View From the Pelgrane’s Nest – April 2025

A big shout-out to our estimable Patreon backers! Thanks to Peter, Jim, Phil, Bryant, P. Troilus, Michael M, ScottKey, Michael B, Andreas, Ranting John, Michael H, Mark, Daniel, Jiří, Marcus, Cena, Thomas and Marc!! TARIFFS Since my last update, one topic has dominated the tabletop games industry: the impact of the USA’s extensive tariffs on imports, […]

Weird Guys Of The Dragon Empire

For the upcoming Paths of the Behemoth sourcebook, I contributed a parade of scavengers and weird mystics who trek along in the wake of the behemoths. I’ve a weakness for eccentric little guys who’ve found some niche and stick with it until they become crazy magic/mutant hermits – and the Dragon Empire setting is full […]

Trail of Cthulhu – Clues on the Fly

The nature of Trail lends itself to carefully planned, highly detailed adventures. The investigators analyse each clue, each location and object in forensic detail, deploying their highly specialised investigative abilities to ferret out the tell-tale clue.  Trail scenarios support this by providing lots of suggested nuggets of information the players can pick up. However, the […]

Page Turners Preview: The Beacon

Page Turners, the game of dramatic interaction for one player and one game moderator, provides rules for play in any genre that revolves around interpersonal conflict. It includes eleven fully fleshed scenarios ranging from screwball comedy to doomed vampire romance, from a behind-the-music rock ‘n’ roll saga to the emotional journeys of the last humans […]

Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff: I Don’t Make Up These Real Events

In the latest episode of their delicious, almond-coated podcast, Ken and Robin talk bending world logic toward fun, Nicolo Zeno’s Friesland maps, Toulouse-Lautrec’s snake cake, and preventing the Wilson administration.

Narrating General Ability Spends

Although the rules don’t call for it, some GUMSHOE groups add a narrative wrinkle to the spending of pool points from general abilities. They call on players to justify why they’re spending the number of points they’ve chosen to add to their die rolls. “I really want to get over this fence so I’m going […]

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