Author: Travis Miller

Travis writes, games and blogs.

Role-Playing Games Do Not Emulate Genres

On By Travis MillerIn assumption busters, design theory, fiction, musings, storytelling, sword-and-sorcery, video games, writing11 Comments

A phrase commonly used in conversations about role-playing games is "genre emulation." One might say that Call of Cthulu emulates Lovecraftian cosmic horror or Feng Shui emulates Hong Kong martial arts action films. Role-playing games do not emulate a genre. Role-playing games are one of many mediums that makes up a genre. A RPG is …

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Book Recommendation: Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

On By Travis MillerIn inspiration, recommended, Review, storytelling2 Comments

Ray Bradbury was the sort of writer and storyteller I appreciate the most. Many great storytellers are not particularly great writers. Many great writers are not particularly great storytellers. Writing is the skill of communication through the written word. One can be good at writing and lousy at storytelling. Most of what gets printed in …

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Tolkien’s Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits Don’t Belong in Dungeons & Dragons

On By Travis MillerIn game business, inspiration, musings, sword-and-sorcery27 Comments

I don't like elves, dwarves, and halflings in Dungeons & Dragons. We all know the way they look and feel in D&D was lifted out of Lord of the Rings. The inclusion of elves, dwarves, hobbits, orcs, ents, and balrogs (don't get me started on balrogs) into Dungeons & Dragons was a design mistake in …

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How Do I Play A 1st Level Demi-Human In An OSR Game?

On By Travis MillerIn advice for players

I'm not a fan of the non-human character races in Dungeons & Dragons. I rarely play non-human characters and often exclude them as playable classes in my campaigns. It's not because I have a problem with non-human characters per se. I just don't like the way they were implemented in the original game. My preferences …

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