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Mafia Insider (Episode 3) Whats your racket?
A gangster, by his very nature, is a racketeer. Whether hes selling liquor in a speak-easy during prohibition, or hijacking cargo from a freighter, the fact is hes found a way to make money illegally and if hes good at…
Mag*Blast
Get ready for some screaming space battles in Mag*Blast, a card game for two to six players. In it, you'll find yourself blasting opponents' ships in an attempt to reach the heart of their fleet--the Flagship.
Magic and Healing in Fantasy - an example
After reading Alans Writing Practice dealing with magic and healing, and the forum posts connected with it, I thought I might be able to expand on the idea of magic and healing by giving an example of how I have melded…
Magic Framework - an example
An example of building a framework for the how and why of magic in a fantasy world, and why it's a good thing to think about.
Magic in the Shadows
One of the things that has always impressed me about the Shadowrun game is how well magic, cybertechnology, and mythical creatures are integrated into the setting. The design team has done a very good job of ensuring…
Maiden Voyage review
This is a review of Maiden Voyage by Atlas Games. Maiden Voyage is a sea-based adventure for the d20 system.
Make Them Beg
The title of this section is inspired by a book I once read. I know what you're thinking--reading is for pansies. Well, most of the time I would agree. But I ordered this book from the back of JUGS magazine, so it's…
Margin of Error
This week, a look at character creation methods and political correctness.
Mastermaze
Though I am still mortal and have not been completely transformed by its arrival, I will freely admit that MasterMaze is a deeply impressive piece of work.
Maximum Tech
Realism isn't necessarily a good thing in a game, whether it's a role-playing game or miniatures wargaming, depending on the Game Master and the players involved. The amount of detail in a game is part of that realism,…
McCallister’s Basic World Creation Matrix
Disasters d20 1.Storm(s) 2.Monster(s)* 3.Earthquakes 4.Political Upheaval 5.Cosmic Imbalance 6.Invasion* 7.Zombies/Undead 8.Machine backlash 9.Purist Good dies/is dying 10.Warp(s) 11.Major Crash 12.Important Artifacts:…
Mearls Does Milwaukee
I went to GenCon as Mearls the Gamer, not Mearls the Wannabe Game Designer or Mearls the Gaming Outpost columnist. This was my vacation, dammit! That being said, I tried to maintain a journal to record my thoughts and…
Mein Zombie
A preview of Eden Studio's Mein Zombie.
Messiah Jam Interview
Josh: I've been gaming 14 years now, reaching 15. It seems that through every family tragedy Me and Sean endured,it became apparent we needed to do something. Well, we started forming this concept for a game. I've…
Modern Mythology: A Delta Green/Unknown Armies Freak-out
This short fiction piece was submitted in conjunction with the Unknown Green Armies of the Delta contest, which we ran in conjuntion with Atlas Games. [contains some strong language]
Monied Types
Shekel of silver is about one-third of an ounce. Barter chits for types with sixteen differenent chits. Rings of silver as a way to carry larger amounts of cash. Copper, tin, lead, and barley (the last is small…
Monster Design
What makes a good monster? Here are some design ideas that might help any game in which referees are inventing their own creatures.
Monsters in Space
On the biology of Spacious Specious Monsterious ....
Morality and Consequences: Overlooked Roleplay Essentials
Almost twenty years ago, shortly after I first discovered Dungeons & Dragons and the 'grand thought experiment' which is role playing, I was regaled with the arguments of those who believed that this wonderfully…
More Excuses to Kill Things
This unassuming booklet, the cover of which is adorned only with a quartet of bikini-clad, gun-toting babes and a giant happy-face killer robot, is an extension of the Macho Women with Guns tradition. It's not quite as…
Move Over Mr. Zombie, Part I
The beginning of a multi-part series where we discuss how to take your PA world from B-movie camp to realistic scenario.
Music in Gaming
While lack of background noise can be conducive to roleplaying at some times, and indeed switching around between CDs and cassettes can be extraordinarily distracting to a GM, music remains a fundamental part of…
My Adventures as a New GM: A Couple Tips
A few lessons I've learned from my first game.
My Adventures as a New GM: Cheating
Is it ever okay for a GM to bend the rules....or ignore them entirely?
My Adventures as a New GM: Cruel to Be Kind
Keeping players happy by making player characters miserable.
My Adventures as a New GM: What You Don't Know...
What do you do when your players know more about a world than you do?
My North Wall
This article reminds us that even when looking at ordinary things it's not always what you see but how you see it that matters.
Narcissist 0.5
The Gaming Outpost has received permission to publish a sneak peak of NaRCISSIST v.0.5 for you all to read. The teaser, a glossary of terms and concepts used in the final product, is available for download in PDF…
Narrator's Screen Review
Like folders full of NPC profiles, special narrators-only sections in the rulebooks, and buttons which say ‘The Dice Are Not God...I AM!!!”, screens are one of those little status symbols which set GMs apart from their…
Natural Selection: The Future of RPGs
During the middle of this decade, new competitors were introduced to the RPG niche. At the same time, the environment of publishing was changing. In the wild, these events would be called selection pressures. They…