Wes Baker

I’m a programmer who lives in Fredericksburg, VA. I enjoy board games, puzzles, and making things work. When I’m not in front of a screen of some sort, I’m probably spending time with my wife, my sons, my animals, my board games, or my books. Check out what I’m up to now, see what tools I’m currently using, or follow me on Mastodon.

Engine Building for Engineering Teams

February 24th, 2021

I’m a big fan of board games. My collection no longer fits in the two bookshelves I have, it sprawls into the closet next to our game room…

RSS isn't dead

February 17th, 2021

I’m not the first person to write that headline, nor will I be the last, but it’s pretty clear that people forget (or never knew) that RSS…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 31: Experience

August 31st, 2020

Ultimately the reason that I GM and play RPGs is because of the experience of playing in them and the stories they create. I was initially…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 30: Portal

August 30th, 2020

The most common form of a portal that your players will experience is a door. A door by itself is boring, it has a knob and it divides rooms…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 29: Ride

August 29th, 2020

I often handwave over long travel, especially when running games like Dungeons & Dragons. There can be interesting encounters along the way…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 28: Close

August 28th, 2020

I find some of the best experiences in roleplaying games to be close scrapes. You just barely beat the villain and his goons, some of you…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 27: Favor

August 27th, 2020

Someone always needs a favor. If you’re ever looking for your next adventure, there’s an NPC somewhere–that the players have already talked…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 26: Strange

August 26th, 2020

I love a good vanilla fantasy dungeon, with enemies you expect and an ending you can hope for. However, I also appreciate when things get…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 25: Lever

August 25th, 2020

Levers make me think of simple machines: pulleys, wheel and axle, wedges, levers, and so forth. Some very complex problems can be solved…

#RPGaDAY2020 Day 24: Humor

August 24th, 2020

In your session zero you should talk about the level of humor you want in a game. For me, RPGs sing when there’s humor, it’s the spice that…