In general, tabletop games are full of competition, from historical dice and card games right up to modern themed board games. There are certainly plenty of tabletop game tournaments out there... something that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as there are even jigsaw puzzle competitions. One might argue that there are a number of board games out now that unite the players as a team, but they are still competing against the clock, a target score, or some other metric. One tabletop genre where you see significantly less competition is roleplaying games. (By which I don’t mean there's a lack of games... though D&D still tops the charts, even if they’ve started to stumble). Some might argue that competition in RPGs takes the form if "players vs. the GM" (or at least the GM's BBEG), but that's not really the case. As we’ve mentioned numerous times in our posts, the GM is there to help the players tell a story - it isn’t about "competing" with them. ...

Look, I get it. I'm from the X-Files generation. I found the series at a perfect age: the cusp of adolescence, when you start to question the Narrative, and X-Files provided something different from  the honest utopian idealism of Star Trek or Doctor Who 's unfocused Bohemian wanderings through funhouse political allegory and theatrical grotesqueries of the British id. The X-Files was set in the shadows of here and now, dragging us with its protagonists into the cruel and hidden aspects of everything American society and its educational system had taught me to unquestioningly venerate - what restless, dissatisfied teenager wouldn't find themselves bewitched? There was vindication in Mulder and Scully revealing ulterior motives of the military, the government, corporations, and (especially in the earlier days) law enforcement - the adults really were lying! I didn't know it at the time, but I was living through the start of a conspiracy mania - driven to some degree b...

This was going to be some goofy-ass post about how US Presidents in games seem to get themselves kidnapped at a rate rivaling even the least secure princesses. There were going to be references to the semi-titular ninjas in Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja , who seem to consider the White House merely a single stop on a much larger crime spree. Perhaps I am not a Bad Enough Dude to stay the course there, but this President's Day finds me in a sufficient state of fear regarding the office and its holders that I am at a loss to tie the gravity of our situation with quips about never getting an opportunity to play T he President is Missing . (It came with a cassette tape, which seemed impossibly cool and cutting edge when I read about it.) The fact is, Presidents are scary - it's just that most of us haven't often been on the receiving end of the harm they can cause. But Barack Obama's legacy (just to name one) is very different depending on whether you're a financial exec...

For two people who are not very sporty, and not even particularly interested in sports, this blog brings them up quite often . While neither of us were ever experts, and especially when we were younger, video games (and even tabletop games that included sports) have always filled in knowledge gaps and provided opportunities where in-person skills prevented inclusion. Sports do seem to be important though, even if it's a little less so when it comes to tabletop players. There are even annual ritual championships where those at the peak of their games can attempt to gain some sort of…honor? I suppose. This time around, it's the Superb Owl Super Bowl that's brought sports to mind. While it isn’t hard to avoid watching it, even those of us less inclined to partake of sports viewing still find ourselves at watch parties - if not for the game itself, then to catch advertisements that play during such things. Fear not, though, if you do find yourself headed for just such a pred...

Nazis are the Bad Guys. Saying that shouldn’t be considered going out on a limb, and if you disagree then you probably won’t like this one. In fact, it’ll probably make you pretty angry... although, there are seemingly endless ways to make Nazis angry. If you’ve been a regular reader, it should be no surprise, given some of our other posts , what our stance is. Perhaps you just need a reminder, though. Nazis are the Bad Guys. You should have easily figured that out during your school years by reading and learning of the atrocities they’ve performed and the abhorrent things they continue to espouse. Perhaps you didn’t receive the best education, though, or struggled with your studies, so you might need a reminder. Let me assure you, Nazis are the Bad Guys. You don’t have to take it from Never Say Dice, though, or pour over history books, or visit museums - but you probably should, lest history continue to repeat itself. However, you should still be able to find continual reminders v...

Regardless of its bafflingly incoherent use today, for most of its existence the term "woke" had a very different, and specific, meaning. Coming from Black civil rights movements of the 1920s and 30s, it referred to becoming cognizant of the systems of oppression that exist in every aspect of Western culture, to "wake up"  from the sleepwalk of the blind structural acceptance, and, eventually, involvement in movements to undo those systems. It's a powerful term, implying the sudden collapse of everything one has been taught and accepted as a dream, an enforced fantasy. Coming face-to-face with the brutality inflicted by today's society and acknowledging the centuries of cruelty and destruction it took to build that society is terrifying - often the best we can do is try to push it to the backs of our minds simply to get through the day. Another concept was starting to make its appearance in the 20s and 30s, even if there wasn't a name for it yet: cosmic ...

It seems like, at the end of things, we tend to get introspective. Certainly, even here at Never Say Dice we have a history of posting our New Years' resolutions - and this year was no different. We seem to have a need for chances to reflect on what has been and pontificate about what the future could be. It even happens in the video game world. We talk about what we loved and hated in the games we've played, and, from there, make wild predictions about what potential sequels might contain. While they’re often hilariously wrong, it's a common activity we all gravitate towards when it comes to the media we collectively love. It shouldn’t be any different for tabletop games. We all need some time to think about what we did wrong (and right!) in our previous sessions and how we might change things the next time an opportunity appears. So, sit back and get organized with Never Say Dice for some post-adventure postmortem. Feedback You’re probably going to get feedback from a nu...