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Robin Laws
Robin D. Laws (born October 14, 1964 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing games as well as an anthologist. Career Robin D. Laws has been a professional game designer and an author since the early 1990s. Game designer Robin D. Laws has been playing role-playing games since he was a teenager and has worked as a game designer since the early 1990s. John Nephew of Atlas Games convinced Jonathan Tweet to publish a game he had been writing about in ''Alarums & Excursions''; Laws talked with Tweet about the game in ''A&E'' and contributed to the final product as well, the result of which was '' Over the Edge'' (1992). Daedalus Games began when Laws approached Jose Garcia in 1993 with an idea for a Hong Kong Action Cinema RPG; while Garcia liked the idea, his first priority was his own setting, '' Nexus: The Infinite City'' which was published in 1994 with Garcia as the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orillia
Orillia is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is in Simcoe County between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. Although it is geographically located within Simcoe County, the city is a single-tier municipality. It is part of the Huronia region of Central Ontario. The population in 2021 was 33,411. It was incorporated as a village in 1867, but the history of what is today the City of Orillia dates back at least several thousand years. Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of fishing by the Huron and Iroquois peoples in the area over 4,000 years ago, and of sites used by Aboriginal peoples for hundreds of years for trading, hunting, and fishing. Known as the "Sunshine City", the city's large waterfront attracts many tourists to the area every year, as do a number of annual festivals and other cultural attractions. While the area's largest employer is Casino Rama, overall economic activity in Orillia is a mixture of many different industries including manufacturing, government services, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shadowfist
''Shadowfist'' was created by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia. It was released in June 1995 as a collectible card game (CCG), but was shifted to a fixed distribution of cards as of 2013. It shares the same background as the ''Feng Shui'' role-playing game, also by Laws and Garcia and released the following year. In September 2018 ownership of Shadowfist switched to Vetusta Games. Overview Shadowfist is a multi-player asymmetrical strategic game, the design of which is influenced by games such as ''Cosmic Encounter'', ''Dune'' by Avalon Hill, '' Magic: The Gathering'' and its direct predecessor, '' On the Edge''. ''Shadowfist'' is primarily inspired by Hong Kong action cinema and wuxia films of the late 1980s and 1990s, and by action films in general. In the game, various factions from across time battle for control of the world's Feng Shui sites in a conflict known as the "Secret War." Time travel takes place through an alternate dimension known as the Netherworld which opens to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hero Wars (role-playing Game)
''HeroQuest'' is a role-playing game written by Robin D. Laws first published as ''Hero Wars'' by Issaries, Inc. in 2000. It has its roots in Greg Stafford's fantasy world of Glorantha, but was designed as a generic system, suitable for, but not tied to any particular genre. The game's mechanics are focused on quick resolution; ''Contests'' are resolved by comparing the results of two twenty-sided dice, each tied to a character ability chosen by players and/or narrator. After the die roll, the participants work together to interpret the outcome in story terms. In 2020 Moon Design sold the ''HeroQuest'' trademark to Hasbro, rebranding ''HeroQuest'' as ''QuestWorlds''. The game system ''HeroQuest'' focuses on dramatic presentation and storytelling techniques: The system is built around abilities and keywords. A keyword is a broad term to sum up several abilities, such as a profession or a homeland or culture. Character creation There are three main methods to create a chara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glorantha
Glorantha is a fantasy world created by Greg Stafford. It was first introduced in the board game '' White Bear and Red Moon'' (1975) by Chaosium and then in a number of other board, roleplaying and computer games, including ''RuneQuest'' and ''HeroQuest'', as well as several works of fiction and the computer strategy game ''King of Dragon Pass''. The Gloranthan world is characterised by its complex use of mythology, heavily influenced by the universalist approaches of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, its sword and sorcery ethos, its long and distinctive history as a setting for role-playing games, its community development and expansion, and its relative lack of Tolkienesque influence, which is uncommon among early American fantasy role-playing games. Stafford first wrote about in Glorantha in 1966 as a way to deepen his own understanding of mythology. He founded the company Chaosium to publish the board wargame '' White Bear and Red Moon'' in 1975, which was set in Glorantha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Stafford
Francis Gregory Stafford (February 9, 1948 – October 10, 2018), usually known as Greg Stafford, was an American game designer, publisher, and practitioner of shamanism. Stafford is most famous as the creator of the fantasy world of Glorantha, but he was also a prolific games designer. He was designer of ''Pendragon'', he was co-designer of the ''RuneQuest'', ''Ghostbusters'', Prince Valiant and ''HeroQuest'' role-playing systems, founder of the role-playing game companies Chaosium and Issaries, designer of the '' White Bear and Red Moon'', '' Nomad Gods'', '' King Arthur's Knights'' and '' Elric'' board games, and co-designer of the ''King of Dragon Pass'' computer game. Gaming industry career 1970s: Chaosium Greg Stafford began wargaming after picking up a copy of ''U-Boat'' by Avalon Hill, and in 1966 as a freshman at Beloit College he started writing about the fantasy world of Glorantha. After rejection from a publisher, Stafford created '' White Bear and Red Moon'' set ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules, Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro) since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargaming, miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail (game), ''Chainmail'' serving as the initial rule system. ''D&D'' publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, and also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre. ''D&D'' departs from traditional wargame, wargaming by allowing each player to create their own Player character, character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Mas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dark Ages
The ''Dark Ages'' is a term for the Early Middle Ages, or occasionally the entire Middle Ages, in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire that characterises it as marked by economic, intellectual and cultural decline. The concept of a "Dark Age" originated in the 1330s with the Italian scholar Petrarch, who regarded the post-Roman centuries as "dark" compared to the "light" of classical antiquity.. Reprinted from: The term employs traditional light-versus-darkness imagery to contrast the era's "darkness" (ignorance and error) with earlier and later periods of "light" (knowledge and understanding). The phrase ''Dark Age'' itself derives from the Latin '' saeculum obscurum'', originally applied by Caesar Baronius in 1602 when he referred to a tumultuous period in the 10th and 11th centuries. The concept thus came to characterize the entire Middle Ages as a time of intellectual darkness in Europe between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance that became esp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earthdawn
''Earthdawn'' is a fantasy role-playing game, originally produced by FASA in 1993. In 1999 it was licensed to Living Room Games, which produced the ''Second Edition''. It was licensed to RedBrick in 2003, who released the Classic Edition in 2005 and the game's Third Edition in 2009 (the latter through Mongoose Publishing's Flaming Cobra imprint). The license is now held by FASA Games, Inc. (from FASA), who have released the Fourth Edition, with updated mechanics and an advanced metaplot timeline. Vagrant Workshop released the ''Age of Legend'' edition in 2016 using alternative rules-lite mechanics. The game is similar to fantasy games like ''Dungeons & Dragons'', but draws more inspiration from games like ''RuneQuest''. The rules of the game are tightly bound to the underlying magical metaphysics, with the goal of creating a rich, logical fantasy world. Like many role-playing games from the nineties, ''Earthdawn'' focuses much of its detail on its setting, a province called Bar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talislanta
''Talislanta'' is a fantasy role-playing game written by Stephen Michael Sechi and published by Bard Games in 1987. There have been six different English-language editions and several foreign language editions published. All English-language products of ''Talislanta'' are now freely available via a Creative Commons licence. Publishing history 1st edition (Bard Games) In 1982 Stephan Michael Sechi, Steven Cordovano and Vernie Taylor formed the company Bard Games to produce their own '' Dungeons & Dragons'' supplements. In 1986, due to personal and financial disagreements that arose after the publication of ''The Atlantis Trilogy'', Sechi sold his shares in Bard Games to Cordovano and left to begin work on a new role-playing game system and its supplements. Cordovano decided that he did not want to run Bard Games and sold it back to Sechi, giving Sechi the opportunity to publish his new game, ''Talislanta''. After publication of the rules in ''The Talislantan Handbook'' in 1987, Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Underground (role-playing Game)
''Underground'' is a satirical "grim and gritty"-style superhero role playing game set in the near future. It was released by Mayfair Games in 1993 as a commentary on the politics and society of the early 1990s as expressed through the year 2021. Overview Inspired by the Dark Age of Comic Books, ''Aeon Flux'', and the political and social upheavals of the early 1990s, the game attempts to inspire social and political debate among its players as well as provide entertainment through playing renegade superheroes. In it, players typically play unemployed, genetically enhanced veterans of corporate wars. The backstory for ''Underground'' borrowed heavily from Pat Mills' ''Marshal Law'' and Alan Moore's version of ''Marvelman'', two of the earliest deconstructionist superhero comics of the 1980s. The former had concentrated on genetically-engineered super soldiers recently come back from an unsuccessful war in South America. The latter featured technology gathered from a crashed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GURPS
The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems were story- or genre-specific. Players control their in-game characters verbally and the success of their actions are determined by the skill of their character, the difficulty of the action, and the rolling of dice. Characters earn points during play which are used to gain greater abilities. Gaming sessions are story-told and run by " Game Masters" (often referred to as simply "GMs"). ''GURPS'' won the Origins Award for ''Best Roleplaying Rules of 1988'', and in 2000 it was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame. Many of its expansions have also won awards. History Prior RPG history Prior to ''GURPS'', most roleplaying games (RPGs) of the 1970s and early 1980s were developed especially for certain gaming environments, and they were lar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feng Shui (role-playing Game)
''Feng Shui'' is a martial arts-themed role-playing game, designed by Robin Laws, published first by Daedalus Entertainment and now by Atlas Games. The game shares its setting with the collectible card game ''Shadowfist''. The system is simple, with most detail being in the game's combat system. Combat is made to flow quickly, moving from one action scene to another very quickly. It was inspired and based on Hong Kong style action movies. The characters begin at a high level of skill, as appropriate for protagonists in the source films. After a successful Kickstarter, Atlas Games released a Second Edition of Feng Shui in late 2015, on the eve of the game's 20th anniversary of publication. Overview The name ''Feng Shui'' refers to one of the central themes of the game: those who control places with powerful Feng Shui control the world. These people find that events go in their favour more often than would be explained by chance. The outcomes of all major historical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
