Blog Archives
Enter Sandland
Sand is an underutilized terrain feature in games. Sand is dynamic and versatile, for both GM’s and players, and it can transform a generic encounter into a shifting, swirling event full of complications and advanced tactics. Plus, it’s a beautiful backdrop for epic adventures, and has been since the dawn of storytelling. So, grit your teeth, dust off your sandals, and let’s comb the beaches for some game-changing ideas about sand.
Announcement and Updates
Hello Obsidian Portal Community! My name is Alex, and I am the new Community Manager here at OP. I have a few announcements and updates to cover with you, so read on:
NaGaDeMon Newbie!
Blame Micah
So we’ve talked a lot about NaGaDeMon on Haste recently but now it’s time for me to make it personal. November is a month for writing, growing beards, and a multitude of other noble things that go around the internet. Being an aspiring game designer/freelance writer/blogger/whatever in my spare time I’ve decided that this November I’d attempt to be doubly productive by not only refusing to shave, but by attempting to design a game.
Emissary Program Updates!
A Refresher
It’s been a while since we’ve posted anything about our loyal Emissaries, and with con season about to kick into full swing I think it’s about time I remind everyone how awesome being an Emissary truly is. Started a couple years ago, the Emissary program was made to help spread the word about Obsidian Portal. We’re just a small team here so we don’t do things like booths at conventions for two reasons: money, and we’d rather be out and about getting to know people!
How PIPA/SOPA threaten your tabletop game
You may have noticed that many websites are shut down and blacked out today. We considered doing something similar but decided against it, since we didn’t want to penalize anyone who needed access to their campaigns in order to do last minute prep for their game. But, rather than sidestep the issue, we wanted to add our voice to the choir calling for action against the PIPA/SOPA bills in the U.S. Congress. Here’s a video that explains it much better than I can, but if you’re interested in how it affects Obsidian Portal directly, read on.
Some random thoughts about email notification
We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about email notifications and why people do/don’t receive emails in certain situations. The email settings are a little confusing, so I thought I would try to clear things up a bit and ask for feedback at the same time.
The overall goal
What we’re trying to accomplish with the email notifications is pretty straightforward: If someone is making a change to their Obsidian Portal campaign, we assume they want others to know about it. One way is to make some edits, then open up their email and say, “Hey, I made some changes to X, Y, and Z. Go check them out!” Or, we can have the system do it for them. That’s our goal here, to make it simple and straightforward to notify the other members in your campaign that something has changed.
