Gamemasterclass

Our newest standalone publication, covering...
  • World creation
  • Party composition
  • Understanding story, narrative and plot
  • Conflict resolution
  • Creating a compelling villain
  • Improvisation
  • Creating memorable NPCs
  • Gamemaster player characters
  • Keeping players engaged
  • Online versus offline
  • Bringing a campaign to a close
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Read articles from back issues of our magazine online: expert reviews, passionate appraisals, thought-provoking fiction and essential guides.

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Review: Harvest

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. There’s a particular type of fantasy common among gamers: the siren call of farming. Whether you’re tending your crops digitally via Stardew Valley, or fencing-in wooden animals in Agricola, there is a strong pull in gaming towards setting resources in place and seeing them…
Christopher Jarvis
November 12, 2021

Title: Review: The Spread: Book 1 (The Hill)

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archives. I think it’s fair to say that the pandemic has changed all our lives: it’s the biggest disruption in modern times and something that will leave a lasting scar long after it’s been vaccinated into submission. I’ve always been a big fan of apocalyptic…
Ant Jones
November 11, 2021

Review: Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. It’s time to address the elephant in the room. All of us in the boardgaming community love what Gloomhaven represents but... it’s just too darn big. Too expensive, too much content for most to finish… it even frankly weighs too much. It’s a daunting…
Christopher Jarvis
November 10, 2021

Review: Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. With Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, Gamelyn Games continue their series of ‘small box’ games which deliver a big gameplay experience. With its brightly coloured tiles and dinosaur models, worker-placement gameplay and spatial arrangement elements, Tiny Epic Dinosaurs definitely takes a few cues from Pandasaurus Games’…
Christopher Jarvis
November 9, 2021

Interview: Stephen A. Turner

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. Stephen A. Turner is the driving force behind the historically-inspired Chivalry & Sorcery roleplaying game. His company, Britannia Games Design, acquired the game in 1999 and launched the 4th edition in 2000. The 5th edition was launched through Kickstarter and came to fruition in…
Angus McNicholl
November 7, 2021

Review: Legendary Encounters: The X-Files Deck Building Game

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. Legendary Encounters: The X-Files Deck Building Game is one of a series of titles in the Legendary range of IP-licensed deck-building games. Previous Legendary titles have allowed players to take on scenarios from Firefly, Buffy, James Bond, Alien, Predator and others. Like most deck-building…
Christopher Jarvis
November 6, 2021

Review: The Hammer and the Blade

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. Egil and Nix are idiots. There’s really no getting around that fact. They’ve made a reputation, lost a few fortunes and risked life, limb and soul plundering tombs, crypts and other unwholesome places with a habit of killing people. And they keep doing it. …
Connor Eddles
November 5, 2021

Interview: DigiSprite

From the Parallel Worlds archive. DigiSprite are a three-person tabletop games studio based in Dundee, Scotland. Robyn is Managing Director and a designer, while Sam and Elaine are designers and writers — but they all wear lots of hats in between as well. They’ve been making tabletop games for five…
Connor Eddles
November 4, 2021

Review: Saints of Salvation

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. If you’re a regular of Parallel Worlds, you’ll know that we’ve been following Peter Hamilton’s new series — the Salvation Sequence — with some interest. Stephen Baxter has called it “a modern classic” while noted author Gareth L. Powell has called Hamilton “one of…
Ant Jones
November 4, 2021

Review: The King’s Dilemma

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. I’ll start by saying that I absolutely expected to dislike The King’s Dilemma. There are a few genres of game I really struggle to enjoy: social deduction games, for example, such as Coup, Werewolf, or Spyfall. I’m also not particularly into games which revolve…
Christopher Jarvis
November 3, 2021

Review: Gloom of Kilforth

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. Gloom of Kilforth is, undoubtedly, the most beautiful game I own. It’s the only game I’ve ever bought purely on the basis of the art — and I’ll explain why. There are 25 locations, four decks of encounters, four decks of character upgrades, 25…
Christopher Jarvis
November 2, 2021

Dark Stars: spacepunk roleplaying

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. Dark Stars is a cyberpunk roleplaying game set 300 years in the future. Humanity has expanded across the galaxy, developed artificial intelligence, and encountered alien life — but this is no utopia. The setting is dark and gritty, characterised by classic hallmarks of cyberpunk:…
Thomas Turnbull-Ross
November 1, 2021

Review: Cowboy Bebop: Space Serenade

From the Parallel Worlds Magazine archive. Cowboy Bebop is one of those TV series which always makes it into lists of ‘If You’ve Never Seen Anime, Start Here’. It’s stylish, accessible and genuinely action-packed — a Japanese animated series for those who aren’t deeply into the subculture. Unsurprising, then, to…
Christopher Jarvis
October 31, 2021

Interview: Bob Salley, creator of Broken Gargoyles

The diesel-punk world of Broken Gargoyles is set in 1925 in an alternative post-war US, where much has been lost and is yet to be rebuilt. It features robots (so far only ‘promo’ bots), peculiar vehicles, architecture with a slightly futuristic spin on Art Deco, as well as imagery familiar…
Yana Koleva
October 30, 2021

Interview: Peter F. Hamilton

In May 2020 we were lucky enough to interview Peter F. Hamilton for the release of his novel Salvation Lost. He’s back this year with a new audiobook: A Hole In The Sky. Chris Cunliffe caught up with him.  Thanks for joining us, Peter! Where did the inspiration for the…
Chris Cunliffe
October 29, 2021

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For those captivated by ‘what if?’ and those for whom this world is not enough, Parallel Publishing brings you the best in the world of tabletop roleplaying, with Parallel Worlds Magazine, the Parallel Roles livestream, and exceptional standalone publications.

We started making Parallel Worlds Magazine in late 2019. Our team of volunteers contribute from all over the world, but most are based in the UK.

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