In some settings magic is treated as an inherited or natural ability. What if we took this idea further and called ‘magical ability’ a mutation? In X-Men: First Class, Xavier talks about Neanderthals who saw Homosapiens as mutants but were wiped out by these more evolved kin. Accurate or not, this idea intrigued me. Much like the mutants in X-Men, spellcasters and mages are often feared for their power and because they are ‘other’. Let’s look at what a fantasy world would where mages are not just the ‘other’ but are the next step in human evolution.

It’s done!

Life has run away on me this year, but I have finally managed to complete the fantasy newspaper I promised as my contribution for I Am Your Champion. I had some interest, but few donations, and that’s fine. I had fun making it and I hope those who donated to my charity are happy with the result. This isn’t just for them though, it’s a free download for everyone. I’ve made a parchment version and a print-friendly version. I hope you enjoy this and get some use out of it

Game masters can the newspaper for hooks, NPCs, adventures and worldbuilding or even just as a source of random rumours, information and goings-on. I think the best use for it, though, is for GMs to read it, think about it, then next time the PCs are in a tavern tell them “Someone’s left a newsletter on your table. It looks like this…” and then just give them the handout. I love doing this sort of thing in game and I hope you’ll enjoy my attempt at a fantasy newspaper, inspired by a thoughtful present my wife and friends made for me a few years ago.

If I get enough interest I might just make another issue. Enjoy

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Here’s an outline of another campaign setting I’ve been working on. Feel free to use and alter it as you wish. If you do use it or have some ideas about it, I’d love to hear them.

Very young children use the spark sporadically, for play and their own simple purposes, without thought. As children grow older, they begin to understand their powers better, using them consciously and with more control. Around age 10 for girls and 12 for boys, Transition begins.

Children undergo many physical and psychological changes during this stage and it is when their spark is at is peak, very powerful and unpredictable.

Transition is a stressful and strange time for children and many lose control of their magic as the power flares and fluctuates, burning brightly before it is snuffed out entirely. Girls usually complete the Transition by ages 15-17, while boys usually complete it by ages 16-18. After this, the spark is dead forever.

Because adults are unable to harness magic, children are highly valued for their abilities. Many children do not utilise the spark effectively and are more dangerous to themselves than others, or are merely an annoyance. However, children of particular talent and power are recruited into harsh military programs to perfect their control over the spark and harden them into tools of war. Children are taught from a young age that fighting for their faction is the highest honour and the greatest deed that one could hope for. Propaganda floods the schools, homes and streets, and armies recruit children as young as 8 to train to fight their horrendous battles.

• Finally resumed #Demonsea with my wife. She’s sneaking into enemy pirate camp using shadow demon. Can she kill the two enemy captains? #rpg
• RT @Burning_Luke Just signed a contract to do a game for an amazing license. @JoshuaACNewman is going to freak out.
• Last day of the worldbuilding course today. Bought myself #ForbiddenIsland. Looking forward to playing it! Also got a hard copy of #Fiasco.
• Listening to the audiobook of The Passage by Justin Cronin. Slow so far, but very good, and we’re still pre-glowing-vampire-apocalypse.

• Pledge to back #HumanContact and get an exclusive #ApocalypseWorld character playbook: the Quarantine! Best offer ever! http://bit.ly/c7slqj
• New Pyres Post: Free Exclusive Apocalypse World Character Playbook http://wp.me/pS7pB-zx
• RT @DriveThruRPG DriveThruRPG Doctors Without Borders Flood Relief for Pakistan $25 for over $700 in RPG items – http://bit.ly/d2kyxD
• So, my estranged Internet has finally returned to me… but for how long?

I’ve just started using TiddlyWiki for worldbuilding and it is such an excellent tool that I just had to post about it. If you haven’t heard of it, it is a free downloadable and portable personal wiki that can be used offline.

I love worldbuilding, but the problem with that is that I just want to keep on building. I get an idea and make a setting, then I have another idea that doesn’t fit with the setting we’re now using, or a sci-fi device while we’re playing fantasy, or something else that just doesn’t fit. So, I write it down for later. Using a basic Word document is fine, but it is static. Using a wiki allows you to link anything to anything else.

It’s a windy and stormy day outside with clouds darkening the sky… something bad must be about to happen. Oh wait, this is real life, not an RPG. GMs often forget about the weather in their games. It’s always assumed to be a fairly average day unless otherwise mentioned. And the only time it is mentioned, is as a dramatic or plot device. I’m guilty of this too.

Weather adds believability, increases immersion in the game, and is a good hook for roleplaying and story. In this post we’ll look at how to incorporate weather into our games, including a simple method for determining the current weather, and how this can affect the story and game world.

Let’s face it, some players don’t like writing backgrounds for their characters. Parents? Dead. Friends? None. Hobbies? Fighting. What if you could flesh out their backgrounds through play instead of having them write it all down at the start? Well, with mini-flashbacks you can! And they’re not just a good tool for background-phobic players. Players who are into writing pages and pages of background can still benefit from this technique. It can also help link the players into the world and the immediate situation.

Avast maties! It be Talk Like a Pirate Day! To celebrate we be postin’ a piratical article about the colourful characters ye be likely to meet if ye be so bold as to venture into Haulshore: a treasure-hunter’s paradise in the Demonsea campaign settin’. We’ve even got a big campaign seed for ye, and hooks for each o’ the captains. Ye could also use this here article for some other world, but if ye arrren’t privy to the secrets o’ the Demonsea, cast ya eyes yonder to read of a world of demons, pirates and adventure on the high seas!

I don’t know how it happened, but I got this idea for a campaign setting in my head recently that wouldn’t go away.  The basic premise was Pride and Prejudice meets Jurassic Park. I just had this image of a parasaurolophus pulling a slightly steampunk carriage through Victorian London. This is a London where regular animals have died out and genetically resurrected dinosaurs have taken their place, both as pets and in the wild.