Transgaming: Bridging the Gap Between Tables & Silicon

Transgaming is a nascent game design paradigm that provides interconnected gaming experiences. Two or more different games share the same the world and actions where events in one game also affect all other games sharing the world. For example, a real time strategy game that determines the vehicles and tech levels available to the players of a first person shooter. Though the concept isn’t new, CCP’s[1] Dust 514[2] is the first title to provide a transgaming experience.

News

Fantasy Grounds Pathfinder Edition?

I think we may be seeing a virtual table-top integrated with Pathfinder in the near future. While at GenCon, I spied some of SmiteWorks’ people speaking with various Paizo luminaries as well as Lisa Stevens herself intensely demoing something at the SmiteWorks booth Saturday. For those unfamiliar with SmiteWorks, they are the producers of the Fantasy Grounds VTT.

News

Encounters in Intellectual Property

Intellectual property infringement was popular this week in the world of roleplaying games. We have seen an entire game company disappear seemingly after Berin Kinsman[1] discovered and ousted obvious plagiarism and copy & paste jobs from two different products. And a small kerfuffle erupted over Paizo Publishing enforcing their rights as owners of copyrighted works.

Design & Development

PFRPG Character Generator Update

The online Pathfinder RPG character generator that I’ve been tinkering with in my free time over the last couple of months is quickly approaching open beta testing. I currently have all the validation implemented for core class features, feats, and skills. The sole remaining elements to work on involve displaying character information effectively in the PDF export. Just need to figure out how I want to render class features and feats and it’s ready to go.