Over the years, I have written about the Wednesday night AD&D game on Roll20. This past Wednesday, after 4.5 years, 1 year to the day in game time, and 221 Sessions we finally faced the big bad and won.
I shared some of my thoughts about this on the podcast here.
I find it only fitting to mention the ending here on the blog.
We started in mid-March, 2014, and ended Wednesday, October 3, 2018.
My first character of the campaign, Thorfus Ironhand, a dwarf who made it to 8th level fighter. He was on his way to 9th level when he died. Roll20 had terrible rolls for most of his HP after 1st level. He rolled several 1’s and 2’s. He ended up with 33 HP at 8th level.
My Ranger, Rallion of the Wode, who replaced him reached 7th level and 42 HP.
There were hundreds of named NPCs, dozens of businesses, ships, cities, towns, villages, and tribes. Custom pantheons and more.
My personal Roll20 hours are now at 1700.
The campaign is called Graveyard of Empires.
I’m the only player to attend every session. One of the other session one players attended and ran the character of an absent player, who unfortunately, had to work and missed the last session.
Our only breaks from the every Wednesday schedule are when the DM took vacation, Also this past Spring, when I attended Gary Con X. The other players agreed to skip a week so I didn’t have to miss. Their generosity is the only reason I was able to attend every session.
None of the original session 1 characters survived to the end through play. While some session 1 characters may still live, they are now NPCs as the players who created them left.
We had one player from session 1 join for a few sessions as a new character.
Another session 1 player rejoined twice and created new characters each time, but soon dropped out. He was the youngest player. (I was the oldest player.)
This was the longest campaign I’ve played in outside of my brother’s 30+ year AD&D campaign that is ongoing today. I have advanced few characters to the levels of the two characters in this campaign. I’ve played lots of fighters over the years, most were human. I don’t recall ever playing a ranger before, and that is because of the difficulty of rolling the required stats.
Now that it is over, I am looking forward to having Wednesday evenings free for a while.
My understanding from something the DM mentioned more than once, was that we would be ending the campaign whether we one or lost. Once the final battle was over, and we won, he mentioned continuing. I mentioned that I may be up to volume two, but only 3 hours a session, and no later than 11:00 PM. I need time to unwind after each session so I can get to sleep. Work can be a dreary thing without adding sleep deprived to it. Perhaps bi-weekly, instead of every week. I’m undecided on the frequency.
AUTOMATA RUN AMOK BY JOHN CARLSON – A module on OBS about our first adventure, illustrated by Luka Rejec of Wizard, Thief, Fighter. I did a mini-review of it on my blog, see below. Check out John’s blog, Dwarven Automata. John also contributed to The Black Isle.
John is working on the next adventure we undertook, and I very much look forward to it and more. We all encouraged John to do a setting guide. He has an interesting concept and I’m sure others will enjoy exploring that world.
It is important for players to trust their GM and for the GM to explain how they use the rules and run games. GMs should be both clear and fair in their presentation and application of the rules. They should strive to instill trust in their players. This is a follow up to yesterday’s blog post on rules lawyering, and is an expansion of episode 11 of the podcast.
Two Way Street
The relationship between the GM and players at the table (real or virtual) is a two way street between the GM and each player, as well as each player between every other player. The GM prepares the campaign setting/world to host the adventures, and also prepares for each adventure. They have to run and voice all the monsters and NPCs and keep track of all the things involved to keep the game moving.
Players should each do their part. Just as the GM works to show the players that they can trust him or her to run the game, the players should work to show the GM and other players that they fit in at the table.
What should the players do?
The following assumes a veteran player.
Show up on time.
If you are late, it delays the start of the game, or causes a pause in the action to get you up to speed
If you are going to be late, it shouldn’t be a habit and you should let everyone know.
Life happens and the unexpected can derail the most firm commitment.
With online play this is also important.
Bring what you need to play, character sheet, writing instrument, paper, dice, PHB or similar.
Have your character sheet and inventory up to date and organized so the game can start on time, and you can find the information needed during play.
Be ready to declare your action when it is your turn to act.
Be familiar with your character’s class, abilities, equipment, and whatever else you need to know to play that character.
Be courteous and respectful of others. (I shouldn’t have to say that. If you don’t know what this means, a bullet point can’t explain it.)
Be welcoming of new players to the game. You are an ambassador to both your group and the wider RPG community.
This is both experienced players new to your table.
As well as new players who are new to the game. There are two variations:
Players who have never played an RPG. Their experience at your table is their FIRST IMPRESSION of the game. They will assume all role players are jerks if they are treated poorly and won’t want to play.
Experienced role players who are new to the rules of the game you are playing.
Be willing to step outside your comfort zone. The GM has to do this, so you aren’t the only one.
If you are a natural extrovert, play an introverted character occasionally. Encourage the less active players to take risks.
If you are a natural introvert, play an extroverted character, or one who takes risks.
Be willing to try your hand as GM.
Your GM needs a break to let their batteries re-charge. Run a one-shot or short campaign.
Do your part to help bring the campaign world alive. Suggest ideas for monsters, cultures, items, and more.
Tell your GM what they get right more loudly and before you tell them what they did wrong.
When you tell them what went wrong or you didn’t like, do it in a constructive way.
If there is a problem at the table be part of the solution. If you’re the problem, recognize it when everyone else calls you out.
Conclusion
TTRPGs require an open mind, trust, and creativity for all concerned. Such games are a communal exercise in play. This type of play allows one to do things they can’t do in the real world. It is a communal activity that when players and GM come together, the fictional world comes alive. By trusting the GM and players buying in to the world and adventure presented, you will have memories as vivid as the ones you have of things you really did. Together you weave a story that will unite your group in a way that you can say, “Hey, remember that time?” and you will all laugh and no one else will ever quite understand.
In episode ten of the podcast I posited that AD&D 1e [Affiliate Link] invites rules lawyering. While the AD&D core books brought together rules, classes, and monsters introduced in the supplements and issues of Dragon Magazine since the original game did organize a lot, it was still not truly organized.
Similar rules are not grouped in proximity, especially in the DMG.
Instead of using an existing system, or developing a coherent engine to the game, there is a new system for many new things.
For example, the difference between regular combat and grappling is very confusing.
Too many fiddly bits.
How to address it:
I have a love and nostalgia for AD&D. I even like some of the fiddly bits. But as a player and GM both then and now, rules lawyering interrupts the flow of the game and kills the mood. For me to run AD&D as a campaign, I need a more comprehensive document that clarifies three things:
What rules are not used at all, such as weapon speed.
What rules are modified, morale by the book is a mass of number crunching. Simple is better to keep the flow.
Modification can vary from a simple modification or clarification to replacement by another method whether from another game or home brewed.
What rules are used as is, like turn undead.
If you clarify that your game is rulings over rules, then those who can’t stand anything but RAW (Rules As Written) will look elsewhere for a game to join.
Conclusion
Being on the same page about what rules are used and how they are implemented during play will enhance the experience at the table. Be open to revision of rules based on how things work at the table. Be consistent, and most of all have fun! Remember it’s a game!
I had a packed Gary Con schedule compared to the prior two years. This was the first time I ran games. I ran 3 four hour games, and played in 4 games. Three were four hours and one 5+hours. Next year, I think I will run three games, but I won’t pack my schedule. I need more sleep.
THURSDAY
Gangbusters – Stop The Flow
Two Kolchaks
Two of the three games I ran were Thursday. I started with Gang Busters. I had 8 pre-gens using the templates from +Mark Hunt’s version of Gangbusters. I proofread his current state of the rules from the fall, so I used his version with my edits. The pre-gens made character creation fast. Mark was going to play in my game, as I told him that I would run so he could play. Unfortunately, his dad went in the hospital and he couldn’t make it. I had no reception with my chrome book in the part of the hotel they had us. Mark had hoped to do a Google Hangout for a Q&A after the game.
I never saw so many players botch a roll and then make the luck roll I gave them. At least, make the luck roll when it counted. Most lucks were under 30. I had 3 or 4 players in a row make their luck roll. The players were all law enforcement. One played a state trooper and played it so well, the others asked if he was a real officer, and he laughed as he was not in law enforcement. The characters found the source of the secret shipments of alcohol. I can’t give it away, or I can’t run that scenario. No characters died, but a couple got shot up really bad. One caught himself on fire, and another kept falling in the water. It was awesome how they played smart and rolled well, and foiled the bad guys. They got done an hour early.
Stars Without Number
In the afternoon, I ran Stars Without Number. I used the revised edition rules for the Kickstarter that delivered in January. I had never played it, so running was the first time I played it. I built 8 pre-gens. The first pre-gen took a long time as I was figuring out all the bits to do it, even with the spread on character generation. I did that to help me grasp all the pieces. I then used the quick character generation and did most of the rest in the time it took to do the first. The character sheet is a form-fillable PDF, so I have those NPCs for future use.
7 people signed up. It was fun to finally play in a game with +Forrest Aguire. All of the players made a lot of awesome rolls for skill checks. My usual poor rolls for the NPCs made things really easy for them. They also made smart decisions, and had a plan of action that was direct and simple and their good rolls compensated for how daring it was. Skilled players making smart choices, they also finished about 45 minutes early. One guy who made the most great rolls on skill checks saw me the next day and said that he didn’t make any rolls at his next game.
FRIDAY
Against the Dwarfs
I had three games Friday. The first was AD&D in the morning. It was Against the Dwarfs by Bryan Skowera. This was the third of a series mirroring the Against the Giants modules. I played in the second one last year and had a blast. We made some poor tactical decisions early in the session and managed to luck into a plan that let us beat the bad guy. I was able to play the Kobold cleric that I played last year, which was a lot of fun.
Friday afternoon, I played DCC with Brendan LaSalle. It was a hilarious scenario. We sang the songs of Electric Potato.
DCC with Brendan LaSalle
Lego Dice Tower by the Daughter of one of the players Friday night.
Friday night I was supposed to play in +Joseph Bloch’s game in his AD&D Castle of the Mad Archmage setting. Unfortunately, Joe never showed. One of the people at the table found out he had told the con staff, but they never told us. I saw him the next day and totally understand why he did. For the con, I bought a rolling catalog case with a telescoping handle, so I could carry all of my stuff around the con and just pull it. I ended the con with no back or shoulder pain. It is a wise investment I will use at every con. Because I that, I had my Gamma World 1e book and my scenario that I would run the next day, so I offered to run it for the table. Two left for other things, and someone else joined in when they were walking by. It was a lot of fun for those who hadn’t played since back in the day, and those who had never played. It is very similar to Metamorphosis Alpha, so I kept asking what Radiation Resistance they had, instead of Constitution. They had fun, and I would end up playing other things with two of them later.
SATURDAY
Gamma World
Saturday morning I ran Gamma World and all 8 showed up and I squeezed in two others, for ten total. I only had 8 pre-gens, so we had them quickly roll up characters for the two. I am glad I did that, they all had fun and it worked out to be a jam-packed and fun scenario. I used the additional secret papers with some background for the 8 pregens. I did not use those the night before as a secret, but told those players what the secrets were. Several of the players latched onto the information on their info paper. All I asked was that they not reveal it right away, which worked out great.
Player of the Character Tree made a sketch.
In less than 30 minutes they went to the weird hermit on the edge of town to get help with something. He figured out their issue was a dead battery, but he had no way to charge it. Then the gorilla with an electric shock attack like an electric eel said, “I’ll charge it!” I said, “That’s a great idea! How much damage does it do?” “Uh, 4d4.” “Great, roll 4d4!” I picked up 8d6 and rolled those once he gave me his total. “OK, the hermit falls over dead and you all take 15 points of damage!” I started laughing because the hermit had information for them. I was already short on sleep, which makes me either cranky or slap happy. I was so tickled, I laughed so hard I had tears. I’ve never had my players bring me to tears before. They eventually got on the right track and found what they were looking for and we ran out the clock on the session. They all had an excellent time.
The GM in Tears from Laughing at what the players just did.
After a long break in the afternoon, I had AD&D with +Michael Shorten. I should have taken a nap, but I play tested my card game. I ran out of steam and had to back out early. One of the players in the cancelled AD&D game who played in my Gamma World scenario the night before is an architect and offered to be out mapper. he did a rough sketch map, and you could tell he is used to working from verbal descriptions and his map was clear and easy to follow. He mapped at a scale we could place our minis. That was a really cool thing. He also lives in Grand Rapids, so we’ll probably game together occasionally.
AD&D with Michael Shorten – AKA Chgowiz
Full scale mapping by a real life architect.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning, it was up bright an early to finally get to play Top Secret with Merle Rasmussen. It was the new Top Secret from the Kickstarter. It will finally ship from the US and European TSR warehouses this week or next. I liked how he randomized the map by each player building one section. It was serendipitous how my map worked to make an easy ending to a nearly out of control scenario, and we managed to get done early. I really like the simplicity of how the map works and how it randomizes the scenario.
That was a good thing, as I met Tom Wham going one way as I came down stairs, and he was not in a rush, so I finally got my copy of Awful Green Things from Outer Space signed. I forgot to bring it to Gary Con 8, last year at Gary Con 9, it was always raining and since I wasn’t in the venue’s hotel, I didn’t want it getting wet. I also had him sign my Gamma World 1e, which he edited.
Top Secret: New World Order with Merle Rasmussen.
Player built map. Gets players involved and randomizes the scenario.
PLAYTESTING
First Gary Con X play test of the card game with the roommates. Dave Weeks & RJ Thompson of Gamers & Grognards.
I had a long break and ran several play tests of my card game. I had a total of 12 play tests at Gary Con X with 31 play testers from Wednesday through Sunday. Some played more than once. My game was a big hit with all who played it, and one person asked the name of it, and that was enough to hook them to want to play it. Nearly all asked, “So when’s the Kickstarter?” without prompting. My response was either, “yeah, so when IS the Kickstarter?” or “Ummm, when I announce it?” It was awesome to have the rough edges worked out on the third play test, and very little changed after that. It is a much smoother and faster playing game than what I wrote about in the first two play tests before Gary Con here.
Paul reads my blog. We played in Laura Rose Williams DCC game at the Contessa Track at UCon in November. He play tested my game.
2nd Gary Con X play test. Paul, Clay Williams, and Laura Rose Williams (AKA “Meat Dwarf”). It was nice to get a woman’s perspective on my game. She liked it!
Clay is a bit of an artist and sketched some trucker he saw somewhere.
It looks like a police artist sketch of a serial killer. I think Clay was getting ready to run a horror game….
I have lots of offers to help with various aspects of card design, art, card production, etc. One person told me he had an idea that might not require Kickstarter. Two recognizable companies said they could help me with one or more aspects related to Kickstarter/fulfillment.
Nate of WASD20
The Initiative Coffee Co.
Ruty Rutenberg took a lot of notes about my game.
Jayson Elliot of the new TSR and Peter of Mythwits.
I find the whole thing hilarious as I don’t play many card games anymore since I don’t have a regular group that plays card games. I have a catchy title, an interesting premise, and rules that make it quick to catch on. I was saying, “I’m not a card game guy.” but not that I have a card game I realized that I am so I started saying, “I am a card game guy.”
I finally played the game today with my oldest son, and he gave me more suggestions about where to take it once it hits critical mass. He also is really good at card tricks, and made a joke with two of the cards and made it look like he turned it into another card. Now THAT will be in an announcement/Kickstarter video.
There is nothing to announce yet, as I have someone doing some sort of statistical analysis, and he had some other ideas, so I am waiting on that. One cool thing a play tester said, “I like the simplicity of the game with simple rules to learn in 5 min. at a noisy bar at Gary Con.” Sunday, I was really tired, and I was making lots of mistakes in play. the rules are so simple that players can correct an exhausted creator of the game on his errors. Out of 15 games that have been played, I have played them all and managed to win 5 of them. I am usually spending so much time helping run the game that I am mostly reliant on getting good cards. However, it is so cool that people like my game and want to play it, that I’m OK with never winning a game. I’m usually very competitive in such games, but I find I’m much more relaxed about my own game. It is because I’ve already won the grand prize of the multiverse by making a game that works and people want to play. “I made a thing and people think it’s fun and want to play it!”
IF I do a Kickstarter, I will be very careful, and stretch goals will only be card game related, like better paper, better finish, etc. I will have all the work done on typing up the rules, lining up card printers, etc. I know it will be a success as one established RPG You Tuber played it and said he’d mention it when it was time for the announcement of something. I’m not mentioning the name of the game, or anything specific until I work out a few more things. I think I also need to consult a lawyer, among other things. Patreon is in my future. I know have all kinds of ideas for card games, along with my ideas for RPG supplements, and YouTube videos. I now have a new focus to make game stuff that I never really had before. That too, will not be overnight.
All I’ve managed to do today is type up my play test notes, write a big thank you to all the EXCLUSIVEGary Con X play testers on social media, and watch a little TV so my brain can decompress. I also managed to crank out this article, as I know work will be crazy tomorrow.
If you plan to go to Marmalade Dog, March to , 2018, I will be there running one session of Metamorphosis Alpha, and one of AD&D, and I will have my prototype card game. Be one of the EXCLUSIVEMarmalade Dog play testers and get mentioned in the credits as a play tester.
IRCA
IRCA – Larry Hamilton (me), Nate Vanderzee, and Zachary Ruhnke (he went to high school with Alex Gygax) Bill Allen and the Initiative Coffee Co. crew were not around when the rest of us were. It was great to meet face to face.
WASD20
Nate Vanderzee of WASD20 was hoping to interview Satine Phoenix. I helped introduce them and watched him do a great interview. Satine is so fun. She teased us with her excitement of something big she can’t talk about. Man, am I curious. Nate lives in Grand Rapids, so maybe we can get a chance to game together. It was really cool that he played my game and liked it!
Getting ready to interview Satine PhoenixYou can see the interview here.
I’m an AD&D 1e player & GM. There are parts I really like about it. Recently I was thinking about the lowly Sleep spell and how it has the same efficacy for all levels of spell caster.
I see two different ways to mod the spell without making it over-powered. After all, magic missile adds more missiles, fireballs adds more hit dice.
Number of Dice
By changing the number of dice used with a formula of an additional die per 5 levels, it raises both the minimum and the maximum. The high end of the hit dice affected don’t change, but rather the chances of affecting an ogre. Boosting the chances from 50% to 75% and finally automatic. Why shouldn’t a name level Wizard be able to take out an ogre? An ogre with maximum hit points has 33 and the average damage from an 11th level fireball is 38.5 hp.
Hit Dice
No. Affected 1st – 5th level Wizard
6th – 10th level
11th level +
Up to 1 HD
4d4 (4-16)
5d4 (5-20)
6d4 (6-24)
1+1 to 2 HD
2d4 (2-8)
3d4 (3-12)
4d4 (4-16)
2+1 to 3 HD
1d4 (1-4)
2d4 (2-8)
3d4 (3-12)
3+1 to 4 HD
1d4/2 (1-2)
1d4 (1-4)
1d4 + ½ d4 (2-6)
4+1 to 4+4 HD
1d4, 3 or 4 (0-1)
1d4, 2-4 (0-1)
1 Creature
Size of Dice
Changing the size of the dice raises only the maximum affected, but use similar changes for the top tier as in the number of dice example.
Hit Dice
No. Affected 1st – 5th level
6th – 10th level
11th level +
Up to 1 HD
4d4 (4-16)
4d6 (4-24)
4d8 (4-32)
1+1 to 2 HD
2d4 (2-8)
2d6 (2-13)
2d8 (2-16)
2+1 to 3 HD
1d4 (1-4)
1d6 (1-6)
1d8 (1-8)
3+1 to 4 HD
1d4/2 (1-2)
1d4 (1-4)
1d6 (1-6)
4+1 to 4+4 HD
1d4, 3 or 4 (0-1)
1d4, 2-4 (0-1)
1 Creature
Other Possibilities
A third possibility would be to allow the spell to affect up to 5 to 6 HD creatures on a 1d4, with a roll of 4. However, there aren’t many monsters in that category, other than NPCs. At that level, I’d give a saving throw if they were affected. But to me, boosting the level does make it seem overpowered.
Another possibility would be to increase the Area of Effect, so instead of a 3″ diameter circle. For example, add 1″ at 6th level and another 1″ at 11th level. This wouldn’t change the number affected, just the size of the affected area.
A final way to mod this spell would be to boost the minimum. At 6th -10th level make the minimum affected be half the count, and at 11th+ make the minimum 75% of the count, such as below.
Hit Dice
No. Affected 1st – 5th level
6th – 10th level
11th level +
Up to 1 HD
4d4 (4-16)
4d4+4 (8-16)*
4d4+8 (12-16)**
1+1 to 2 HD
2d4 (2-8)
2d4+2 (4-8)*
2d4+4 (6-8)**
2+1 to 3 HD
1d4 (1-4)
1d4+1 (2-4)*
1d4+2 (3-4)**
3+1 to 4 HD
1d4/2 (1-2)
1d4,1 (1),2+ (2)
2 Creatures
4+1 to 4+4 HD
1d4, 3 or 4 (0-1)
1d4, 2-4 (0-1)
1 Creature
* Add 1 to all 1’s rolled ** Add 1 to all 1’s & 2’s rolled
If one wants a more powerful sleep spell, one could make an Improved Sleep of a higher spell level. There is nothing to prevent a PC from researching this. Some ideas for this are for affecting either higher hit dice creatures, or perhaps creatures unaffected by sleep. The latter might require some ingredient from a ghast, since their touch affects elves. Discovering this spell when up against an enemy spell caster would really get the players’ attention.
Conclusion
I’m not sure if I will add one of these to my house rules. I had to write this out so I could pull back and consider the ramifications for game balance. I don’t often mod spells, but this one captured my attention. At time like that, I just need to write it out. Then I can come back later and review it after I have had time to ponder it.
Have you modded the sleep spell? Did you make it more or less powerful?
My direct experience with the so called Satanic Panic of the late 1970’s early 1980’s, is mild compared to some. I never had to burn any books, nor did I witness any being burned. I think my experience is probably what most experienced – being shamed into silence and avoiding stirring the pot.
40 years ago, in the spring 1977, my brother, Robert, talked me into buying the Holmes Basic Dungeons & Dragons. It was Christmas of 1978 that we traveled to Colorado and spent Christmas with the family of Dad’s sister. Mom gave me a copy of the AD&D Player’s Handbook. My aunt commented saying are you sure that’s a good idea, giving them that book? My Mom was not one to be intimidated, and said, “No, I read it, it’s just a game.” Nevertheless, there was no gaming until we got home. This was mostly because we had so many other things to do and were surrounded by so many cousins and all the electronic gadgets, plus all the snow.
The effects of the panic were more implied displeasure, and keeping out of sight to avoid confrontation. I was raised to care way too much about other’s opinions. I don’t think that was my parents’ goal, but that was the message I lived. We lived in a small town that was all white. It was not a welcoming town for many. Still, we made trips to the mall 20 minutes away as often as we could, and got our TSR supplies from the hobby shop there. I even subscribed to Dragon magazine.
Some of the churches actively frowned on D&D, but not the one we attended. We knew which neighbors to avoid the topic of D&D, and usually which kids at school. We did start a club in our high school, but we weren’t stupid. It was called the Science Fiction Book Club to avoid issues. I was its first president. Each week, we played a different RPG after school to get a taste of each one. So we did play D&D in school, and regularly took our D&D books and Dragon magazines to school. We used money we raised to go to the Renaissance Festival, and to ConQuest in Kansas City. both were close enough to drive.
Science Fiction Book Club – I’m the one with a beard.
I was interviewed by the school newspaper about the club, and the article mentioned the list of games we played, one of them being “Camel World.” It should have read Gamma World. We had a good laugh about it. That’s all I recall about the article. I wish I still had it.
We ended up with a “controversy” in the local newspaper. Someone wrote a letter to the editor about how bad Dungeons & Dragons was. It went on about promoting sacrifice with a picture of some woman on an altar under the heading Judges Guild. One of our group wrote a brilliant response. He wrote, “calling Judges Guild Dungeons & Dragons is like calling football Spalding.” The guy who wrote that was a couple years behind me in school. He did just as he said and opened a game store, which is over 20 years old and doing quite well.
Going off to college didn’t end the subconscious care I took to avoid advertising that I played D&D and other RPGs. I waited until I found that someone else played before I spoke up. While in college I played occasionally at school, but played a lot when home on breaks and over the summer.
I did a paper in high school on Franz Anton Mesmer and how Mesmerism evolved into modern hypnotism. I re-used that paper in college, with some updates. I used that knowledge a couple of times to hypnotize some friends. One loner of a guy who thought dice were somehow evil, but always sat there doing some sort of dice game with himself*, burst in and rebuked us in the name of God. That was the most intense and negative experience I think I’ve ever had about something that hurt no one. Others rose to my defense and shooed him away. [*I think he was calculating odds from rolling a pair of dice. He found that acceptable because it wasn’t a game. I think because he found enjoyment in it, it was a loophole for him to play a game. He did similar things with the equally evil deck of cards.]
After college, I answered the call to ministry and went to seminary. I was close to home then, so I played almost every weekend the first year or so, until I had a church to serve on the weekends. I bought Mega Traveller as I thought a science fiction RPG would be more acceptable. But I never played it, even though I spent a lot of time getting a campaign ready. [I recently sold those books.]
I married soon after seminary, and my now ex-wife was very much against D&D and “magic and demons”. There was no convincing her otherwise. It was a big surprise when she bought our oldest son Yu-gi-oh cards, with all of their talk of magic and spells. She also let both boys watch the Yu-gi-oh cartoon. Oddly, she didn’t see the contradiction. I spent my marriage with my books packed away most of the time, except for rare occasions that I got to play in my brother’s campaign. Moving into a new church with boxes labelled D&D got the whispers started. I “knew” I couldn’t talk about it. I didn’t know how to approach the topic in a positive way.
I took a break from serving churches 19+ years ago, and just didn’t go back. After my divorce, my sons and I played for the first time and they had a blast. We played regularly for a while. We had a two year interruption and then played nearly every weekend for almost a year. With my granddaughter’s arrival just over two years ago, we came to another hiatus. My granddaughter likes to roll my red dice and the “big dice”. It will be a few more years before she is ready for RPG’s.
I started this blog soon after my sons and I first started playing. I wanted to chronicle stories from back in the day, and some of our new experiences. When things ground to a halt with my campaign, I found Roll20 and the current weekly AD&D campaign I am in. Roll20 was after I spent way too much time trying to get my D&D fix playing Lord of The Rings Online.
It is only as I have gotten older and care a lot less about other’s opinions that I have freely let people know I play D&D. I really appreciate The Escapist‘sarticle on trying to do magic from D&D. That article will give you some good belly laughs. A resource like The Escapist is a great boon for our hobby, and does a lot to counter the ignorant. Countering the willfully ignorant is a different matter. Another helpful thing is Read an RPG in Public Week, three times a year. Let the world know we are here and not going away! I wish we had something like that back in the day.
I started attending game conventions again, with the local Marmalade Dog, here in Kalamazoo. I then attended UCon in Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti, and made some new friends who talked up Gamehole Con and Gary Con. Meeting up with a lot of people in the hobby who care a lot less about what others think, is a good thing. I was in a local DCC game for over a year until it went on hiatus.
I have come to realize that most of my silence about loving D&D is that I wanted to avoid arguments about it. The stress and hassle of someone unloading their crap on me was in itself a burden. I spent so much time avoiding the headache I feared from others’ disapproval, that I denied myself a lot of fun and potential new friends. That is, I think, the worst thing about the Satanic Panic. Books can be replaced, and gaming groups can be found, but the lost potential to find laughter and enjoyment in life, and new friends can never be recovered.
Rather than live with that sense of loss, look forward to what potential there is! I have friends all over the country and across the world thanks to Roll20 and different game conventions. We have a common frame of reference that allows us share in the fun. I have played with friends from different cultural and economic backgrounds, with different tastes in music and religion, and widely different takes on politics. I have even played in games I wouldn’t have tried had I not gone to a con and been made to feel welcome. In hindsight, I wasted a lot of energy avoiding fun.
Rather than edition wars and arguments about politics, we can gather around the table to defeat the bad guys, save the world, and share in the creative experience as co-creators of imaginary worlds. The vivid imagery I have in my mind from time spent at the table, and the laughter about so many situations can never be taken from me. I have made some good friends, and I’ll have their back if ever they need me.
Bonus Content: Here’s how I’ll deal with any “Christians” who want to defecate on my hobby.**
If I am every confronted by someone who thinks D&D is of the devil, then I will throw their beliefs right back at them. I will point out that Satan is the “father of lies”, and wants us to believe that he has more power than he does. He wants to distract us from being the salt of the earth, and instead be wet blankets for honest fun. Satan wants us focused on things that don’t matter, and forget to help those in need: the poor, the hungry, the orphan, the widow, the stranger. I’ll also point out that I know a lot of atheists that are better Christians than many who claim to be Christians. If that doesn’t work, I’ll take off my shoes and knock the dust off of them and walk away. (I hope I’m wearing sandals if that ever happens.) For people who distort the Good News into a list of don’ts, and ignore the logs in their own eyes, I have no problem exposing their hypocrisy and using the Bible to combat them. The truth hurts, BS kills.
I’m the kind of person who thinks of the perfect response well after the fact. In this case, decades later. I hope that I and no one else is ever in that position. If you are, feel free to use my planned response.
**See, a Master of Divinity is good for something besides the power to say no to fudge.
The spam filter on my blog does a good job at catching spam comments, so all I have to do it delete it. I glance at each suspected spam on the off chance it isn’t really spam. I haven’t had a false positive in a long time. But I have had 3 recent spam comments that were funny because of the particular blog posts that received them.
I will give a screenshot of what I see in my spam comments and the link to the actual article involved.
SPAM COMMENTS
A rant about how “bad” American women are. This is the least humorous of the bunch. It is only funny because of just how “bad” American women are according to the spam comment. The article is about Random Generation of Creatures From The Lower Planes in the 1e DMG. I deleted the most egregious part of the comment and blocked out the web address.
Supposed follower of my blog trying to learn from me.
This comment doesn’t make a lot of sense, other than they hope to learn from my glob. The article it was posted to is Magical Protections in AD&D.
I saved the best for last.
Comment suggesting I write about life.
I received this comment a couple weeks ago, and have gotten it more than once. It suggests that I write about life as a comment on part two of a pair of articles on Undead in AD&D. Part 1. Part 2.
If I get anymore comments that are particularly funny when paired with the article they are on, I will update this post.
Any other bloggers out there ever get any good comments that are enhanced by the choice of article they are placed?
Tonight is session 147 of the Wednesday night AD&D game I play in on Roll20.
We’re into our third year on the calendar too!
This will be the last game in my streak of not missing a game, as I will be at Gary Con 9 next week.
I’m the only player to have played in this many sessions, and with the same character since the start. A dwarf, now maxed out at enough XP for level 8 fighter, but not until he can gain a point of strength. There is a mad scientist type who has offered a risky chance at improvement…. That is on hold until after we save the world.
We’re in a dangerous situation tonight. Hoping to resolve it so I don’t miss the resolution….. (I’d rather my character die when it’s me rolling the dice.)
Looking forward to lots of game time next week/end!
Wow! We ended the session so close to achieving our goal. My dwarven fighter is keeping the monster occupied. Very tough, we’ve done a lot of damage to it, so far none of us are hurt. DM & other players nice enough to move the game to Tuesday night next week, so I won’t miss the game. All since my player has the greatest chance of death. AWESOME!!!
This week WotC released the core books of AD&D as print on demand (POD). That is, the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Masters Guide. [Affiliate links, a portion goes to help me buy more stuff to use & review.]
My Stack Of AD&D Manuals Less One PHB And one DDG
They clock in at $24.99 each, plus shipping. At that price, they are a bit more than some table copies you can occasionally find. However, a LOT cheaper than the nicer copies from a few years ago.
The text is based on the reprints from a few years back. the layout is close to the original, but there is at least one new errata introduced in the PHB. It is interesting that the original PHB was never fixed for its errata. I don’t know if the re-prints fixed that errata or not.
We found a typo during play the other day on the cleric spell progression chart on p. 20 of the PHB. It is OK in the original PHB. The asterisk indicating max 6th level spells is on 5th level spells in the re-print.
The wisdom table on p. 11 is correct.
I don’t see a way to report such things to One Bookshelf or WotC. I’m not sure if they even care. It is minor, but could add to arguments if not known.
I’ve expanded to 5 table copies for players, plus my original PHB my Mom got me for Christmas way back when. I also have the OSRIC Player’s Guide, and the OSRIC full lay flat.
So if $75 plus shipping is too much for physical books, look for older original copies. Or, you can go with the OSRIC lay flat which is the rough equivalent of all three volumes on Lulu for $15.50 plus shipping.
I think this is a smart move on the part of WotC. For a bit of a time investment in converting older titles to nicer PDFs, they get a PDF sale, and for those who want it in physical form, they get get the sale, instead of those who take their PDFs to Lulu or other sources to get a hard copy. I mentioned this a while back here, here, and here.
They’ve added the original D&D books and in the last few weeks Chainmail to the list of PDFs available.
I would like to see Holmes Basic, so I can have a table copy instead of the copy I bought to replace my original that I gave to my little brother when I went off to college.
For some reason, for the past many years, I had it in my head that my brother and I started with Holmes Blue Box in 8th grade. [To me the cover of the box and manual is what I see in my mind’s eye when I think of D&D.]
However, a couple weeks ago, someone mentioned that the AD&D Monster Manual came out in 1978, and I know that we had to wait for all of the AD&D books to come out.
I called my brother tonight and confirmed that it was actually 7th grade that we started.
So in March/April of this year, I will have played D&D for 40 years!
I’ve changed the header to indicate this here on the blog, and on my G+, Facebook, and Twitter pages.
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I’m working on a reorganization of the blog. I wish I had this on my radar then. When I thought I had another year to go, I was not in a hurry. At this point it will just be a note on the header art like I did with the existing header. Thankfully, most of what I am doing is cosmetic and doesn’t require too much technical fiddling.
Now I have to think about some meaningful articles to use throughout this milestone year….
My youngest son turns 20 on Wednesday, so now it will be easy to remember – just add 20 to his age and I’ll have the right count. I’m usually really good with dates. But not keeping a diary from back in the day, or recalling the right starting point made it impossible.
