More RPG links: caustic commentary courtesy of James Kendall

More RPG links: notes courtesy of James Kendall [jameskendall@mindspring.com]

• RPG Archive ~ http://www.rpgarchive.com/: a *huge* archive of pre-written adventures, along with links, reviews, and a few other tidbits.
  
• BlueTroll ~ http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/byzantium/55/ : This is -the- premier DnD Netbook site online. Had dozens of them the last time I checked over a year ago, and is always being updated. Also had a number of general purpose books like 'Book of Herbs' 'Book of Poisons' ' Historical Weapons' 'Creation of Thieves Guilds' and so forth, as well as hundreds of fan-created DnD stuff. Spells, classes, races, so forth. Don't know if WotC cracked down on that aspect of it or not, but the rest should still be there.
  
• Google's list of roleplaying magazines and ezines ~ http://directory.google.com/Top/Games/Roleplaying/Magazines_and_E-zines/ : A nice concise list of online Ezines and RPG mags.
  
• Google's roleplaying links ~ http://directory.google.com/Top/Games/Roleplaying : Is where I'm getting a number of these links. Might want to go through it in greater detail on your own. Under the 200+ links for 'World Building', Patricia's page is second on the list.
  
• Roleplaying Tips Newsletter ~ http://www.roleplayingtips.com/ : Just found this one and haven't had time to look through it indepth. Looks like a weekly email fanzine that's made up a a couple of "how to GM/Roleplay' articles sent in by subscribers and emailed out to everyone on the list. All the old ones are in archives, and there seems to be some really good advice amidst it all. (After a bit of further reading, it seems that a number of the articles come complete with links to other websites that explore the topic in further detail. Very nice indeed.)
  
• GamerJargon.com ~ http://www.gamerjargon.com/ : Admittedly, I don't recognise about half this jargon, but it's a simple primer on most of the gamer/geek terms that've cropped up in the last 10 years from OOC to 'all your base'. Not sure all of them are real, though.
  
• Uncle Figgy's Realm ~ http://members.aol.com/dwcope/home.htm Uncle Figgy! The Dear Ann Landers of RPGing. Though the site has sadly gone un-updated since June, it's still a wonderful RPG (and writing) resource. The FAQ section where reader questions on how to deal with powergamers, properly describe scenes, and create believable NPCs are covered and also a small 'so you want to be a writer, eh?' section that talks about what exactly those slushpiles are. The guides, however, are where it's at. There are five of them, written over the course of a few years, each one very indepth and must reads. 'How to GM', 'How to RolePlay', "Roleplaying for Non-roleplayers' (sort of an intro piece to show to your friends when they want to know what it is you do), and my personal favorite 'The Fantasy Guide.' To paraphrase his intro to it: "In bookstores you'll find dozens of books on how to create belivable weapons and armour, but not one on how to create a believable magic system, which is what all of fantasy writing is inherently based on." So he goes into his own ways to create your own homebrew. A *very* nice site.
  
• S John Ross' BIG LIST of RPG plots ~ http://www.io.com/~sjohn/plots.htm : An interesting page, even from a writing standpoint. A quick summary of the 34 basic RPG plots. Almost every single adventure ever published falls under one of these groupings. Also features common twists to each plot type, and a few links to pages that cover the topic in a more scholarly fashion.
  
• RPGNet http://www.rpg.net/ : More a 'what's new in the world of gaming' page then anything else, but a good place to hook into the rumor mill of what's upcoming. Also features pages on 'how to' for game creation, game publishing, as well as job offerings for playtesters and similar sorts.
  
• The Malkavian Web page ~ http://www.freeshell.org/~alik/malkavian/ : Malkavians are the 'insane' vampires from the WoD, and this is a page set up with some very good articles about how to realistically portray an insane character beyond the 'walks around in teddybear slippers and wacks people with a fish' (fishmalks) stereotype that seem to crop up. The page also has some miscellaneous vampire stuff, as well as a fair crop of WoD humor. The page (Malchavian Insanity, one of the first links there) where they talk about roleplaying madness is what I nominate this page for, though.