My Gaming Shelves

Never one to let a good bandwagon go by unjumped-upon, here's what I look at every day as I sit at my computer. Not my complete gaming collection by a long shot, but that's where my eyes light when I sit at the desk waiting for inspiration:And here are some close-ups of the individual shelves. You'll notice that in front of most of them there is a happy clutter of miniatures, dice, paint, and the like. First, there are my D&D and AD&D rulebooks...

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The Beanstalk: An Alternate Setting for Metamorphosis Alpha/Gamma World

Much as I love the venerable Metamorphosis Alpha, I was never too taken by the setting of the Starship Warden. The design of the ship (essentially a bunch of large oval decks stacked atop one another) never really called out to me. It's almost... pedestrian... compared to the promise of the game itself.The ArkThe starship Ark, from the 1973 tv series The Starlost, on the other hand, struck me very much as a fascinating design, and one which would...

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In Defense of Level Drain

The always-interesting RPGPundit has a post over at his blog that takes aim at the level-drain mechanic. I was going to reply there, but my reply became so long I figured I'd turn it into a post of its own. While I agree with the main point of his post (that nostalgia for its own sake is not necessarily a good thing), I'll take a stab at defending the level drain mechanic. Specifically, he says:But let's think about this: is there anyone who actually...

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Happy Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving day, let us all give thanks to whatever God, Gods, Goddesses, or anthropomorphized embodiment of fate we believe in for those good things that fill our lives. Best wishes and great fortune to everyo...

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Adventures Dark and Deep Kickstarter Update

Thanks to everyone who has pledged to support the Adventures Dark and Deep Players Manual Kickstarter so far!As of now, roughly 48 hours after launch, the project is 50% funded. Thanks especially to James over at Grognardia, Morrus at ENWorld, and Erik at Tenkar's Tavern, whom Kickstarter tells me have been responsible for a number of pledges. (And of course everyone else who has spread the word, too!)I realize that the next couple of days are going...

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Star Wars Film News Roundup

By now, everyone has probably heard the news that Disney bought Lucasfilm for a cool $4 billion. Also that they immediately announced that a Star Wars Episode VII was in the works with an estimated release date of 2015.The opportunities for merchandising are obvious and are certain to make Disney many more times their investment, and I'm certain we'll start to see some Star Wars themed attractions popping up in the various Disney theme...

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The Rebirth of TSR?

Could this be some sort of early Yuletide gift for us old-school gamers? First we hear of new AD&D material being published by Wizards of the Coast, and now the detectives at ENWorld have uncovered this: Both of the domains associated with these ventures (http://gygaxmagazine.com and http://tsrgames.com) are little more at this point than a place to sign up with your name and email address to be sent the announcement when the first...

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Adventures Dark and Deep Players Manual Kickstarter NOW LIVE!

It's here, it's finally here! The Kickstarter campaign to fund the Players Manual for my Adventures Dark and Deep™ game launched just a few minutes ago:http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/623939691/adventures-dark-and-deep-players-manualI'm asking for $6,500 to pay for a heap of artwork from a bunch of excellent fantasy artists and professional editing. This is the first of three books; after this will come the Game Masters Toolkit and then the Bestiary....

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You Like Monks, Right?

I mean, who doesn't like monks? Well, fortunately, Wizards of the Coast likes Monks, too. In fact, they very sneakily slipped in a monk class for the D&D Next playtest packet last Tuesday, along with the associated maneuvers to make the class work.So if you downloaded your playtest packet before Tuesday, you might want to do so again, to get all the good Monkified material.I have to say, 5E keeps looking better and better to me. The more I see,...

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Dreamation Pre-Registration Now Open!

Pre-Registration for the Dreamation convention in Morristown, NJ is now open. The convention runs from Thursday, February 21 through Sunday February 24, and you can pre-register for $50 for the whole weekend. You can pre-register and submit event proposals (for you to GM) here. Along with its companion convention DexCon, Dreamation is a blast. Just about every type of gaming you can imagine is present (board games, RPGs, miniatures, card games, video...

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WotC To Publish New AD&D Material, Encourage AD&D Campaigns

I'll confess that I've never been a particular fan of the A1-4 series of modules. I fully understand that they've got an excellent reputation among many of my colleagues in the OSR, but they just never did much for me. I don't particularly dislike them; I just don't gush over them.That said, I found the following to be of extreme interest (in the advertising blurb for the upcoming hardcover version of the Slavers modules, due from Wizards in June...

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Oh, Just Roll a 14, Fer Chrissakes!

I'm sure we've all had this happen.There's a big combat against a large number of lower-level opponents, and the PCs are triumphant (yay!) and there's just mopping up to do.Trouble is, they just can't seem to do the mopping up. All they need is for one or two of them to roll something higher than a 10 "to hit", and more than a 1 on damage, but they just can't seal the deal. Their dice are laughing their asses off, as they roll an endless supply of...

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The Flanaess as European Analogue

It may seem odd to have to make the case that the Flanaess-- the region of the World of Greyhawk Fantasy Setting-- is an analogue of medieval Europe, but it must be done nevertheless.Kenneth HiteAt the recent Metatopia convention in Morristown, NJ, I attended a seminar given by Kenneth Hite (who has written a number of GURPS titles as well as many other works including two different Star Trek RPGs). During the seminar, he used the World of Greyhawk...

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Making Failure an Option

One idea that was floated at the Metatopia convention a week ago was the idea of failure. It came up in the context of a seminar on indie RPGs and their influence on mainstream RPGs. Normally I eschew the "indie RPG scene" because it tends to look down on the OSR (of which I count myself as a proud member), seems  overly involved in self-referential navel-gazing, and is consumed with being new and edgy for the sake of being new and edgy. But...

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Am I A Proper Wargamer?

Apologies for coming late to the party on this one, but we only got power back a few hours ago, 12 days after we were blacked out by Sandy.Phil, over at The Wargaming Site, came up with a clever little quiz to determine whether or not one is a "Proper Wargamer". It's pretty simple, but bear in mind it's aimed at the miniatures game crowd. (I'm sure some clever wag will soon come up with a similar list for RPGs.) Have I ever...* Spent at least £500 on figures / tanks - and you get extra kudos for every £500 you've spentOh sweet Gods yes.* Pricked...

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Down, But Not Out

Just a quick note-- being a New Jerseyian, our town was hit pretty hard by Sandy, so I'm into my second week without electricity, heat, or, naturally, internet access at home. (The "13 Days of Halloween" posts were pre-scheduled prior to my losing power.)I'll continue with regular posting once things calm down and I at least can be in my house without seeing my own breath by flashlight. Lots of cool stuff I want to post that I thought of at the Metatopia convention last weeke...

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