TabBlog

Rethinking Encumbrance

Many RPGs have a system for dealing with encumbrance and how much a character can carry. On the surface, the purpose of encumbrance is pretty straight-forward: It's a mater of simulation and verisimilitude: A person can only carry so much without being burdened by it all. Underneath, however, encumbrance rules play a variety of more subtle game roles. It's these games roles that I'm going to take a closer look at in this post, and then I'm going to look at a new encumbrance variant that may see use in future Saga Machine games....

Structure of Second Generation Games

We're working on the next generation of Saga Machine games, but we're not sure quite yet what form those games are going to take. The first generation of games were structures in a way where there was one genre-agnostic core rulebook, and then individual settings were released as supplements requiring the core rulebook. We may be doing this again with the second generation of games, or we may decide to change the structure and release each setting as a stand-alone game--with all of the rules necessary to play the game in one book....

Reconsidering Initiative

I was thinking about initiative recently--what it means in the game world and how it ought to work....

Introducing the Development Blog

Welcome to our new development blog. This blog is going to be a whole lot less formal than the TabBlog. It's a place where I can ramble on about the direction we're going with development on our second generation ofSaga Machine games, or anything else with RPG development that comes up. Some of these posts will be about specific design goals we have with the game, some might be about things in Saga Machine that we're looking to improve upon and some might just be idle thoughts. Whatever the post is about, we welcome your feedback on the post, either by going to the discussion page for the Development Blog and leaving a comment there, or by going to the "Tab Forums" link on the left and making a comment in our forum....

"What Comes Thereafter" Released!

Hot off the press, we've just released What Comes Thereafter, a full campaign for our flagship Trystell: Reborn setting! Picking up where the "What Lies Beneath" campaign (found in the back of the Trystell: Reborn hardback) left off, this campaign presents fifteen new adventures in and around the core city of Melanoc. It pits players against political opponents, invading armies and the plots of sinister secret societies. The campaign should be enough to bring a party of characters from Distinguished level, all the way to up Legendary! It's our first higher-level campaign....

Fourth Quarter Tab Update 2012

Like the one before it, this quarter has been both busy and quite productive....

Arth Campaign Setting Released

The moment that we at Tab Creations have been waiting for the last few months is finally here. Today we officially release the Arth Campaign Setting. Arth is an alternate history world set in a bizarre and action-filled 1904. The setting has everything from intrigue, to mystic secrets, to kick-in-the-door action. The setting also includes a variety of alternate systems and improvements to the rules found in the Saga Machine Companion. These new systems include a refined take on using a deck of poker cards as Saga Machine's core action mechanic, a streamlined system for tracking Action Points, a new take on the Health system and the Powers system, as well as a new way of handling Reaction. Take a look at the link above....

Freebie Spotlight: Defense & Toughness

Leading up to the release of our Arth alternate history setting we present our final Freebie Spotlight in this batch. This spotlight contains a new system for tracking damage and health--one that streamlines the process and doesn't require keeping a full health track on paper! Also included in this spotlight is a new system for handling defense in combat, as well as handling defense against powers or other mental effects. Check it out: Defense & Toughness!...

Arth World Map

We've talked about the fact that it was coming and now it is here. Today we are happy to unveil the full world map for our upcoming alternate history setting, Arth. You can find the full Arth World Map here. On the map you can see the full world and all the politics entities found on Arth, from the Chinese colony of Fei Zhou to the Lone Star Republic. And this is just the next release in our series of releases leading up to the full release of the Arth setting. Expect more Freebie Spotlights in the near future, and then the print release of Arth itself....

Freebie Spotlight: Card-Based Actions

And now here's the next Freebie Spotlight! This one is Card-Based Actions! While we've released alternate rules similar to this one before (see the Saga Machine Companion), this is a new-and-improved version--one that sees use in our upcoming Arth setting! So put down the dice and pick up the cards....

DevBlog

Rethinking Encumbrance

Structure of Second Generation Games

Reconsidering Initiative

Introducing the Development Blog

"What Comes Thereafter" Released!

Fourth Quarter Tab Update 2012

Arth Campaign Setting Released

Freebie Spotlight: Defense & Toughness

Arth World Map

Freebie Spotlight: Card-Based Actions

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