it. Like, REALLY into it. Which is not a bad thing! Hey, I've started my RPG experience with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, back in the early 90's. I still have fond memories of those times. The thing is, DnD right now is kind of a trend on the West. It's a cool thing to be a DnD player, posting...

A small upadte from me, as I'm getting ready for my flight to Armenia. In a few days from now I'll be starting a new chapter of my life. In less than a week I'm getting married. Not gonna lie, I am stressed a bit, but also insanely happy. This will be a whole new experience, and I'm very, very glad to share it with the woman of my life. Life's good sometimes! Given the importance of this event I wanted to also take stock of my hobby endeavors, and to thank a couple of people, without whom I would not be where I am today. Artwork by Baron Von Klatz, whom I also wanted to thank for being a fantastic sport! First of all I want to thank my beloved fiancee, Lia. You're the best that ever happened to me baby, never forget about that. I love you forever and a day. I wanted to thank Marcin and Krzysiek for sticking with me for the last decade. Without you guys I would probably not remained in this fantastic hobby, and it's great to have you as my ...

I've finally managed to get through my writer's block. Without further ado I give you another one of my RPG rants, this time about a very important thing - immersion. I will be mainly using the example of my most often played title - Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Also take note - this article is not for veterans, who have decades of RP'ing behind them, and know every trick in the book. As most of my posts of this type, I am aiming it towards those who are new to the hobby, who only begin to experience it, and could use any help in doing so. I see a lot of people lately, just starting with RPG's and not knowing almost anything about this hobby. If posts like this one will help them, then I know that my work is worth something. Helping others is always cool (image taken from 'Souls Comprehensive Roleplay Guide) So... how to immerse yourself during a game? The more important question is: should you immerse yourself at all? Personally I wouldn't be regularl...

As I'm waiting for a certain interview to be finally finalized, I've decided to make a quick sit rep of what is currently going on with my RPG-related activities. There's is quite going on! A lot, in fact. My IRL weekly Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay group is going strong, as we plow through the classic tale of "The Enemy Within". This is our last foray into the 2nd edition of WFRP, as the 4th is just so much better in almost every way possible (great job Cubicle 7!). Still, the wacky humor, the shenanigans, the sense of mild paranoia and secrecy - these are the hallmarks of our playstyle, and they truly make for some excellent experience. The gang is currently visiting Bogenhafen during the infamous Shaffenfest, and they've already left one of their own to tender mercies of the local Sigmarite clergy. Good times... After all, they're known for the compassion and forgiving nature... My biweekly Roll20 WFRP group from the States is having a hard time...

"The Enemy Within" is the quintessential WFRP campaign, and one that almost every, single fan of the franchise knows by heart. Now it's going to recieve a special, collector's edition for the 4th iteration of the game. First things first, however. Kalevala Hammer, one of the best Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay sites, is 12 years old! How time flies. I remember reading Jackdays' excellent addons at the beginning of my GM career, and his work has greatly influenced my gaming style. Jack is such an awesome dude, that he even published my fan-made WFRP sourcebooks, not too long ago. Here's to him and his fantastic website . May it continue to inspire and help more people in the future Happy birthday! As for the "TEW" Collector's Edition - it looks awesome. It's beautifully made and full of additional goodies. Aside from the 5 campaign books, it will also contain 5 new companion books, full of authors' commentaries, new plot hooks, new ...

It's finally here. Light your pyres and crack open a casket of finest ale, because I've finally watched "Black Death", a incredibly dark and gritty medieval horror movie. Was it worth the wait? In short: yes, yes it was. I was captivated by "Black Death" from start to finish, especially since it just oozes the grim and perilous atmosphere, which I hold especially dear to my heart. This is a movie which perfectly shows the difference between the American and European approach to medieval cinema. Throughout the whole experience the audience can almost taste the dirt, muck and shit which are omnipresent in "Black Death". They can almost smell the stench of grime and feces, of unwashed bodies and death hanging in the air. I love American cinema, but Europe simply does movies like this better. Who is the mysterious lady in red? Do note that it's an ugly movie. It has ugly people in it (even the normally super hot Eddie Redmayne is shown a...

Wow, what a day! I've just read that Jackdays, who's running the fantastic Warhammer Fantasy website Kalevala Hammer, has published my three unofficial sourcebooks for this venerable game! I've created these three addons with the help of Hectorius  (thank you so much!), who was very active on the, now sadly gone, Strike to Stun forums. Without him, proofreading my work and giving me lots odf great ideas, I'd never send them to Jack (who also worked on my, not so perfect English, as well as offering me lots of awesome advice. Thank you!). This is one of the best sites ont the whole interwebs! There are three of them. The first one, "Blood and Silver" , is a campaign template, which takes place in the lawless kingdoms of the Border Princes. This is a strictly military campaign, although there are ideas here for more clandestine, and sinister, plot hooks... "Secrets of the Path: Disciples of the Serene King" is a sourcebook about an anci...

This post was supposed to be about the movie "Black Death", starring Sean Bean, but I've decided to go for a slightly more optimistic tone this time. Especially since last time it was a trip to depression city with my previous post. Delta Green... oh man, where do I begin? Ha! I know! It's the best RPG that I've played in the last 5 years. Yeah, I've just said it. I've tested a bunch of new systems over the course of a lot couple of years, including the Aegis Project and the Apocalypse World, but none have made such a strong impression on me, as Delta Green. This art really tells you everything about the game. I love it! To those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's the general gist. Delta Green is a game about the Lovecraftian Mythos, but instead of playing a terrified investigator, who normally works as a bookstore manager, you're playing a goverment agent, a specialist of some kind, or a badass ex-special force...

In a couple of days I'll be running the first session of "Lichemaster" for my original group (well, what's left of it anyway). It's the second time that I'm GM'ing this campaign and the last time that I'm doing so, using the 2nd edition WFRP's ruleset. Let me be perfectly clear: I love the 2nd edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. It's the game that started my whole journey into this hobby. I still have my battered, spineless rulebook that I've bought for my last money, more than a decade ago. I have almost every, single sourcebook for 2nd edition, except "The Renegade Crowns" (planning on buying that soon!). I've clocked hundreds, if not thousands of hours into this system. And I don't want to play it anymore. It's time to move on... After finishing "The Thousand Thrones" in my Roll20 group, and the "Lichemaster/The Enemy Within" in my IRL group, I won't be returning to 2nd edit...