Title: A Brief Study of TSR Book Design
Code: N/A
Author: Kevin Crawford
Rule Set: D&D
Year: 2015
Pages: 26
Number of characters: N/A
Levels: N/A
Rating: ★★★★★
A Brief Study of TSR Book Design is one of those excellent finds for any game master or would be B/X author. In just 26 pages, Mr. Crawford covers the design element of decades of publications for Dungeons and Dragons books. He covers the ins and outs of fonts, margins and styles used in games from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Get your game on!
Mr. Crawford also gives sage advice on direct copying of styles for a variety of reasons such as technological updates, copyright issues and creativity. This is a surprising and useful find for the would be module author and at its price of free is unbeatable. Easily a five star rating.
A website dedicate to games of all favors and varieties, from video games to good old D&D.
Showing posts with label Appendix N. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Appendix N. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Monday, January 18, 2016
The Martian by Andy Weir
Title: The Martian
Author: Andy Weir
Author: Andy Weir
Year: 2014
Pages: 384
Rating: ★★★★★
This review is a reworking of a 2016 post.
No one back home knows Watney is alive, there is no rescue coming. He has supplies for a 50+ day mission for six, machinery that isn't designed to last more than 30 days and no hope. Watney has to make his own way, with only his know-how and the equipment left behind.
Watney comes to us via logs and down to Mars first person narratives, which are heart pounding, humorous and chilling by turns. No hands are waved on this techno-thriller, the story is pack full of details and observations that could right from NASA. No surprise here, Andy Weir is a lifelong programmer for a national laboratory and space enthusiast.
This was a very interesting read as the premise was to build an engrossing story through the lens of engineering, failure and success. It is very much like the works of Robert Forward however Watney's character is in the driver's seat of the feats of engineering and not the math or the physics. All of the characters live and breathe in the novel where problem solving and engineering are a significant feature and purpose, but not the only one. There is a perfect tagline spoken by the hero: "Let's science the shit out of this", which is very apt.
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