Drawn broadly, the category of "surreal science fiction" includes two main classes of stories. One encompasses the first popular science fiction shorts, appearing in pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories (later to become Analog Science Fact &...
DayTrippers GameMasters Guide
Get ready for the next level of Auteur GameMastering: an infinite variety of surreal science fiction tales are waiting to emerge at your table. Psychic Content. Oracular Prep. Narrative Resolution. Vertical Control. High Bleed. You've played like this before, but...
Vidome 123 – a DayTrippers Adventure
Drir is a planet of poisonous swirling mists and intense humidity. Wisps and dark clouds of blue and green gases drift casually about without mixing, like oil and water, creating layers of shadow and subtle motion as far as the eye can see in all directions. It drips...
Less Little – a DayTrippers Adventure
On a routine Exploration mission for a reality-hopping travel agency, the crew encounters a Flux Storm and something goes horribly wrong. The PCs find themselves in a comedic and surreal situation, dealing with a cast of neurotic NPCs, trapped in a world they may...
ScenePlay enters Beta Testing
ScenePlay is a card-based collaborative narrative game that creates movie and tv stories. It's one of my latest obsessions. ScenePlay Version 0.13 is a beta test document, which has been released to all members of the As If Collective for edification, playtesting and...
The Difference between Narrative and Story
The words "Narrative" and "Story" are often used interchangeably, but they are not synonymous. The Difference between Narrative and Story is part of a structuralist approach to game design and interactive storytelling currently being explored by the As If Collective....
DayTrippers Open-Source Rules
Released under Creative Commons, this is an open-source version of the DayTrippers RPG rules for customization. NOW AVAILABLE AT: DrivethruRPG
Pocket Things
Pocket Things is a silly little storygame for people with pockets, and things in them. Guest appearances by Chuck Norris possible, but not guaranteed. NOW AVAILABLE AT: DrivethruRPG Itch.io
Roleplaying Games – Where’s the Art?
Over at Coming Out of the Basement, Jack Stephenson-Carr is engaging in an in-depth analysis of the question (and the assumptions behind the question): "Are Roleplaying Games Art?" Here's my take on it. Certainly they are, if they convey meaning. But they're not...
Watch the World Die
Watch the World Die is a collaborative narrative game allowing any number of players to create their own custom apocalypse. There are no winners, and everybody loses. Get ready to ruin everything. Are you planning a post-apocalyptic campaign? WTWD can help you create...
The Palace Software Manuals
My introduction to the world of ThePalace was as a technical writer; I was contracted by the fledgling start-up in 1996 to write a series of user manuals, and eventually became one of the most prolific world-designers in PalaceSpace. Those manuals are still available...
Interhabitrapment
A short story of desire and entanglement.