(Be sure to tune in to the latest episode of the podcast!) Sean here again. So, we’ve learned that alien sexual cues may be incomprehensible and downright repulsive to other species. This has some surprising consequences, and it forces us to take a side on a contentious, real-life subject. Dealing with aliens on a regular …
Tag Archives: game design
Alien Romance: Close Encounters of the Naughty Kind
(Be sure to tune in to the latest episode of the podcast!) Sean here again. Instead of writing a post on Covenant’s Trade language, like I normally do on Fridays, I want instead to continue talking about alien biology and communication. Remember that photo of the female chimp that I posted back on Friday? It’s …
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Alien Communication: Darmok at Tanagra
(Be sure to tune in to the latest episode of the podcast!) Sean here again. Yesterday, I was talking about how aliens would have incompatible biochemistries with humans. That’s not the only way that they’d be incompatible, though. Aliens with different anatomies and biochemistries will, by extension have different neuro-anatomies and neurochemistries. They’ll have evolved …
Alien Biology: What Are Little Aliens Made Of?
Sean here again. Before we talk about the biology of life from other planets, it’s helpful to know a little about the biology of life from Earth: It’s comprised of hydrocarbons, the most important of which are proteins. It stores genetic information in long, replicable hydrocarbon chains consisting of diribonucleic acid or DNA. Much of …
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Radio Free Covenant: Episode 3 – We Get Letters
We put the call out to our friends to find out what they wanted in a roleplaying game, and today we respond! Tune in to learn what they want and how (or if) Sean and Sazzy can incorporate their requests. We round out this week’s episode with what we want in an RPG. We are …
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PZ Myers on Alien Biology
Sean here. To get you ready for what I want to talk about this week, I’m going to have to take a page from biologist PZ Myers and show you a little porn. I’ve hidden it below the page break, so click through when you’re ready to get a little sexy.
Covenant Game Design: Damage Types and Tech Levels
(Don’t forget to tune in to the latest episode of the Radio Free Covenant podcast!) We said last time that we would talk about the types of damage that your character can face in Covenant. Let’s do that now.Your character’s armor has a rating just like their weapons. If they are hit by a weapon …
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Radio Free Covenant: Episode 2 – Fascism and Noodles
So, we’re trying a shorter format that we hope we can get out on a more regular basis. I hope you bear with us through our birthing pangs. For now, join Sean and Sazzy as they talk about: Why fascism and autocracy may be the inevitable outcome of our current politics and economics Why it’s …
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Covenant Game Design: Areas and Tactical Movement
(Don’t forget to tune in to the latest episode of the Radio Free Covenant podcast!) Last week, we promised that we’d talk about how Covenant handles tactical movement during scenes. Let’s do that now. Before we start, though, let’s narrow down our subject. When I say “tactical movement”, I mean the kind of character movement …
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More on Failing Forward
We’ve talked about Covenant‘s fail forward mechanics, but I want to touch on something more fundamental here: how the Force Majeure (FM) can prevent failed bids from grinding their games to a halt. This was inspired by a post on the RPGdesign subreddit from xxXKurtMuscleXxx entitled: “A new (?) kind of social mechanic“. The rule …
Radio Free Covenant - A Podcast about the Science-Fiction Roleplaying Game "Covenant" and Urban Fantasy Novel "Crossing the Line" 