Technical Difficulties by Andrew Brehaut Modern technologies, such as cellphones and the internet, are often a thorn in the side of the horror or thriller GM. Typical responses involve negating the use of this technology, be it through remote locations (no signal), dead batteries, villainous forethought (the cell towers have been damaged), the people contacted […]
Tag Archives: GUMSHOE
See P. XX A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws For a pivotal feature of the roleplaying experience, the ability of players to make choices that alter the course of events can be awfully easy to lose track of. The way in which an adventure is devised and delivered tends to alter both the […]
As I begin planning future Ken Writes About Stuff pieces, a number of solid GUMSHOE campaign frames occur to me. Longer than the frames in the corebooks, but not super complex, such settings make good KWAS PDFs. They might not support a whole book (although then again they might, if sales of the basic PDF […]
See P. XX A column on roleplaying by Robin D. Laws SRD or SDD? With editorial for Hillfolk and Blood on the Snow completed, it’s time to take a break from DramaSystem to work on another of the obligations arising from our November Kickstarter. That would be the System Reference Document for Open GUMSHOE. On […]
CONFIDENTIAL//SI-NBA//ORCON We have learned that last year’s operation in Morristown, New Jersey failed to end the vampire threat. Kenneth Hite and John Adamus urgently request assistance at DEXCON 16 from 10:00AM – 6:00PM, Saturday, July 6, 2013 to counter yet another assault by the undead… …or to participate in it. The Operation: The 2013 World Night’s Black […]
I gotta say, it’s a good thing I already wrote GUMSHOE rules for expeditions. Because now I’m not surprised when everything takes longer and seems harder than it did when we planned this thing. Mythos Expeditions has, like its namesake, run into its share of excitement along the way. Promising paths had to be neglected, […]
by Kevin Kulp (From the introduction to TimeWatch, his investigative time-travel game) General Abilities are how you get stuff done. Sneaking, fighting, running… all these are done with General Abilities. If you have a General Ability rating of 8 or higher, you’re incredibly talented at that activity (and may get access to cool bonus […]
Pop quiz, hotshot: a mysterious figure tosses a grenade at you. How much damage do you take? In GUMSHOE, it depends on who’s throwing the grenade. A cultist of Hastur? Point-blank grenade damage in Trail of Cthulhu is +3. Right there, one table, look it up, bang. Or rather, boom. A vampiric henchman, or a […]
Dedicated Night’s Black Agents Director R. B. Bergstrom urges you to use up those Shooting points and kill some damn mooks. Read his hard-won and heartfelt advice on running and playing combat scenes in GUMSHOE (in Night’s Black Agents specifically, but the advice is applicable across the lines) in his latest Transitive Property of Gaming […]
The GUMSHOE system by Robin D. Laws revolutionized the investigative roleplaying game, and is the basis for RPGs that will appeal to fans of many genres: space opera, spy thriller, Lovecraftian horror and two-fisted pulp adventure — with more to come. Its central premise, though, can be challenging for newcomers to wrap their heads around. What […]