Monthly Archives: January 2024

Worldbuilding: a swashbuckling campaign

Posted on by Henry

I reviewed The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan recently, but I only realized I hadn’t yet reviewed it because I was deep in the process of creating a T3M inspired setting for an RPG. I knew I wanted the intrigue, the swordplay, the ambition, and the thrill of being small players discovering a much larger political game. So I hunted for and pulled out the themes that felt crucial to T3M’s fun, trying to find ways to create a setting that would evoke those while also incorporating the elements my players contributed.

I’ll lay some of it out for you.

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Internal critics & crediting all the work

Posted on by Henry

I struggle to give credit to all the important work that is part of writing.

I think that work can be roughly sorted into three categories:

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The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan (movie, 2023)

Posted on by Henry

I saw this months ago, and only just realized I’d never mentioned it here.

I thought The Three Musketeers: D’artagnan was fabulous. Maybe I was brain-addled, or drugged without my knowledge, but by the end of the film I felt happy, and satisfied, and excited, and… just wow. I was floating. I really liked this movie. It’s one of the rare movies I’ve seen that made me immediately want to watch it again.

If you hate swashbuckling, swordplay, skullduggery, or the idea of watching a combination spy thriller and political drama full of swordfights set in 17th century France… clearly we have different tastes.

On the other hand, if any of that sounds fun to you… this might be the best version of The Three Musketeers I’ve seen.

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Vast: The Crystal Caverns (boardgame, 2016)

Posted on by Henry

What an incredible premise. What a fun game! If only it were playable without constantly referencing reams of paper on rules, errata, and commentary on the rules and errata.

Vast is admirably ambitious. It’s designed for up to five interlocking, competing, asymmetrical roles that all fit together beautifully to make this boardgame a nail-biting, neck-and-neck race toward victory. With a few important caveats, each player has their own rules reference sheet for their role, encompassing everything they could need to know in order to play the game. And with another few important caveats, everything can flow smoothly as each player chases their own victory conditions, pushing the game onward towards a thrilling conclusion.

Those caveats?

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