Chronicles of the Adventures in the Dune Imperium!

Cover art for Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium core rulebook

I have one of the few copies of the Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium core rulebook that were printed in 2001 by the long-defunct Last Unicorn Games. As a perennial, some might say addicted, patron of RPGs, it was one of the many games I own but have never played. But considering that the game was so short-lived (Last Unicorn was purchased by WOTC and the game ceased production) there wasn't much support for the game at any rate. 

The Last Unicorn version of the game was the first RPG based on the venerable sci-fi novel, and there wouldn't be another attempt at publishing a Dune RPG until the release of the similarly named Dune: Adventures in the Imperium almost 20 years later. 

To be honest, I believe it takes a group of people similarly steeped in the lore of Dune to truly co-create a deep and fulfilling campaign. In 2022, with the proliferation of web-based roleplaying options, I think it is much more feasible to have such an experience than was possible in 2001. I'm considering running such an online game at some point, as I believe the version of the 2D20 system used by the recent Dune game lends itself well to the limitations of online play. In other words, the system seems to be flexible, intuitive, and "light" enough for online play (verses games with more crunch...not that you can't run crunchy games online...I personally don't have the time or patience to do so).

I was going to do my usual end-of-year "artstravaganza" to end 2022 but...I don't feel like I have to do it this year...or maybe ever again. This last year was a good one for me in my never-ending quest to keep the roleplaying spark alive in my life. I may not have chronicled it much here on this old blog that I keep propped up and limping along by the skin of its teeth, but...my gaming situation is good, I'm content, satisfied even. It's a feeling I need to explore and savor more often. 

Needless to say I've got a lot on my mind when it comes to life and roleplaying these days. I'm definitely feeling nostalgic, but also simultaneously eager for what the new year ahead will bring. It almost makes me wish I was as prescient as Paul Atreides. On second thought, considering what happened to him...maybe not!

I'm looking forward to gaming in 2023 and beyond, in the world of Dune and elsewhere!

End-of-Week Lofgren and Poag (2/12/17): White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game

Yeah, this is a late Sunday edition of my EoW post (usually on Fridays). But it's worth it, because I ordered two copies of a little retroclone heartbreaker called *inhales deeply* White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game.

Yeah, that's a mouthful!

Anyone who has watched/read my blog for a while knows I've cut way down on gaming and game blogging over the last couple years. This has mainly been due to my kids getting older and the accompanying increase in their extracurriculars, as well as the slow-and-steady implementation of plans to make a career change.

But damn, gaming is a part of my soul, man! I can't stay away! I have to dip back into the RPG well now and then, or I go MAD!

So, this past week I dipped back in...and caught wind of White Box: FMAG!

Now, I've acquired a lot of gaming goodness lately that I've been meaning to blog about: the 4th printing Kickstarter delivery (long delayed) of Dungeon Crawl Classics AS WELL AS the huge Kickstarter delivery (very long delayed) of the Conan board game that raised millions of dollars.

But thanks to my gamer ADD, White Box has gained pride-of-place (for now) in my fevered gamer's mind! I went online, did a quick bit of digging, and found out the game is currently on sale AT COST.

WHAT? Oh yeah! For about $10 I got two copies off Amazon! The image at the top of the post shows two of the three possible covers, with art by OSR darling Stefan Poag and a gent named Eric Lofgren.

As other OSR bloggers have pointed out, WB:FMAG contains sort of a "greatest hits" mishmash of aspects from other clones and puts them into a well-organized, tight layout. A welcome thing for this particular part-time gamer who doesn't have time to whip up his own heartbreaker, or to be a scholar of the intricacies of how the original clones and DIY gaming blogs have created subsequent waves of new clones...

(Note that Tenkar's Tavern called WB:FMAG an "excellent houserules/rewrite of Swords & Wizardry White Box," and who am I to argue with Erik?)

So, I read on the blog of WB:FMAG creator Charlie Mason that the current version of his game (which is Mr. Mason's riff on Swords & Wizardry) is only available until February 22nd. A new version is coming out this year, and will apparently be a complete overhaul. This includes a new name for the game.

I'm not sure why even the name is changing, but I'm sure there's good reason (perhaps legal?).

At any rate, I think it was well worth it to get under the wire before this current version goes away.
I've had an ambivalent relationship with original D&D and its clones. It has some appeal, but I've always preferred the Basic D&D versions of Moldvay and Mentzer.

And yet...there's a part of me that still plans on someday running a good old, gritty campaign using some variant of OD&D! When that happens, I have White Box as part of my arsenal! I really dig this little compact package that Mr. Mason has pulled together! Well done, sir! You have a fan in me!

End-of-Week Elmore (8/30/13)

Hmm, decisions, decisions...

Well met, folks. We're on the cusp of the Labor Day holiday. Over the long weekend, I plan to meditate and reflect on my roleplaying situation and aspirations. I want to go through the bounty of books in my lair, get them organized, and perhaps dispel a bit of the gamer ADD that's come over me again of late. I find that reading through the RPGs that are calling out to me often silences the siren call I hear.

 

I have to say, I'm not sure if my ADD is limited to just gaming, but that's a whole other conversation. Regardless, I felt like my gamer ADD was in check for a while. But, it's starting to creep back into my system. I'm feeling frustrated with myself, to be honest. I am trying to be happy and thankful for my very good gaming situation. I have a good group that I roleplay with on a pretty regular basis. I have a cool collection of game books to inspire me.

 

But I think I have some hiccup in my mentality toward RPGs that makes the proliferation of RPGs (both in my personal collection and out there in the world) into a major distraction for me. I try to sit back and tell myself that there's no rush for me to try out the different systems on my shelves. There's no "deadline" that will herald the end of my gaming career (that I know of). But assurances such as this just don't seem to stick.

 

Thus, the Elmore illo above - which depicts what appears to be indecisive adventurers - seems appropriate. Ah well, let's be real: I could have much bigger and real problems. So it's really no big deal, in the end. Talk about a First-World "problem." So, of course, this is all mostly self-deprecation, as is my habit.

 

I think there's going to be a longer post coming soon, where I might just ask you all to be a gestalt therapist for yours truly! Until then, I'm going to try and find some peace!

What's my hang-up when it comes to traditional D&D, eh?

I need to get something out. Maybe someone(s) out there can be my temporary RPG headshrinker... like a virtual Lucy van Pelt setting up her psychiatrist booth at a moment's notice, whenever there's a nickle to be earned from some Charlie Brown type.

I know I've written several posts recently about my internal flailings pertaining to D&D, but I felt like I needed more catharsis.

Anyway, here's my issue: I can't seem to shake the desire to do straight-up, traditional D&D. What I mean is, every time I think about running a sword & sorcery game using the Crypts & Things rules, or running a cyberpunk or post-apocalyptic future campaign using Savage Worlds, eventually something inside me moans "Oh but that's not D&D! You need to GM D&D!"

Am I fighting against simple inertia? What's my hang-up on D&D? I continually ask myself what I'm looking for, why I can't shake this feeling. What is the genesis of this yearning, this "fear" of branching out from D&D? Does anyone else out there feel this constant internal push to stick with the "original fantasy game?"

My latest yen is to run B/X D&D (with the B/X Companion and Complete B/X Adventurer from JB at B/X Blackrazor included) in the Dawnforge campaign world. It haunts me! Argh!

Look, I know most of you don't really know me and all the inner workings that make me an individual, so I know you can't really diagnose the specific origins of my obsession. I guess I'm just looking for a bit of "misery company." At the very least, you know that I struggle with Gamer ADD, and I'm sure that particular bogey man has something to do with this.

I am still relatively early in my return to the table-top after a long hiatus, so perhaps something inside me has determined that I am not yet done re-exploring my D&D roots, at least when it comes to being a game master. I currently have no problem being a player in games that are not D&D-centered. Therefore, I'm not sure how long it will be before I can run anything but D&D-esque games. There's also the fact of my life situation as a busy husband and father with full-time job and a mortgage, which lends a certain desperation to my gaming activities, as I have little time to prep and play RPGs.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. In the meantime, I'll be struggling internally...

The D&D Love/Hate Goes On...

I love D&D. And I hate it.

Ok, hate is really too strong a word. I guess what I'm feeling is a lot of mixed emotions, plus a big dash of my old foe Gamer ADD stalking me from the dark depths of my subconscious.

I'm really a D&D man, above all. Of course, like many, it was my first RPG. I've played other RPGs and have really like other systems, but something calls me back to D&D. I know that there's a lot of nostalgia in this whole mix, but I don't want it to become the bad sort of nostalgia that makes me lose sight of my current gaming potential. D&D will always have pride of place in my gamer's heart.

I really am tempted to play games like Savage Worlds, Dragon Age RPG, and Barbarians of Lemuria. These games have no mechanical relationship to D&D, and that is very appealing. Why? Because I've played the hell out of D&D-like games, so I've spent a lot of time with variations of D&D mechanics. And familiarity breeds contempt, my friends. This familiarity, I think, gives me an uncontrollable urge to tinker and tinker and tinker with those old D&D mechanics.

I'm getting tired of the tinkering. I just don't know if I can play D&D rules as written ever again...at least, the rules as they exist in the out-of-print editions. Granted, I've done a decent job of keeping my D&D house rules limited, but I seem to be constantly fine tuning even those few house rules. I don't like tormenting players with new house rule sheets every couple weeks.

BUT...the thought of not playing D&D is simultaneously intriguing and saddening. As if it would be a "betrayal" on my part. At least when it comes to me running a game. I've played Savage Worlds recently and that's a fun system. But to spend, say, a year running a non-D&D game? It seems out of reach for me.

I think a lot of this is, of course, related to the fact that I have limited time as an adult. I want to experience as much gaming as possible with my limited time, and this causes a problem when I start feeling like I want to play every game I am interested in. So, with limited time, there's a feeling that I need to be sure I'm playing/running a game worthy of my precious time.

On a side note, I would really love to PLAY in a D&D-like game again. I haven't done so since last summer, when GM Rich was running us through City State of the Invincible Overlord using C&C rules. I've  been playing in my friend Bill's Savage Worlds game, and it's really cool. But I would really like to play a D&D character again.

All this brings me to D&D 5th Edition/Next. I can't help it, but I have a lot of desire for the next D&D edition to do really well. I have all the playtest stuff and I really want to run it, and I am feeling like I want to give my feedback. Call it some latent desire to be a game designer, whatever. But I want D&D to live on. I'm trying to be positive and believe that Wizards of the Coast can make good on promises of tapping back into the roots of the game. Heck, at Gen Con today they apparently said they're going to make the old editions available (in what format remains to be seen).

I've read the 5E playtest rules a bit, and I like a lot of what I see. I've had issues with Vancian magic again of late, and the tweaks to Vancian magic in D&D Next are interesting to me. Yes, I understand the concept of "a player playing a magic-user needs to be more than just dependant on spells per day." But there's room for change in the old rules we know and love. And I know I'm not alone when it comes to old school gamers. Old school gaming is not just about a set of mechanics. It's about a creative, open-ended style of play, an attitude of problem solving, fun and immersion in shared imagination and adventure.

I don't think the OSR needs to be so opposed to the current iteration of in-print D&D. I think that we have a chance to have our voices heard and try to help cement the old school mentality in a modern product. Other modern games like Dragon Age RPG claim such a pedigree. If that upstart RPG can claim that, then D&D can as well.

Ok, I've rambled enough for now. More thoughts to come, of course...

In the Mind of a Mad Gamer

"Oh, and Game Master, just one more thing: love your campaign!"  

Perhaps the excessive heat the US has been suffering under has broken my brain. Perhaps seeing the bickering of my family over parental issues (that's all I'll say on the matter here) has broken my spirit. Whatever the cause(s), I've found my brain severely unfocused as of late. As a result, my mind has been spinning on all levels, and this includes my gaming life.

When I was young, my hobbies were a true escape from a tumultuous family life. I read books voraciously. I found solace in places like, well, Solace, the tree-top village in the Dragonlance Chronicles. Yes, reading was a hobby, and linked to that was a "hobby" of self-imposed isolation. To be hidden in the depths of a library, secluded among stout walls made of book shelves with a book in hand, was to be in paradise for a short time. I also liked to write fantasical stories, an interest that I'm sure I shared with many young people who enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons.

When I discovered Dungeons & Dragons, I was often in the role of Dungeon Master, as my enjoyment of crafting plots was the greatest among my childhood group. As with many of us, the game gave us a means to develop creatively and socially.

I suppose reading is still an escape for me, and roleplaying is still something of an escape and a creative outlet, as well as a great social event (I can't say enough about how much I enjoy being around my current group of players). Though now I'm escaping the sometimes onerous grind of adult responsibility/bullsh*t.

ANYway, to continue on from my recent post about self revelation, of late I've found myself feeling pulled in many directions with regard to what I want to run as a game master. I feel really upset at myself for putting my still-young Labyrinth Lord game on hold. I didn't want to do that to my players. But I also had to be true to myself with regard to the fact that I felt unfulfilled with what I was running.

After a lot of rumination on the more nebulous aspects of my feelings, I think I've reached some clarity on things. I suppose not many people out there will be interested in hearing a 30-something man go on and on about roleplaying woes, but this is more for my own sanity, I think. I need to lay out what's on my mind in some organized form. I hope this will alleviate the swirling miasma of Gamer ADD. I've been inspired by Chris at Classic RPG Realms, who isn't afraid to talk out his struggles regarding what system to use.

Again, I consider anything with D&D "DNA" to be D&D wearing a mask. All that being said, here's my thought process as of right now:

Basic D&D

I have come to realize that I really want to run a game using actual Classic/Basic D&D rules. The retroclone thing wasn't cutting it. This came as something of a shock to me, as I'm a big fan of the 'clones. But I can no longer hide from myself the fact that I want to play "pure" if I'm going to play Basic D&D.

If I'm going to deal with the somewhat arcane mechanics of Basic D&D, then I want to be actually playing Basic D&D. That means using the original rulebooks. I have a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia that I'm dying to use, and I have PDFs of the individual Mentzer box sets that I can print out (or have done so already).

I'm not sure if this sounds shallow or bizarre, but yes, I want to use those original books. I don't want to use a retroclone. There, I said it. Again, I have nothing against the 'clones. They're great, and they're the impetus behind looking back to explore early D&D.

But I want to see that Larry Elmore/Terry Dykstra artwork when I'm flipping through the books. I want to see the fonts they used. I want the beholder in the monster section! I want that authentic D&D experience, which to me means using the original books.

And in using the original books, I want to stay as close to rules as written as I can. I really want to cut down my house rules and just do rulings on the fly as needed. I think the majority of my house rules will pertain to the classes, to give them a bit more "oomph."

Again, I'm feeling very guilty about putting my Labyrinth Lord game on hold after only a handful of sessions. I think I owe it to my group to give Basic more of a fair shot. But to me that means actually using those original rule books. Once more, I ask: is this insane?

I'll include the DCC RPG here, because it uses Basic's race-as-class feature and many other connections to Basic. I really like what Goodman Games has done to the D&D chassis. But I feel like it has more rules crunch than I'm willing to deal with at the moment. I have an urge to run some DCC RPG in the future, but not right now. I don't want to deal with the crunch.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

When it comes to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, for some reason I currently have the opposite desire: I do NOT want to run a game using actual AD&D rules. I would much, much rather use Castles & Crusades. I'm not sure if this is a strange divergence from my "NEED PURE BASIC D&D!" feelings. But there you have it. At any rate, I have no desire right now to GM an AD&D/C&C game.

D&D Mine

Every once in a while I get the urge to make my own "edition" of D&D. Who in our blogosphere community hasn't felt that urge, right? I want to take the Swords & Wizardry clone as a foundation and put in all the tweaks I want and make my own game! I was inspired recently by JB at B/X Blackrazor when he proposed the D&D Mine concept.

But at the moment, this still is a case of "MUST PLAY PURE BASIC D&D!" eating at my brain. So this recurring urge is, once again, pushed aside.

Other RPGS

I really like Savage Worlds and the Dragon Age RPG. Their allure is that they offer an alternative to those games that are variations on D&D (i.e. those games that use mechanics very similar to D&D, either Basic or Advanced). And this appeals, because I have no deep-seated desire to immediately house rule either of these non-D&D RPGs, because they aren't D&D!

I think that I'm so familiar with the D&D rules that I can't help myself when it comes to house ruling. I'm sort of tired of this uncontrollable need on my part to endlessly tweak the D&D design. So, to me, the logical solution is to try another RPG for a while, and take a break from D&D in all its forms.

Yet my desire to play these games, strangely enough, makes me yearn for D&D. I'm really feeling insane...

Conclusion

I try to tell myself that I don't have a time limit on my new gaming life. I can run one sort of game/RPG for a while and then switch to another at some point down the road.

Ultimately, I'm sorry to subject my poor gaming group to the results of my scattered mind. I'm feeling like a very divided self, with my attention pulled in too many directions. This is frustrating to no end.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

Self Revelations: D&D, the OSR, and Me

I started this blog to chronicle my return to roleplaying. I really had no idea what my attempt to return to the fold would entail, or how successful I would be. As far as success is concerned, I've got a steady group of fellow gamers that I play with on a fairly regular basis. So I consider that a success.

Note, of course, that I had no idea there was an OSR when I came back to gaming within the last few years. When I first made my concerted effort to return to the table-top, my first exposure was with Pathfinder (which I found to be interesting but too crunchy for my tastes...I had never played 3E either, for the same crunchy reason). It was this lack of fulfillment with an in-print game that caused me to wonder about the out-of-print games from my past. I decided to dig around online for those older editions, and the rest is history...

Since I've come back to roleplaying, I think I've learned some things about my current gaming self. The following is very subject to change, however, as I'm nothing if not mutable:

The Old Rules
At the moment, I don't really want to go back and use the old D&D rules as written, be they Basic or Advanced D&D. Sure, I have strong feelings of nostalgia for those old rule sets. Like so many of us, it was my first RPG. There's a certain lure to the thought of playing actual D&D instead of a retroclone, but again, that's probably just a bit of "bad" nostalgia. In re-reading the Rules Cyclopedia, Moldvay/Cook/ Marsh B/X, and AD&D, I find myself balking at the "clunkyness" (or what I personally perceive/define as clunkyness) of the rules. I've also run into that balking feeling while running some Labyrinth Lord recently. So I've reached a point where my issues with the rules have overcome the gravitas, the prestige, the tradition, the whatever-you-want-to-call-it of playing actual D&D or those retroclones that cleave close to it (i.e. the "first wave" of clones = OSRIC, Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord).

I say all the above with not a little sadness, because I blame my current state of life as being the culprit behind my inability to grok the old rules. I can't seem to retain the little idiosyncrasies of the old rules. I know this seems lame, but it's a sad truth for me. I've got some personal things in my life that are taking up a fair bit of brain power of late. Maybe this ineptitude on my part will abate someday, but for now...

I have to admit, though, that I've felt a recent urge to get the original AD&D books, in order to add them back to my collection. The books my teenage group shared years ago were destroyed by a friend who became a hardcore born-again Christian. After so many years of not having the hallowed words of Gary Gygax in my library, I feel the need to own them once more.

I'm not sure why, even though I know how old school games are about rulings and not rules, that I just can't feel totally at peace with playing D&D rules as written OR with house rules that make them more to my tastes. Maybe it's some disillusionment with the rules, or being tired of the same old D&D rules appearing over and over in the vast number of OSR publications, or a combination of the two. Don't get me wrong, I love the wondrous variety of the OSR and believe it is a positive aspect of the movement. 

I think familiarity does breed contempt, and I've been around the D&D rules for so long that I'm probably getting a bit tired of them. I probably need a break from them. I can't seem to help the urge to tinker. I know, the prevailing thought process is that older D&D rules were pretty much made to be just guidelines, and made to be tinkered with. But I just don't have the stomach for too many house rules of late. Maybe it's my current time crunch that makes me get upset if I have to craft too many house rules. Granted, I don't think I've played with too many house rules, but still...I feel the need to find a game that doesn't give me the overwhelming urge to tweak. This feeling alone probably strips away a good portion of my OSR cred (if I ever had any).

The Rules with D&D DNA
Again, I've no urge to use the original D&D/AD&D rules in a current game. For my AD&D needs, I have Castles & Crusades. It is the game that had Gary's blessings as the successor to D&D, after all (at least, according to the Troll Lords, who were close to Gary before he passed).

Yes, the only version of AD&D I really dig is Castles & Crusades. It's a wonderful amalgam of 1E (classes, races, overall aesthetic) and 3.5 (more modern unified mechanic), with some new ideas/twists thrown in (example: rangers don't cast spells...that's awesome...never could stand spellcasting rangers) and an old-school mentality surrounding it.

The other game that's made a big impression on me is DCC RPG. I really like this "second generation" clone! I am definitely liking it more than the original/first wave of clones, and I know that statement may raise some hackles. I know, DCC is not supposed to be a clone, but come on folks...call a clone a clone. I'm not ready to actually run DCC RPG at the moment, but I have the itch (and some of those Zocchi dice as well).

Both of the games mentioned above use a much more unified mechanic than the old versions of D&D/AD&D. And these days, I'm loving me some unified mechanic. This is due to being busy with adult life, which leaves me with minimal brain space to use for storage of various mechanics. I know, lame, right? Oh well, it's my truth. And to thine own self be true.

The less I feel the need to house rule, the more I like the RPG. I do like to play with some minimal house rules for C&C (one sheet of paper front and back is my limit!), and DCC seems like a game I wouldn't want to house rule much at all.

But C&C and DCC have that D&D DNA, and of late that's bothered me. So I have to conclude that I'm having an issue with D&D, deep down.

Other Rules and New Rules
Lord knows that, over the years, I've played a bunch of other games that weren't D&D-based. I played a lot of Palladium (TMNT, Rifts, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies) and also Amber Diceless RPG. Most recently I've been playing Savage Worlds. So my experience with the other RPG possibilities out there is probably part of my current urge to look elsewhere. Look, I learned a lot about rulings not rules and other concepts favored by the OSR through my experience with a non-D&D game like Amber Diceless Roleplaying. With no dice and just four attributes, the ADRPG GM has to make a lot of rulings.

Bottom line: I'm really curious about newer, non-D&D based systems like Savage Worlds and Dragon Age. I feel the urge to break away from the D&D "hegemony"...at least for a while. These games also have unified mechanics (with Dragon Age going so far as only using the d6, rather than Savage World's use of the other polyhedrals we all know and love...I have to admit I'm going to miss all those other dice while we play Dragon Age).

I know there are a lot of OSR folks who clamor about player vs. character skill, and a system like Dragon Age can lend itself quite easily to players depending on the character stats and associated skill rolls. But I'm here to tell you that my thoughts towards character stats and skill rolls are also tied to my current gaming status. I'm a busy adult playing with busy adults. We don't have all the time we used to have in order to lean mostly on player skill and searching every cranny of a dungeon.

I guess you could say we don't have time to be incredibly clever. We have time to be somewhat clever. My players are very creative and come up with really inventive solutions to things, be they battles or negotiations with NPCs or solving puzzles. But if they sometimes want to lean on the dice mechanic, I'm not going to stop them. Because in our limited time we want the adventure to press forward, and not worry about exploring all the minutia that "pure" old school D&D play demands.

I do encourage a combination of player and character skill, a compromise if you will. These two roleplaying concepts don't need to be mutually exclusive. Player ideas improve dice roll success or eliminate the need for dice. I guess I am not purely of the OSR when it comes to mechanics, but I am when it comes to the style, the spirit. Not that labels matter, though. The gaming is what really matters.

Conclusion...For Now...
I'm not sure if I'm getting across all my feelings as clearly as I wanted, but I made an effort here. Mostly for my benefit, but I'm also wondering what others think. You may think I'm a cop out when it comes to the OSR, but again, I'm thinking that I'm more of an omnivorous gamer rather than just a consumer of the old ways. Maybe I'm not really an OSR gamer at heart. I don't know. Not that there's a strict membership guideline for the movement, right? ;-)

I'm not knocking those who want the pure OSR feeling/gameplay. I'm just realizing that I'm different...at least for the moment. Someday, I'm sure, I'll want to play C&C or DCC or maybe even Labyrinth Lord again. I think I just need some time away from the same rules I've been using for so many years. Hell, I might want to try my hand at original AD&D again. Who the heck knows, right? I'm nothing if not a sufferer of chronic Gamer ADD!

But for the time being, I talked to my group and they seem interested in me running some Dragon Age RPG. And I'm having a blast with my friend Bill's Savage World of Solomon Kane game. Both games may owe their existence to D&D (like all other RPGs), but they don't owe much in the way of mechanics. And I'm really, really liking that fact.

Wish me luck on this latest phase of my gaming life. Until we meet again, happy gaming!

When Obsession and Real Life Strike Back

I'm not the kind of person to do things at any percentage less than 100%. This approach often leads me to the Dark Wood of Burnout. If I watch a Clint Eastwood western, I usually spend the next few weeks obsessed with all things cowboy. If I see something related to Star Wars (like my son's Millennium Falcon playset) then of course I get a burning desire to dive into a galaxy far, far away.

Oh yes, that's where the burnout comes into play. I'm also sure that burnout is somehow connected to my greatest nemesis: Gamer ADD. But I've conducted what I think is a pretty successful war against that dreaded affliction, having run a coherent Castles & Crusades campaign over the last year, and now I'm running a Labyrinth Lord campaign on which I've been very focused.

When it comes to my return to table-top roleplaying, a venture that I've been succeeding at for about a year and three months, I've definitely been plowing ahead full speed. Both as a player and, much moreso, as a GM. I've always found myself more often in the GM's seat, and I'm quite happy about that arrangement.

However, I firmly believe that GM's make the best really good players, because they know what it's like to be the puppet master behind the screen. So I do find myself from time to time yearning to be a player.

OK, I'm rambling (surprise, surprise).

So, what's my point in this post? Well, I have to admit to myself that I'm feeling a bit burnt. Not the sort of burnt that makes me want to walk away from the table-top. Perish the thought! I'm having way too much fun on a (mostly) weekly basis with some cool people at the shining beacon of All Things Fun (the best little FLGS in South Jersey).

The burnout I'm feeling is due to my penchant for thinking about gaming all day long, every day. Literally. I know I can't be alone in this obsession. I spend so much time every day dreaming of gaming, thinking up plots and hooks, reading gaming materials, etc. At this point in my revived gaming life, I'm feeling like my mind has become a cacophony of gaming thoughts.

There's such thing as too much of a good thing, folks. I have gathered up so much gaming stimuli in my brain, and I'm stirring it up every day to see what shakes loose.

The other source of burnout is "real life." I've got issues with my house and subsequent financial consequences. I've got a wife who I want to spend quality time with, and growing kids who are engaging in more and more extra-curricular activities (such as a pool membership for the summer, and those kids are half fish). I've got a pretty demanding job with an even more demanding boss. And there's other issues in my extended family that I won't go into, and they're taking an emotional toll.

On top of all this, there's all the books I want to read and other personal activities (hiking, exercise in general) that I have been eschewing in favor of all things gaming.

So what's a guy with limited free time to do? The first step is admitting that I need a break. I need to take a step back and collect my thoughts, take a breath.

On a practical level, I'm going to need to talk to my gaming group to let them know where my head is at the moment. I definitely think I am going to have to step away from the GM's chair for a bit. As I've said many times before, they're a great bunch of folks who I know will be supportive. And there are a few of them who are ready/willing/able to run games in which I can be a player.

This self revelation does not equal a cessation of my gaming life. This does not in any way spell the end of my return to roleplaying (or blogging, though my posting has already slowed a bit). I've only just returned "unto the breach." But a soldier needs a respite from the front lines now and then.

Thanks for reading, folks. And as always, happy gaming!

How Simple Do You Like It?

It's no secret how much I love C&C, and by extension D&D. But I've found myself wondering if I can find an even simpler system.

I'm trying to find the right balance of simplicty for my current lifestyle. I think I can handle C&C, but sometimes I find myself craving specific things. Such as using a game that only needs d6's instead of all the other polyhedrons. Or a game that only has two or three ability scores. Or a game that has a limited number of skills and spells for players to choose from, meaning that I as GM would have less character options to contend with/memorize.

Or some combination of all of the above.

Again, I love my C&C and all that it offers me and my group. But as absurd as it sounds, sometimes I want a game that's even simpler! And not simpler in a "I'll just play Basic D&D instead of something based off of Advanced D&D" way. Part of what I've been feeling is a need to get away from D&D-based games, and all the associated mechanics.

Some of this might be motivated by gamer ADD, but like I said, it's also because my life seems to get getting busier all the time, as my job seeks to give me more and more responsibility and the kids are getting older.

I'm also looking for an RPG I can run in between sessions of my C&C game, on those nights when things just don't align and my regular campaign doesn't come together.

I know what you're saying: "Uh, Drance, you've only been back to playing table-top RPGs for about a year. You wanted to get back into some sort of D&D action specifically. And now you want to play a game that ISN'T some variation of D&D? You've got issues, man."

Tell me something I don't know.

I've also been fondly remembering my Amber Diceless RPG days of late. And I've been considering pulling out my copy of Barbarians of Lemuria again. Now, Amber may be diceless but that doesn't mean it's exactly simple. It takes a lot of consideration and connection between GM and players, and can get pretty intense with respect to descriptive detail and depth of interaction.

Anyway, the questions are:

1. Can you recommend a simple system that isn't one of the following: Any variation of Microlite, Dungeonslayers, Old School Hack, or Wizard Rogue Mage?

2. Does anyone have any experience with Advanced Fighting Fantasy or Dragon Warriors, and if so, are they fairly light? I'm assuming Dragon Warriors is not really that light (I have the Mongoose book, but haven't read it), but I could be wrong. Oh, and I have to admit that I've been getting very curious about British Old School games.

Another caveat: I'm also pretty familiar with Savage Worlds at this point, so you can skip suggesting that as well, if any of you think of suggesting that!

Sorry for the rambling. It's been one of those days. I know I'm not articulating things the way I want them to come out. I'm not completely happy with this post but I'm going to hit the publish button anyway! Throwing caution to the wind and all that bosh. Looking forward to hearing from you all.

New Year Ruminations

What’s up, fellow gamers? I’ve been silent lately mostly due to being struck by a plague of sorts. I won’t go into the sucky details, but it’s been a pisser, let me tell you. I haven’t been prolific of late anyway, what with family life and my job kicking it up a notch.

Blah blah blah, whatever, right? Anyway, I wanted to get the new year started with regard to posting, so here goes with some general thoughts and stuff:

1) I need to get the Session 13 report up for my Paragons of Waterdeep campaign. Now that the holidays are over, I’m looking forward to having our game sessions get back to “normal.” Meaning that our group should be able to get together more often again, with a full complement of players. Here’s hoping…

2) I’ve been banging my head against the “edition wall” again, thanks to my old nemesis: gamer ADD. I’ve been obtaining all sorts of D&D editions/clones over the last year or so, and I’ve gone through a merry-go-round of dabbling in all of the stuff. When it comes to yours truly, I think the proliferation of clones only serves to confound me. Perhaps it’s my stage of life, and the inherent lack of time to devote to the hobby. I’ve speculated about all this before, but I don’t feel any closer to a solution. It’s a hard pill to swallow for me, being afflicted with such distractibility. Chalk it up to “bad” nostalgia, perhaps.

The bottom line? I am happy that there are a lot of clones out there, some of which represent rule sets close to the originals (i.e. OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord, S&W) and those that could perhaps be considered published house rules (i.e. LotFP, Delving Deeper, ACK, DCC RPG, Crypts & Things, etc.). It makes for a heady mix of options from which we can all pick and choose, until one finds the right rules to suit one’s unique fancies.

For those that can keep a clear head while exploring all of the options out there, godspeed and enjoy! I envy you! But for me, I just find myself going into this house rule “death spiral” that goes on and on. As I’ve said before, my personal requirements make me seek out rules that I don’t have to tweak all that much. For me, that flavor is Castles & Crusades. It does what I want it to do, without me having to spend a lot of time on house rules. And as I’ve been toying with other systems, I find myself house ruling them to make them more like C&C. So I keep thinking to myself “I should just stick with C&C and not waste my time making other games more like C&C!” Ugh, I’m such a spaz.

Your results may vary. Different strokes and all that. I’m not going to go out and yell at people that my way is the one true way, though I’m not shy about telling people how much I love C&C and why I think it’s so great. It’s a solid system that I am proud to use/support, created by some great people. But again, I wish that I could divine the source of my gamer ADD and turn it off for once. I go through spells of it that are really annoying. It takes away from the time I should be devoting to C&C and my current campaign. The struggle goes on…

3) And of course there’s the news that has the blogosphere buzzing: the announcement that a 5th Edition of D&D is/has been in the works (as usual, Akrasia has the news well covered). I signed up for the “playtesting” thing. We’ll see what comes of this. I for one am trying to be open minded. I usually defer to the “giving them the benefit of the doubt” side of things. I would love it if D&D got some of its “cred” back. From reading other blogs, it seems like at least some of you out there agree with me. Of course, there are some of you who think failure is inevitable. I don’t think that WotC could ever create “one game to rule them all” and end the Edition Wars, but from what I’ve read it seems they are aspiring to that very goal. I think they got caught up in marketing-speak madness, which usually makes people spout all sorts of pie-in-the-sky claims. Good luck with all that, Mike Mearls… So, at the moment I’m trying to remain optimistic. But I’m sure that it won’t be good for my gamer ADD…

Ok, folks, that’s all for now. As usual, I will try my best to blog as much as I can in the weeks to come. Happy gaming!

Preparing for a Hunt for the Roots

Sorry if I sounded a bit melodramatic in my post yesterday about Gamer ADD, and how I'm "burning out" with regard to the amount of RPG material I've been reading of late. That's really what it was all about: me coming to the realization that I've been obsessively reading RPG rulebooks and accessories, to the point that I've been neglecting my other interests. It's also causing my brain to fry from all the information overload, and causing my mind to wander into all the possible future games I may someday run/play in.

Now, it's okay for me to be reading through my Castles & Crusades stuff on a regular basis. Because I'm running a C&C game that's been providing me and some great players with a fantastic bit of adventure! I'm really proud of our group and how we work really well together, and we're having a great time.

But in between all of that C&C research and game prep, I've been reading Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, the Rules Cyclopedia, B/X D&D, Barbarians of Lemuria, Conan the RPG, Talislanta, Dragon Age RPG, The One Ring RPG, OpenQuest, and others that I can't even remember at the moment.

And then add in my desire to read through the blogs that I follow, which I think is totally worth it (but again it takes up time and my limited brain space!). I also want to comment on people's posts and write my own posts. More time and brain space.

Add to that the fact that I've also been reading up on settings for Pathfinder, Blackmarsh, Points of Light, Greyhawk, Lankhmar, Elric!/Stormbringer, Earthdawn, Warhammer, Eberron, and on and on. And reading a bunch of modules, those from TSR, Goodman Games, Troll Lord Games, Paizo, Expeditious Retreat, etc. AND also bugging Newt Newport about Crypts & Things. AND bugging James at Grognardia about his Dwimmermount stuff.

So, can you see why I've been feeling burnt?! I've inundated myself, saturated myself with gaming stuff. To the point that I've completely stalled on my other great love: reading. Reading novels, and non-fiction.

In particular, it's taking me FOREVER to read Martin's A Dance with Dragons. Most people I know have already read it. Heck, one of my best friends is well into his SECOND reading!

And I've also been unable to watch any of my beloved History channel shows that are piling up on the DVR (much to the wife's chagrin)!

ARGH!

Whew. OK. Seriously, I need some detox. I need to put the ton of stuff aside for now, and just take a breather. Take a rest. Focus. I need to really be thankful for what I currently have going on gaming-wise. The rest of the gaming stuff will be there when I'm ready. It will keep.

So, here's the plan (and the reason for the title of my post): I am going to finish A Dance with Dragons. Then, I am going to do something I've been meaning to do for a long time, but have been putting off for too long: I'm going to finally read through the tales of Vance, Howard, Leiber, Moorcock, Burroughs, and all the rest who represent the roots of D&D. Give me Appendix N or give me death!

And in between reading up on those seminal tales, I will be focusing my gamer attentions on my current campaign.

Then comes the blogosphere. Followed by some TV.

But of course, all of the above comes after work and family.

Whew. I feel better now. Onward!

Gamer ADD and Burn-Out

Hey folks! Just wanted to check in and ramble a bit. Been feeling a bit burnt over the last couple of days with regard to gaming. And I know why: Gamer ADD. I've let that hoary beast push my beleaguered brain to the edge of reason once again.

I will confront Gamer ADD and say "Ah yes, my old friend and enemy, I see you lurking over my shoulder. You're the cause of my unrelenting need to dig through my RPG book collection almost every night.

You push me to flip through all those pages and dream about campaigns that may never be. You make me obsess over thoughts of adventures yet to come.

You distract me from working on the campaign I am currently running...a living and breathing campaign with great players that depend on my ability to provide a fun and exciting experience almost every week. They are what's most important right now. Not you. Begone, I say! The power of St. Gygax compels you!"

Seriously, I am feeling like I need to strike back somehow at my old foe. I am feeling that I need to put away all the other books and stay away from them for a good while. I want to just carry around my Castles & Crusades books and the materials I am using for my current campaign. I don't want what I currently have going on to suffer at all due to my penchant for daydreaming about what could be.

I think I can do it. So, for the time being, until I am no longer feeling fried in the brain pan, I will gently put aside (for instance) my copies of Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry. Just for a while. And with them, I will put my embryonic thoughts of getting down to some Original/Basic/Classic D&D goodness on the shelf. I will set aside thoughts of race-as-class and all the other trappings. Just for a while. So the gray matter can cool down.

Though I am scared of what will happen when the PDF of Crypts & Things comes knocking...but I can't worry about that right now!

I need to do this for my peace of mind, and for the good of my actual gaming. No need to sacrifice the "what is" for the "what might be," right?

If you're out there reading this and you are feeling the Gamer ADD crunch at the moment, gimme an amen! Remind me that I'm not alone! I need the support right now!

In Praise of Castles & Crusades

As I've mentioned in some recent posts, I've been dabbling in some Classic/Basic D&D (to use the terms interchangeably) and retroclones, with the idea that I may want to someday run a Classic D&D game. I have been feeling an urge to play Basic D&D, which I never really did back in my formative years. I've been yearning to do it up, with race-as-class and the rest of it.

But I have to say, as I've read through the original rules sets and their clones, I've found myself doing a lot of house ruling in my head. I've been trying to fight that impulse, and taking the advice of Philotomy to "play it for what it is." I've found that a lot of this mental house ruling stems from my good experiences playing Castles & Crusades.

It should be no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I love C&C. It is elegant. It is modular. I've been thinking that if, say, I want the race-as-class experience, I can use C&C for that. I can just restrict the races and classes that players are allowed to play (and not have to worry about pesky level limits to boot, something I'm not quite sure if I like). Ultimately, I have no fear that I can use C&C to emulate any era of D&D play. And frankly, I don't think it's harder to teach someone to play C&C than teaching them to play Classic D&D. In fact (at least for me at this point in time), it might even be easier to teach C&C to new players.

But still, there seems to just be something about the thought of actually using, say, the Moldvay Basic rules. But what is that something, exactly? Is it just the "bad" type of nostalgia that makes me want to play Basic D&D? Is it just the appeal of the "street cred" or gravitas that seems to come from playing the actual, original editions? Or is it something else?

I assume others out there have experienced this pattern of thought, this questioning of systems, this wondering if one is motivated by a dark form of nostalgia. If so, how have you dealt with this affliction? Please, let me know how you have fought with this questioning, this Gamer ADD, the rose-colored glasses.

In the end, I return to my old adage that any gaming is good gaming. I try to remember that I have a good bit of gaming going on almost every week, and I should be thankful for that. Because there are a lot of gamers out there who do not have the current luxury of being able to game even once a week, such as I do.

Again, I'm not anywhere near giving up on C&C and the current campaign I am running using those rules. But there's still something lurking in me that is thinking about running one-shots using Classic D&D rules. What is the impetus of this impulse, I ask you? The questioning continues...

Readin' Up on Basic/Classic/Just Plain D&D

I was recently chastized for referring to Moldvay and Mentzer's sets as OD&D, and perhaps rightly so. Mea culpa. Again, I never actually played OD&D or Moldvay/Mentzer in my gaming career. I started out with AD&D from the get-go. I may have collected things such as the Rules Cyclopedia and the Big Black Box, but never played those versions.

[Just as an aside, I would personally like to call Moldvay / Mentzer's versions D&D, rather than Basic or Classic D&D. Basic doesn't seem to fit to me, since Moldvay had an Expert set, and Mentzer had the Expert / Companion / Master / Immortal sets to follow up his Basic. I would prefer to call the iterations Original D&D, D&D, and AD&D...but I suppose that might not be clear enough. Ah heck, I guess I'll stick to Classic D&D, then.]

It's only now that I'm dabbling in Original and Classic D&D. I purchased Lamentations of the Flame Princess as well as Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry. As stated above, I have a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia at home, and even managed to snag some PDFs of the books in Moldvay and Mentzer's sets. So now I have piles of original versions as well as clones...and I need to start studying up!

I know in the past I declared Mentzer's version of Classic D&D to be my go-to once I was ready to run some plain-old D&D, either using the RC or the books from the sets. Well, now I'm not so sure.

So, I've decided to start really reading up on the old Classic material. I'm picking a starting point as of now, and that is Moldvay/Cook/Marsh B/X. I'm not really sure where I will go from there. Any advice would be very welcome!

And BTW, where's Holmes fit in with all this? I frankly have no real interest in considering Holmes. I've glanced at his version, and seemed like just a jumble.

Anyway, I'm off to start studying. If I have time, I'll post some impressions. Wish me luck on my journey of discovery...

EDIT: I suppose I should have included a status update of where my head is at currently with regard to "preferred" editions, eh? At this point, Labyrinth Lord seems to have risen above the rest of the pack, both original editions and clones, in my estimation. But I would like to read Moldvay to see how things were originally published. Mentzer and the RC call out to me, perhaps just from nostalgia. But from my prior superficial scans of the contents of LL, the Mentzer-era stuff doesn't seem as "shiny" anymore...at least at the moment.

As for Swords & Wizardry, it's sort of slipping further down on the rungs of my affection. I like some aspects of it, but these aspects (spells, some class options) may be things that I steal for use with a game founded on LL. And I have no interest in gaining access to the original books that S&W is based upon. Is that heresy?

When it comes to Lamentations of the Flame Princess, it too is probably something from which I will steal ideas. For instance, I may use Raggi's d6-based thief skills instead of percentiles. That would probably be the major borrowing.

See how this can all be quite maddening?! Curse you once again, Gamer ADD!

A Yen for OD&D

As you may know, I've been a part of a group that's been campaigning using Castles & Crusades since early this year. I've been a player and a GM in the group, and I have to say it's been an incredible experience. We're a small group, but what we lack in size we make up for in creativity, camaraderie, and lots of RPG experience. This group has fulfilled my long-time goal of finally gaming with new people. Until this year, I had only gamed with childhood friends. And it's been the true vehicle for the return to table-top roleplaying that I have yearned for since around 2007.

All that being said, there's the eternal spectre of Gamer ADD. I think I am a more-than-moderate sufferer of this dreaded condition.

So, perhaps I've fallen under the influence of JB over at B/X Blackrazor, but I've decided that, once our current C&C campaign runs its course, I would like to propose an OD&D game to my group.

This is my chance to finally game using OD&D rules, which I never really did...unless you count my recent, short-term use of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess Deluxe Edition rules when gaming with a couple old friends on a few occasions. OD&D represents a more "mythic" play style to me, where characters are more archetypal, more "primal" if you will. This taps into my strong belief that game system plays a large role in determining style of play (a topic I've been meaning to post about for some time now, but haven't yet gotten around to it).

First of all, I'm pondering what system(s) to use. Do I use the original games, or do I use a retroclone? There's a certain something to the thought of playing with the originally published rules. But then again, there's the often greater clarity of rules and presentation of retroclones. At the moment, I'm considering a foundation of Labyrinth Lord with some aspects of Swords & Wizardry thrown in for good measure. But my goal now is to read up on original B/X as well as the retroclones I like (Labyrinth Lord and S&W) to see which has the functionality I need. Oops, almost forgot: I've also got the Rules Cyclopedia as well as the books from the Mentzer Basic and Expert sets. So, I've got some readin' and decidin' to do, as well as battlin' with nostalgia over practicality.

Any suggestions/advice would be welcome! (this includes my request for advice on dwarves from this recent post)

As for the world in which I would place the campaign, I am thinking that I will do a homebrew world. Roleplaying has been a way to fulfill my creative urges. There's a level of creativity in designing adventures and plot hooks. But then there's another level in worldbuilding that I've been missing. I have been worried about lack of time, but I think I have some ideas to get this going.

But again, all of this is just very preliminary. I have no intention of abandoning my current campaign, and expect our C&C goodness to keep rolling for a good while. Still, there's something to be said for a little daydream-brainstorm for future adventures...

Another one slipped under my RPG radar...

Welcome to July, everyone! Hope you fellow Americans are as excited as I am to be heading into a nice holiday weekend!
I am kicking off the new month with a "Doh!" post regarding another RPG that I did not know about until a day or so ago. First there was The One Ring, and now it's...

LEGENDS & LABYRINTHS!

While I will stick to my guns when it comes to "there's no such thing as too many RPGs," I have to say that I personnally am not interested in trying to play most of these new games coming out. Sure, I will probably take a good look and may even steal some ideas from them. But what it comes down to for me above all is time. That is my most limiting factor in this stage of my life. I need to focus on the systems I know well enough to GM/play, and that's D&D for me. I need time to prepare for games and maybe throw some blogging into the mix.

Maybe the cause of AND cure for my gamer ADD is time limitations. I need to continually remind myself of my limitations, and not let them drive me insane and cause me to flail around from one new shiny game to another. I have to focus on what is GOOD about my current game situation: I have a great core of dedicated gamers that I have met, we are able to meet pretty regularly, and we have a pretty good venue to play at. That's really all I could ask for at this moment in my life.

So count your roleplaying blessings if you are fortunate enough to be able to actually participate in games! As always, happy roleplaying and GAME ON!

I want it all, and I want it now!

Check out Freddie's awesome chainmail gauntlet!

(I'm guessing that everyone is getting my reference here.)

I guess this is an offshoot of my chronic Gamer ADD, and maybe a symptom of limited time to game (although I have to say, for a guy with a family and all, I have been able to game at least once a week for a few months now...which is more than some others can claim). But I feel like I want to run/play so many different games RIGHT NOW! I want to use all those cool systems out there and dabble in multiple genres (fantasy, science fiction, western, etc)! Blargh!

Just needed to vent...

Anyone else feeling this way? Is that a stupid question?

Anyway, tonight is Wednesday Night C&C at All Things Fun! GM Rich is picking up his Invincible Overlord game again, so I will slip back into a player seat this week. Looking forward to it, since there was no game last week. Game on!

Facing Down the Beast

So, instead of bitching about gamer ADD like I've been prone to do in the past, I decided to man-up and do what I should have done before: take all the RPGs that have been plaguing my mind and literally spreading them all out in front of me. Like a lineup of the usual suspects. And I gave them a good hard look, and some thought, and I was determined to come to some conclusions. And I think I've finally regained mastery of my gaming domain.

First there's Castles & Crusades, my number one game. The Sancho Panza to my Don Quixote. The Little John to my Robin Hood. The Riker to my Picard. I started out my gaming career with AD&D 1E/2E, and C&C to me is a near-perfect reimagining of those editions of the game. I like what Troll Lord Games has done with the system by incorporating the SIEGE Engine mechanic, bringing some 3E into the mix. I don't have to do much in the way of house ruling to get it to where I need it to be at my table. I will never need to go back to AD&D, because C&C has become the ideal version of those editions, to me.

Now, as I've said before, until recently I never actually played any version of basic/original/non-Advanced D&D. I bought the Rules Cyclopedia when it came out in the early 90's, and also bought the "Black Box" version of D&D, but never actually played them. I missed out on the whole boxed set thing entirely when I was a kid. The LBBs and all that Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, etc. jive was something I would have appreciated back then, I think...but I missed it all. I was just never exposed to it.

But looking back now, and having dabbled in OD&D (especially via Swords & Wizardry and Lamentations of the Flame Princess), I have become more and more enamored of OD&D and its clones. But looking through Moldvay, Mentzer, the Rules Cyclopedia, clones like Labyrinth Lord and S&W and LotFP and all the rest, I think that I feel strongly about actually using the original Mentzer books rather than a clone. I just like the look of the game, the layout of the books, the style, the art (as a confessed Elmore nut). There's just something about it that calls to me.

So, when I get the chance to run some OD&D, I'm going to use Mentzer, with some house rules I'm mulling over to add a bit of spice to things. I'm taking inspiration for my house rules from many sources on the web and blogosphere, as well as from other games. This includes the beta version of Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.

Now, there are some other various games that have also been tempting me with their shininess. Games such as Barbarians of Lemuria, Dragon Age, and even that game based in Middle Earth called The One Ring that I just learned about YESTERDAY! Yes, gamer ADD has no mercy. Heck, I just really discovered a lot to like about Dragon Age less than a week ago, on Free RPG Day. All of these various other games I have lumped together as potential candidates, but I have used a bit of reality to temper my expectations. These miscellaneous games are nice and all, but I either don't own them, they haven't been published yet, or they would take time to learn that I just don't seem to have these days.

Above all, I'm totally dedicated to the Dragonlance game I am currently running, and have no intention of sacrificing it in order to jump into OD&D right now. And especially not for some new shiny game that would require a whole new cycle of reading rules, learning rules, teaching rules to others, etc. I've been waiting a looooong time to do a Dragonlance campaign,  and I have met a great group of gamers who make running the game a pleasure.

Wow, it feels good to get that all out! All it took was standing up to the beast!

Free RPG Day and Other Stuff

A peek behind my screen on Free RPG Day!
(note to my players: look away right now!)

It was a pretty busy gaming week for me. The Wednesday Night C&C group met once again at All Things Fun. I ran the second session of my Dragonlance campaign, and it was a great time (with our Solamnic Knight again providing much amusement). This week was different, however, in the fact that we had two new players join us, for a total of six! One is named Glenn, who was very enthusiastic to be getting into some old school gaming (for him that means doing more roleplaying than rollplaying). He had come to the store that night to get into D&D 4E Encounters or whatever they call it. But the store's owner Ed and I talked him into converting to Castles & Crusades! Score one for the old school! We were also joined by a fellow named Josh, who seemed to be curious about C&C but I'm not sure if he'll really be willing to stick with it (he seemed to be torn between C&C and D&D 4E).

Anyway, suddenly having six players was a bit of an adjustment for me. I think I did a fair job of adapting. I have to admit that I am most comfortable with four players. At least, that's the group size I've had for most of my life when I was running a game. So I think I could get used to running games for more players as time goes on and I shake off more of the rust from my GM skills. Looking back, it was cool to have the challenge thrust upon me unexpectedly. The group said that I did a good job with the game, so I am trusting them to tell me the truth! ;-) A part of me still feels strongly that the sweet spot for roleplaying is five players tops. Any more than that and I think that the roleplaying has to be reduced in favor of more combat/hack & slash. I am very sensitive toward keeping players from waiting around too long, and in my experience any more than five players and things start to get slow. Or maybe that's just something lacking in my GM skills. Who knows? I'm also pretty tired right now so I'm surely not doing this subject much justice.

As an aside, Wednesday nights are of course D&D Encounters nights. And there are several games of D&D running at the game store around us. We are surrounded on those nights by larger groups of rather loud gamers. It sometimes makes it hard for this old man to hear, and generally makes me grumpy. Again, I'm old. Just neededto vent that.

Anyway, as I posted last week, I agreed to run a C&C game at All Things Fun on Free RPG Day. I was pretty eager and a bit nervous to do so,  because I was interested in helping to spread the good word of C&C/old school gaming (clarification: old school gaming means the following to me: lots of roleplaying character/NPC interactions; trying to resolve a good portion of non-combat through roleplaying rather than rolling dice; a rules light system that doesn't involve a lot of feats, skills, combat manouvers, etc.; a good balance of roleplaying/puzzle solving/combat; and a good dose of humor when appropriate). I wanted to do a good job representing C&C and old school gaming.

When Saturday arrived, I headed out to All Things Fun and set up shop. Glenn, our newest addition, showed up early as well. So while I did my final prep he and I chatted about gaming, life, etc. Then two of the Wednesday Night C&C regulars (Bill and Pam) showed up as well. It was good to have the three of them there as support. So the game session was slated to start at 2 PM. As the moment drew close, I waited expectantly for some newbies. And waited. And waited some more. It was about quarter after 2 PM when I decided to start the session and just throw any late arrivals into the mix as they joined in.

Well, the session went three hours, and no newbs. I was pretty disappointed in that fact. Of course there were a lot of players for the D&D games going on around us. I guess there's no beating the name recognition of D&D, right? Ah well, we had a good time regardless!

As for the free stuff, I have to say that I was a bit underwhelmed by most of what I saw. I distinctly remember feeling like Free RPG Day 2010 found me agonizing over what freebies to choose. This year I had no such feeling. I picked up the Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure starter and the Dragon Age quickstart guide, and was not drawn to anything else.

Just like everyone else lately, I've given my first impressions of DCC. I have to say that, upon reflection, I may have come across as being harsh in my thoughts, and those thoughts were based on a beta test rules set. But I have to reiterate that my judgement wasn't really toward the viability of the system. It seems like a very solid set of rules that is playable, light, flexible, and ultimately fun. It does, therefore, seem "old  school" in nature. I just feel like there was a ton of hype leading up to the beta release about the game being some revolution in old school gaming. And that's what I really had an issue with. That and the fact that the hype also seemed to portray the game as having significant innovations that would set it apart. And while there are some interesting mechanics, it still seems like a heavily house ruled D&D.

I feel like there's a growing trend toward the term "old school gaming" becoming hijacked. It seems like more and more gaming systems are coming down the proverbial pike that are claiming to be old school. And I'm beginning to wonder if that label is being applied more and more as a marketing spin rather than an actual badge of honor or pride.

That's where I come to Dragon Age. I found the words "old school" on back of the quickstart guide, and I rolled my eyes. Here we go again. But as I flipped through the rules, I found myself liking what I saw. Here was a game that didn't seem like D&D. There was something interesting in a game that just uses the d6. The artwork grabbed me, and the rules had some things I really enjoyed. Now, I've written a lot on this blog about my Gamer ADD, but this seemed somehow different. I might need to write a whole separate post about this Dragon Age thing...

This interest in Dragon Age made me think about what I may be craving. There seems to be a part of me that wants a system that's not based on the bones of D&D. There's a part of me that's always been interested in finding an old school system that's not a variation of D&D. That's why I've always been intrigued by Rolemaster, Hackmaster, Tunnels & Trolls, Dragon Warriors, and the like. D&D was so central to my entrance into gaming that systems not based on its DNA are fascinating to me. 

So I find myself torn between my love and reverence for old D&D and an interest in exploring games that have an old school mentality but are based on entirely different systems. For me, I enjoy C&C because of its D&D roots and what the game does with those roots. C&C has a combination of aspects that make it a system of choice for me. Playing C&C and exploring the old D&D games gives me a comforting connection to a strong gaming tradition. However, there's something to be said for branching out and exploring new territory.

Anyway, that's enough of my blathering for now. Hope everyone's having a great day, and I'll talk to you soon.

P.S. On my way home from Free RPG Day, I stopped at a small comic book store that I had forgotten existed. My fellow gamer Bill told me that they have a lot of old D&D stuff there for sale, so I had to stop in. While I was there I scored a very pristine copy of the 1E D&D Monster Manual (the printing with the dragon and the pegasi on the cover). Nice!

Reflections on the Occasion of My 100th Post

Well, here’s my 100th post! Maybe not a huge milestone. Especially considering that my blog’s been around for about 11 months now. But I figured I’d celebrate the event. So, instead of waiting for June 30th (the actual one-year anniversary of Once More Unto the Breach!) to do a look back at the last year, I’ll take this opportunity to do so.

As stated in a recent post, I want to take a look at my progress over the last year as far as actual gaming is concerned, refocus on the purpose of my blog and consider what I might do differently going forward, and perhaps make some predictions on what the future may hold.

Year in Review

I started this blog with no real strong purpose or purposes behind it. I suppose many blogs are started in that way, actually. I knew I wanted to join in the discussion of this old-school renaissance I had discovered and with which I had become enamored. I shared my personal gaming history, as I had seen many others do. I knew that I wanted to tap into the community to perhaps find some like-minded folks and get some advice on how to finally return to the hobby. I feel that I have accomplished both of these things.

It’s been great sharing stories and experiences, learning more about the roots and history of D&D and roleplaying in general, and learning about the retroclones and other game systems not based on TSR’s products.

I’ve accomplished my goal of getting back into gaming. I’ve done some gaming with my old friends, but I’ve also had a “breakthrough” of sorts, and discovered that I can have roleplaying without my old group. It just took breaking out of my association with my old group and gaming, as the two had been interchangeable in my mind for decades. It also took finding the right people.

I tried Pathfinder but I realized that I am truly a rules-light and old-school-minded gamer. There were false starts other than my very brief Pathfinder stint, such as my attempt to return to play-by-chat/email gaming, which I had been doing with varying degrees of success since 2007. But I quickly discovered that I really wanted to get back to the physical tabletop.

I’ve explored the local gaming scene to the best of my abilities. There aren’t many FLGS’s in southern New Jersey. Due to a recent major change in my work situation, I found myself closer to All Things Fun! during the work week. ATF is, IMHO, the best FLGS in the area.

I went to my first gaming convention this year: TrollCon East. I might be tempted to try my hand at attending other cons in the future.

My present includes keeping the gaming going on Wednesday nights at All Things Fun! I’m playing in a great campaign there. And, after talking to the Wednesday night group, I’ve convinced them to let me run a game on alternating weeks! I’m planning on getting a Dragonlance campaign going, the first time I’ve ever tried to run a game on the world of Krynn. This is a campaign that’s about two decades in the making! No pressure, right?

Purpose and Refocus

I may not have known all of the reasons behind my desire to create a gaming blog when I started one, but I have a better idea of the purpose I want it to serve now. I want the blog to continue to serve as a means to share my gaming experiences with kindred spirits. I want to continue to read about other gamer’s experiences and find common ground. You’re all my support system. And I hope that I can also provide said support. We can help keep each other company in what can, paradoxically, be a lonely hobby. Yes, we may be surrounded by other gamers, but there are times when we find our pastime being viewed with copious misunderstanding and an almost institutionalized disdain. The existence of the many RPG blogs keeps me inspired. I hope you look forward to hearing more about my trials and travails as much as I look forward to hearing more about yours. So I’ll continue to share tales of my roleplaying sessions, on both sides of the GM’s screen.

All that being said, I have no illusions that my gaming life is all that interesting. Therefore, I hope to provide some more “useful” content, such as book and game reviews, new spells, magic items, thoughts on gaming “philosophy,” and more. Again, I’m presuming a lot here when I say “useful.” That remains to be seen. But yeah, like everyone else, I could be paying the JoeSky Tax more often.

The Future

So, like I said, I’m working on getting a Dragonlance campaign going with my new gaming group. And of course I look forward to more adventures in the City State of the Invincible Overlord! Bottom line, I am having an incredible time on Wednesday nights, and I hope that continues for many Wednesdays to come!

I’m a total Castles & Crusades believer. That being said, I do have to push aside the occasional bout of gamer ADD! I’ve found myself more and more interested in the Moldvay Basic and Expert sets, and by extension Labyrinth Lord. I am also enamored of the Core and Complete incarnations of Swords & Wizardry. This boils down to the fact that I intend on running some games using some combination of these rules. Maybe it’s because I’ve read so much goodness about how many people are having a great time with them.

A couple of the Wednesday Night C&C folks have told me more about Savage Worlds, and I find myself intrigued by that game system. It seems like a good set of rules to use if one wanted to run a game set in the Old West, or even a mythical version of the Old West. As a matter of fact, I’ve always been a huge fan of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series…

OK, I have to cut myself off there! In all, it’s been a great year all around! I look forward to what the next year may hold! As always, happy gaming!