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RPGs

2014/2015

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I write this at just under an hour until midnight in the Eastern time zone, here in Southwest Michigan.

2014 was a great year for RPGs and me.

I went to my first Con in thirty years or so at Marmalade Dog in Kalamazoo, and I did nearly daily posting and many days multiple posting for over half the year. There was a great start to blogging with the D&D 40th anniversary in January, and the April A t0 Z challenge.

I got involved in a weekly online AD&D game every Wednesday in March and it is still going, only the DM and three players with two characters are left from the initial group, we have added replacement players and look to add a couple more when we resume play after a two week break for Christmas and New Year’s. I have only missed a couple hours of one session and family interruptions for a few others.

I finally made it to GenCon for the first time, something I had wanted to do since the 1980’s when it was still in Lake Geneva. GenCon is too big and requires much more planning. In November, I participated in UCon and had a great time. UCon is much smaller, but has enough for everyone. I would like to do GenCon again, but don’t know if it will be in 2015. I will be at UCon and plan to stay in the hotel so I don’t have to chance driving on ice and snow for a couple hours or more to get there and back. There was AetherCon and another online Con the same weekend as UCon. If AetherCon is not the same weekend as UCon, I may participate in 2015.

A personal milestone, I finally re-built my original collection of AD&D manuals when the same day I ordered a Dieties & Demigods from Wayne’s Books, my son presented me the same volume as a belated birthday present. I also had several weeks in a row where I DM’d for my oldest son and his girlfriend and built up my long designed and little played campaign world.

I also participated in several Kickstarters. So far, I am not disappointed in the ones that funded, other than the D&D movie on hold due to litigation. Follow ups are planned for the ones yet to deliver in 2015.

I also jumped in to take part in the Tenkar’s Landing OSR design project, for which I need to wrap up my hex. I had planned to have my part done before today, but life happens. Thankfully, the milestone was moved to the end of January.

The triumph of over 60,000 words towards the first draft of the novel for which I had the idea back in college in 1984 or 1985 was sweet. I finally got my winner’s shirt this past week. I still have the last few chapters to do. Since Thanksgiving, things have been hectic at home and work. A complete first draft was my goal by now, so one more thing I didn’t think would bet delayed.

Last week, I volunteered to run one slot each day at the 2015 Marmalade Dog in Kalamazoo with The Village of Hommlet. Hommlet is one of the two modules I own, however, I have never ran it. I bought it for an example of a low level started adventure. I bought the PDF from DriveThruRPG so I can read it on my tablet on lunch breaks at work. I think I will have to recruit some people for a play test.

I support payroll and accounting software, so December and January are my busiest time of year at work. Every client calls at least once trying to either do the year end procedures or process their W-2s. It leaves me little time to sneak a moment to think about something else while at the office.

January also sees my youngest son, who lives out of state with his mother, turn 18; and my oldest son and his girlfriend expect a baby any day, making me a grandfather.

I turned 50 at the end of September, wow, where did the time go!

I did make it to Las Vegas in December, for the first time. I had a lot of people incredulous at the idea of me never going there before. I don’t know why that is so hard to believe, most of the world has never been there. I did try my luck with the one-armed bandit and roulette, and lost, but only the amount I set aside, so that I could say I did it. I bought two dice that say, “Fabulous Las Vegas.” After I got home, I realized I should have bought more, as you need at least three to roll up a character. the shop in the hotel where I bought them sold them for a pair for something like $1.99, so I should have bought another pair. Oh well, something for my list if I am every back in Vegas.

2014 was a good year over all and a great one for me in the realm of RPGs. I look forward to reading the musings of others, more playing, more DMing, and building more friendships with fellow gamers both online and in person.

The only way 2014 would have been better would be to have a woman in my life, but I want it to be the right woman, so maybe I’ll find her in 2015.

Happy New Year and Game On!

RPGs

New Computer

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I took the plunge and bought a new computer at CostCo over my lunch break. I went their the first time Monday after work and got a few things I need for Thursday and a few extras, and saw this good deal on a PC. It is Windows 7 Pro. I could have spent a bit more for more RAM, but it had Windows 8, and I don’t want to take the time to learn where everything is. If my company wants me to learn Windows 8, they can buy me a new computer. I can always order more RAM, assuming it has another slot, or it can handle a larger RAM chip. It was under $400, so I’m not stretched too thin.

The weekly online AD&D game I play in is a go for tonight, so I don’t know if I’ll manage to get home and get it set up in time for the game.

I also haven’t started my preparations of food for tomorrow (Thanksgiving in the USA). My parents taught all their children to cook, not just my baby sister. My boys like what I fix, and I maintain the tradition I got from my parents. My oldest son’s girlfriend said that my efforts last year were on par with her father’s, so I know she’s a keeper.

I also need to focus on the last few chapters of my first draft for NaNoWriMo and wrap up my hex for Tenkar’s Landing, I mean Eilean Dubh – The Black Isle by the end of November.

Thankfully, I have the day off on Monday the 1st.

RPGs, Writing

NaNoWriMo 2014 Winner!

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50,123 words for NaNoWriMo.

I have made the goal of writing 50,000 words in November. Now I just need to wrap this thing up.

50,000 words is not as difficult to achieve as it sounds. Getting to the point that there is an interesting story that others will want to read and enjoy it, that is the trick.

Now to get this story moving to a conclusion….

I hope to have a complete first draft by the end of the month.

#NaNoWriMo

RPGs

Musings on This Blog’s Name

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As I explained in the About and here and elsewhere, the name of this blog comes from my brother, Robert, the DM mocking my character in his game, who hired all the mercenaries he could to deal with the large hordes of orcs in his territory and all of the troops dying, making it very difficult to hire more troops. It’s a bit like “going over the top” in WWI.

It is not lost on me the irony of the term when it comes to social media, as one wants to encourage and attract followers.

But if you think about it, whether you follow my blog or not, you will die, so don’t be like all the others who die without following my blog, join the few who die valiantly (?) in the pursuit of role playing fun!

Follow me!  ….. and die!

Or as best as I can imitate the way my brother says it:

.

RPGs

The RPG Scene In E.T.

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The one line I remember from E.T, besides “ouch”, “E li ott” and “I’ll be right here.”, is “Negative Charisma!” My friends and I all laughed at that, as Dieties and Demigods had already come out and we all knew about negative charisma.

Thanks to OSR Today, I was directed to an article about the game scene at Dungeons & Digressions, and a second article at Geeky Rant about the role of D&D in the making of the movie.

RPGs

Gaming Convention Clearinghouse

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I was thinking of attending the online AetherCon game convention. Easy, free, and I don’t have to go anywhere. It is November 14-16, 2014.

I then found out about UCon, a convention in Ypsilanti, MI about 90 minutes from where I live, near Kalamazoo, MI. It is also November 14-16, 2014.

Because I get my basic itch to play scratched in a Wednesday night online AD&D/OSRIC campaign, I am still wanting in person play time, so I signed up for Saturday the 15th. This does not preclude me from also taking part in Aethercon.

Today, while searching for something else (instead of working on my novel for NaNoWriMo 2014), I learned of another online convention for the same weekend, BrigadeCon. It is billed as a Benefit.

I then turned to Google for online gaming conventions, and discovered the helpful website Game Convention Central. It has an option for showing all online game conventions, like the above mentioned AetherCon, and ConTessa, both of which I had already heard of, and many I had not. I noticed that BrigadeCon is not on the list at Game Convention Central, and it is in less than two weeks.

What I like about Game Convention Central is that it is divided into regions so one can find a physical convention near them. The regions are USA, Australia/NZ, Canada, Europe, UK/Ireland, and World. Each of these regions is further subdivided into regions, so one can easily find conventions closer to where they live. It also has a link to Submit A Con, for any not on the list. There is also a Google+ page.

What I find really useful is a list of resources to help one find games and players “in between conventions”. There are a lot of such resources that I did not know about. I will have to check those out later.

The only thing that I would like to see handled differently is to have a calendar that one can search. For example, I would like to see a calendar that will show me all the conventions in the USA and the online conventions. This way I can say, plan my vacation to go to a con I didn’t know about in an area of the country I always wanted to visit.

I find this site to be so helpful, that I am adding a link to it on the front page of my website.

I also suggest that if you know about a gaming convention that is not on this site, to submit it.

RPGs

My Other Fantasy RPG Manuals

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I have some other fantasy RPG manuals.

I have ACKS, I as a supporter, and got my name in the book and got a softcover set of the rules. ACKS has some interesting ideas that I can use.

I just got the Delving Deeper rules, I have read through the PDF, but have not sat down to enjoy this new booklet. I know that there are some interesting ideas in here.

ACKS & Delving Deeper
ACKS & Delving Deeper

I also got the D&D Next, AKA 5E Starter Set. I have opened the box, but have not made the time to read through it.

I have read through the beta rules and skimmed the version 1 PDFs. I think there are some interesting ideas in 5E, but I have not made the time to dig in and understand it. Creating a character looks to be more complex that I prefer, but I want to be able to sit down uninterrupted and read it through then try generating a character to catch all the nuances. I might play it as a player, but I’m not sure I want to invest in all the rules to run a campaign. Especially since I have spent way more than the new manuals cost just to rebuild by AD&D manuals.

5e Starter Set
5e Starter Set

I also have PDFs of the free OSR Clones: OSRIC, Swords & Wizardry, Basic Fantasy RPG, Microlite 20 & 74, and several others. There are lots of interesting little tidbits in each of these rules, and they each have something to offer. I’m a melting pot of rules as a DM. I leave out those things that are too cumbersome or slow things down, and takes ideas from other DMs and other rule sets. I think we all do that. I don’t know of any DM that does everything by the book. If you did AD&D like that, it would be interesting. I am sure there are some out there that don’t understand that the point of D&D is to use the rules that work for you as a DM and for your players.

I explain RPGs to novices as “make believe with rules”. Growing up, we played cowboys & indians, cops & robbers, army, etc. The disagreements that came up were, “I shot you!” “No, you didn’t.” RPGs put rules on encounters AND have a referee to make it work so that there is some structure that puts a common framework that everyone understands that they use for the mutual experience so that all involved have fun.

 

RPGs

Unboxing My First Order From Wayne’s Books

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I ordered a Dieties & Demigods with the Cthulhu and Melnibone mythos from Wayne’s Books on Wednesday evening, October 29th, and it arrived on my doorstep today, Saturday, November 1st! I am sure it made it to me so quickly is that I live in the lower penninsular of Michigan, which is the Eastern Time Zone, and Wayne’s Books is in Arizona, which is in the Mountain Time Zone, so a one or two hour difference. Wayne commented on my article that it was being shipped that same day! Excellent service!

Below I will have pictures of the unboxing, the contents, and a group picture with the DDG from my son. My son got home from work about two hours after I placed my order, and gave me a belated birthday present. We had a big laugh about that!

Below you will see what you can expect when you order something from Wayne’s Books.

The self-sealing box from the USPS was also well taped with packing tape. It wasn’t coming open without some effort, and care!

 

My New DDG Is Here!
My New DDG Is Here!

It was packed tight with cardboard and paper grocery bags, so it had no wiggle room.

Well Packed So It Does Not Rattle
Well Packed So It Does Not Rattle

Here’s all the packing material. It is obvious that it needs to come out before the book, so the book comes out easily.

All the Packing Material
All the Packing Material

The book is in a plastic protective cover that is taped shut then placed inside a UPS padded mailing envelope.

The book itself is in a padded UPPS mailer and a plastic sleeve
The book itself is in a padded UPPS mailer and a plastic sleeve

The book before the final layer is removed. This is kind of like those Russian dolls….

The Book Itself
The Book Itself

Taped to the plastic book protector is the packing slip with a handwritten note of thanks.

Close up of Packing Slip
Close up of Packing Slip

Inside the plastic protective cover is a business card with notes on this order. This is a very good idea! Others who ship things should do this.

Wayne Includes Business Card With Notes Of Your Order
Wayne Includes Business Card With Notes Of Your Order

At first I wondered if this was a catalog, but soon saw it was a module or something. Was this a mistake? I didn’t order this!

What's This A Catalog?
What’s This A Catalog?

No, it’s not a mistake.

I didn't order this.
I didn’t order this.

Woo hoo! Free stuff! I read a couple of the Elric books way back. I don’t recall details. This looks interesting and has some cool art. I’ll add this to my reading list.

Cool! Free Stuff!
Cool! Free Stuff!

Finally, my new books side by side. The one from my son on the right, and the one I ordered on the left. The quality of the book I got from Wayne’s Books matches what he advertised, and it is in noticeably better condition than the one my son got me, but the one my son got me had a kid’s name on the front and it was obvious that it had been used at the table, or at least was well read.

My new DDGs.
My new DDGs.

The one I bought is going back in the plastic sleeve, just in case.

I really liked the art of the Cthulhu and Melniboe mythos, plus there are some cool critters and ideas in there. I’m not sure I’ll ever get to use them in my campaign world, but you never know.

 

RPGs, Writing

NaGaDeMon – 2014

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On Wednesday, I wrote about my considering whether or not to sign up for NaNoWriMo 2014. I had mentioned that I had seen things online about similar ideas for designing games. Well, I ran across an article at The Savage Afterworld that discusses NaGaDeMon – National Game Design Month, also the month of November.

While I don’t have a game idea, I thought I’d mention it here, in case anyone else has the inspiration for a game idea and just needs a little push to get started.

I would recommend that anyone contemplating a Kickstarter for a game, use NaGaDeMon as an opportunity to either develop your idea, or to polish your game, so that you have something that you can be proud of and people who support such a Kickstarter will be glad they did so.

I will be signing up for NaNoWriMo 2014 and will be cranking out my first draft of a novel. Just writing about it on Wednesday caused some ideas to bubble up, so I have some things that have solidified in my idea of the story. Not specific dialog, but plot points, or turning points in my story that have to be hist along the way for it to work. I have also identified points that are critical for the success of the story. Some resolution of points that are required to bring it to a successful closure.

For me, a successful closure for a short story, novella, novel, or series of books is where the how and whys are answered sufficiently to leave the reader satisfied, yet still wanting more. How many of us have read a book and when we get to the end are left scratching our head trying to figure out what happened. Some books are this way intentionally, and a well crafted one, you can tell. But if you have ever read a story where the author just couldn’t wrap it up and make it make sense, you know what I mean.

In my story idea, I know how I want it to end, but there is a big hole of how to make it make sense with the rest of the story. This is one of those things that as I write, it will gel and it should not be a problem to make it work. However, if I can’t make the why does this need to happen in the story work, I will have to change how I envision the story ending. If I can pull off the ending I envision, it could lead to a second story/book. That is not my goal, but is an idea that has occurred to me.

I also have tons of other ideas coming to me about my hex in the Tenkar’s Landing Crowdsourced Sandbox Setting. I will have to add those ideas as either drafts or full-fledged ideas to my blog, since some are worthy of an article others may find useful.

I am glad that the ideas are flowing, but it would be nice if they would get in line so I could get them all down before they fade into the ether….

RPGs

I’ll Never Get Out Of Debt Now

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I did it. I saw that Wayne’s Books is having a sale, so I found a Dieties and Demigods with Cthulhu and Melnibone for 99.00 and bought it, the coupon lowered the price to 84.99. I went with the free shipping, so it should be he in 3 to 4 days. So there is a minuscule chance I could have it Saturday, November 1st, but more likely, Monday, November 3rd.

Once I have that book, I will have completed re-building my set of AD&D books lost to the bust water pipe so long ago.

I can’t wait to look at the art again!

I’ll post pictures of my re-built and expanded collection, when it arrives.