Author Archives: ThomasPKing

Book Review: The Dark Portal by Kyle Belote

6/10 Strong writing holds up an average story Darrovan Weiv is an alien theorist who finds himself stolen away in the night and brought to an underground facility—The Dome. There, he becomes part of a project to study an anomaly that could be of alien origin. But the chance of a lifetime could be theContinue reading “Book Review: The Dark Portal by Kyle Belote”

Board Game First Impressions: Darwin’s Journey and Carnegie

The battle of two old bearded white men… (I kid, but those covers…) These two games were recently on Kickstarter, and though I normally ignore KS, both were available to play. Darwin’s Journey was made available on Tabletopia, and Carnegie on Board Game Arena. My friend and I decided to try them out (he wasContinue reading “Board Game First Impressions: Darwin’s Journey and Carnegie”

Book Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

7/10 Masterfully written with some underwhelming characters and story Kote is a humble innkeeper in an out-of-the-way town called Newarre. But he hides a very old secret; he is Kvothe—famous bard, powerful sorcerer, and living legend. Cornered by a chronicler, Kvothe agrees to tell the full story of his life. The story of a youngContinue reading “Book Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss”

RPG First Impression: Fear Itself 2nd Edition (GUMSHOE system)

When I first started playing RPGs via forums, I was still hesitant to run them. I didn’t have much experience as a player or GM. Most of my experience was in watching games on Twitch and Youtube. I had started my Warhammer campaign in October 2018 because I love the setting and wanted to playContinue reading “RPG First Impression: Fear Itself 2nd Edition (GUMSHOE system)”

Book Review: Dark Water by Koji Suzuki

9/10 Character-driven horror from one of Japan’s best In this collection of short stories, Koji Suzuki continues to haunt readers with a series of horror stories all centered around water, starting with a prologue that hints at the many strange things that wash ashore and the stories they tell. Prologue An old woman, Kayo, whoContinue reading “Book Review: Dark Water by Koji Suzuki”

Board Game Review: DinoGenics

7/10 Good, though the theme does most of the work I’ve played at 1, 2, and 3-player. DinoGenics, designed by Richard Keene and published by his own company, Ninth Haven Games, was a successful Kickstarter in 2017 and released in 2019. It’s a worker-placement game with set-collection and economic elements. You are the head ofContinue reading “Board Game Review: DinoGenics”

Warhammer Fantasy RP 2nd Edition Campaign Part 2

For those who missed it, I previously wrote an article about Warhammer Fantasy RP 2nd Edition that included a summary of the play-by-forum campaign I’ve been running for over 2 years now. You can find part 1 here: https://thomaspking.com/2020/09/07/role-playing-warhammer-fantasy-rpg-2nd-edition/ Where we left off, the party was rushing to protect the count of Wurtbad who hadContinue reading “Warhammer Fantasy RP 2nd Edition Campaign Part 2”

Book Review: Shogun by James Clavell

9/10 Rich history and characters drive this epic. John Blackthorne is an English pilot to a Dutch ship, the Erasmus, and brings his battered ship and crew to the shores of Japan. There, he is swept up into the plots of warlords and a culture completely alien to him. How can he and his crew surviveContinue reading “Book Review: Shogun by James Clavell”