Blogger, Gamer, Writer

Puerto Rico.jpg
 

About M W Stephens

I'm a writer of short stories and other works of fiction, slowly plodding my way through the creation of a novel. I'm a gamer, enjoying sessions of Chronicles of Darkness, Savage Worlds, and geeking out over D&D podcasts. I'm a father, a husband, and step-father. I also pay the bills by being a Project Manager. If you want to know more, check out my About page below. And if you like what you see here? Consider donating a coffee through Ko-fi (link in footer). While I might buy a beverage, chances are I'll save the money to buy art for game designs.

About »

 

Blog

I'm opinionated. Sometimes that leads to an informative blog post about a toAn1pic about which I'm passionate. If you want to see what's on my mind in any given week, then this is the place to find out.  If you're looking for my take on service desk/project management/general white-collar work thoughts, then check out my LinkedIn page. If you're after more social-issues, then look at my Medium profile. 

While you're there, why not leave a comment? 

Read My Blog »

 
Featured
More Than a Decade Later, I Gave Eve a Second Try
More Than a Decade Later, I Gave Eve a Second Try
Read More →
Vegemite and Dragons - That's What the VIstani Said
Read More →
Khan of Khans: The Most Fun I've Had Stealing Cows
Khan of Khans: The Most Fun I've Had Stealing Cows

Before you ask, yes, I've stolen a cow. Or at least I've been an accessory to stealing a cow. I would say I didn't have much choice in the matter, though, as I was in grade school, it was late at night, and I had no idea what my dad had planned until I was in the back of a pickup truck being told to keep the calf quiet. 

But nevermind that! We have much more important cows to speak of! Khan of Khans, published by Chaosium, is a game of stealing and protecting herds of cattle on the plains of Prax. 

Read More →
How I Conquered the World: A Review of Eschaton
How I Conquered the World: A Review of Eschaton

As a teen, one of the few games that we ever played together as a family was Risk. We would go to my uncle's house and spend an entire Saturday trying to dominate the world until one of us was a victor, or until my dad was upset that he'd lost Australia and flipped the game board off the table. It's one of the few board games I remember playing as a family. 

As an adult, one of the games I've had the most fun with, once I started to explore the world of tabletop gaming and attending conventions, was Dominion. Every year, I would look forward to playing the deck-builder game with my friends at Hypericon It's an itch that I haven't had scratched in a while. I bought the base Dominion game, but my husband isn't too keen on playing it. 

Eschaton is a deck-building strategy game by Archon Games. Eschaton also combines my two cherished tabletop game memories with a dark, occult theme. I was quite excited to learn about this game, and also a bit trepidatious on seeing the number of pieces involved in the heavy box. 

Read More →
I Played Call of Cthulu and You Won't Believe What Happened
I Played Call of Cthulu and You Won't Believe What Happened

Call of Cthulhu is a game with a reputation.  It's a game that my husband was excited to pick up at PaxUnplugged when he saw it at the Chaosium booth, and given how nice everyone at the booth had been it was an expenditure that I couldn't say no to.  It had been one of the first RPGs that Loren ever played and his excitement over the game was infectious. 

I'll be honest here. Since my early days playing on AmberMUSH in the late 90s, the Cthulhu mythos had intrigued me. The Lovecraft writing style, however, is something I don't enjoy. Outside of a single time playing a Cthulhu board game, I'd never ventured into this world. Loren decided to run a game when our friend from Australia came to visit over Christmas. 

And where better to run a creepy, eldritch horror game? Why, the cabin we had rented in the middle of the woods... where no one would hear us scream! 

Read More →