jburneko

In Dark Alleys is a difficult game to write about in part because it’s a very dense game. It’s the kind of game where what your character does for a living changes the point costs of skills at character

I guess mostly in private in that I don't tend to "work out" design problems publicly. As noted in previous posts I do make all drafts of my games publicly available. If I play-test something

I'm a day behind! So I want to build Bloodthorn Press into... something. I don't want to be "big". Evil Hat is already at level I never want to be. I'd like to be maybe a step larger than I feel

RPGs: Sorcerer & Dirty Secrets. Video Games: Silent Hill 2 Books: A Series of Unfortunate Events & The Black Dahlia Movies: Franklyn Theory: Baker's Clouds & Boxes Art: Hopper's "Night

So, when I write a first draft of a game I actually make a pretty conscious effort to make sure it's written in a way that I think others could play it even from my initial alpha draft. This has paid off

Uh... local nicknames include, "Baron Ravenloft" "The Dark Lord of BarCon" and "The Enemy of Fun." And when asked what I think my strength is as a GM I respond, "Emotional

I don't like relaxing games. Sorcerer, Burning Wheel, Torchbearer. These are tough emotionally and mechanically demanding games. I even pitch my D&D opposition just a little higher than the party can

Don't have routine but process I got... mostly. So, I'm kind of "lightning" designer. Either the whole game comes to me all at once or... nothing. I got games that are just a title and idea and

I'm a moody person and so routine doesn't work real well for me. If I'm not feeling it, it's not happening. Deadlines and the fear of letting other people down are better motivators. So.. chaos?

I live in a house that features: a legit secret door in the back of a closet, a small nailed shut door in the back of another closet, a hallway that goes nowhere and dead ends in a painted window with

Sorcerer's complex conflict system. It works like this: Everyone declares their action, freely and openly. Dice are rolled and everyone goes from highest to lowest single die. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT ONE:

I apparently angered some bot for using the IntroduceYourself tag too many times even though this a a slow 30 day method of introducing oneself. But I'll stop using it for now. From a career, perspective

Well, professionally, I make video games. For many years that meant console games. Early works included an X-Files and an E.R. game. The middle part of my career consisted of making a series of fighting

I see a lot of people answering this question with stories from when they were kids. But my instincts were never to "fix" or "make" game. I was all about wanting to master the game

Geographically: Long Beach, CA Professionally: I’ve been at the same company for 13 years. Probably a record for video games Gaming: I run 2 D&D games at work and a Fate game at home. Emotionally:

I might as well bring these here as well. Because why not? I’m Jesse Burneko. I work professionally as a video game programmer for Kung Fu Factory. We just released Pacific Rim: Breach Wars on iOS and

The Spotlights Project is what I am using this site for. I write about RPGs that I think have been overlooked and underrated. I launched a Patreon in January to help support it. In January I gained four

RavenDeath by Iacopo Frigerio is a role-playing game about revenge. It takes its primary inspiration from The Crow, as evidenced by its title, but also Kill Bill, The Count of Monte Cristo and other classic

Pickets and Blinds by Kevin Allen Jr. is a crime drama game about murder in small American towns. All the players are characters who are about to commit a murder and, in the end, only one of them will

Exilium is a science fiction role-playing game that first got my attention with the previous edition titled, “In Flames”. Here’s the summary: There exists a group of ascended beings called the Numina who