Happy Birthday, Gary!

 

Hail the ODM (Original Dungeon Master)! Thanks for all the adventure over the decades! 

I Backed MAZES, and So Should You!

Ever heard of Mazes Fantasy Roleplaying? If not, go check out the Kickstarter for a deluxe hardcover of the game (and much more). This neat little RPG was created by the excellent folks at 9th Level Games. Like me, they are local to the Philadelphia area. They also happen to be the same talented people behind Kobolds Ate My Baby and other games.

I highly recommend you back this KS, which funded in two hours! It has an old-school feel but with modern mechanics that emphasize starting every session at "the Door to Adventure"! Need I say more? 

Do You Dare Become A Thousand Year Old Vampire?

So, I discovered a cool little solo RPG called Thousand Year Old Vampire. I backed it on Kickstarter (go check it out...the campaign is over but there's an option for late backers available).

I was so damned intrigued by the game that I also created a blog for people to post about their gameplay experiences. I decided to call the blog Thousand Year Old Tales. Yes, I didn't stray far from the title of the game. Anyway, also take some time to check out the blog, because I've posted my own playtesting experiences there.

Speaking of playtesting...there's a playtest PDF available on the game's Kickstarter page for you to download and try it out. I'd highly recommend it! Heck, if you want, run through a game and send me an email at tyotales@yahoo.com about your experience playtesting, and I'll post it over at Thousand Year Old Tales!

By the way, the game's creator, Tim Hutchings, is a super-cool dude! I've been communicating with him via Kickstarter and he's all for fans like me raving about the game. He definitely didn't shy away from my rabidly positive response, that's for sure!

Anyway, check out Thousand Year Old Vampire. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

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!

Delving into The Barrow

"They moved in the dark...Sharpened bone spears dipped in shit and poison, curved swords and wicked implements of pain and war, fierce masks of horn and brass, short horn bows pulled with fire-sharpened arrows..."

Sounds like a description of a small horde of orcs tracking a group of adventurers through a dungeon, doesn't it?

That's an excerpt from a novel I picked up recently called The Barrow. I'd read a couple reviews of the book that compared it, in some ways, to a D&D dungeon crawl. Several of those reviews didn't mean that as a compliment, or see that as a good thing.

Now, I know that dungeon crawls don't always translate to great fiction! I've (tried) to read some of the more questionable Wizards of the Coast fiction, trust me. So I know that trying to depict the dungeon crawl in fiction can come to very bad ends, from a fiction standpoint.

At any rate, as I dug further into the lore of The Barrow, I discovered the author, Mark Smylie, is also a visual artist. And when I saw his work, I realized he contributed greatly to one of the campaign setting books I own: Midgard. Here's an example of his work:

I wonder what sort of author he makes. I'll let you know when I read the novel! The illo above is from a comic series that Smylie created a while back. I haven't read those...

Anyway, as I usually do, I started wondering about his created world's viability as an RPG setting. You know, because I'm an insane person that can't seem to separate his fantasy novel reading from his RPG obsession. Nevermind that I haven't read the damn novel yet! Oy vey, my mind...

Well, sure enough, when I went to the website for The Barrow, I discovered that an RPG already exists! And, a second edition is in the works.

Sheesh, I don't have enough time at the moment to go deeper into this rabbit hole. But I intend to write more here as I read the novel and explore Smylie's world.

Note: go here if you want to read an excerpt from the novel.

There are many Chained Coffins, but this one is MINE!

 

Once again, I find myself wondering if I'm a masochist. I mean, I keep buying all these awesome gaming products, even though I'm not currently gaming much at all. But what can I say, I'm a gamer at heart and I love collecting and reading this stuff!

 

Case in point, I received my copy of The Chained Coffin box set from Goodman Games. I'm salivating over this incredible product of the imagination of Michael Curtis! Man, I want to get a game going based on this thing!

 

Let me walk you through an unboxing, eh?

 

 

First, above is shown the return label on the shipping box! That's Ol' Blackcloak, a malevolent supernatural being featured in the Chained Coffin. Nice touch, Goodman Games!

 

 

BAM! I opened up this puppy and there's the silver foil cover of the main module! Nice ambiance right there, eh?

 

 

Lurking under the main module is all the extra setting detail as well as bonus modules! Lots of mood-setting gaming goodness here, kids!

 

 

And there's the wonderfully strange wheels-within-wheels of the working puzzle wheel, for use during the course of the adventure! Friggin' sweet!

 

 

Oops,  the only imperfection in this whole glorious unboxing is the bottom part of the box. It's got a weird ding in one corner. Ah well, just a minor gripe about an otherwise cool product.

So there you have it, folks! I'd definitely suggest you try to get your hands on this bad boy! I've been reading through it when I get some spare moments, and it doesn't disappoint!

The Flame Princess Cometh Again!

Way back in August 2010 I obtained a copy of the Deluxe Edition box set of Lamentations of the Flame Princess. I loved that little box, the first version of the game to hit the streets, and all its contents.

 

But, it was a tumultuous time for me that year, with some significant financial hits thanks to the suffering economy. So, later that year I had to offer up the LotFP box set, among other RPG books, for sale. I wound up holding onto the box until early 2012, around which time I traded it in to Noble Knight Games and used the credit to get material for other game systems.

 

I look back with some regret when it comes to giving away the LotFP box set. However, I realized there is a solution to soothe that regret, in the form of the LotFP Rules & Magic hardcover! I just ordered that puppy and it is on its way to my hot little hands! Can't wait to see how the LotFP rules now stand. I know they haven't changed significantly since I had the Deluxe set, but I'm curious to see how the layout and artwork has been improved.

 

In all, I'm looking forward to a glorious reunion with the Flame Princess!

 

Now, Mr. Raggi, when will that Referee book come out in hardcover?!

 

Have you heard of Dungeonteller yet?

Well, you have now!

 

A gentleman named Doug Anderson, author of the Blue Boxer Rebellion blog (love that name!), has been quietly working on this "kid-friendly" version of everybody's favorite fantasy RPG.

 

He recently put the free "Dungeonteller Hero Pack" on DriveThru RPG. The offering is a preview of the rules, and includes some sample characters.

 

Dungeonteller has a simple and unified mechanic that I really enjoy! It's all based on just the d6. I've professed my love for d6-based games in the past, and that feeling hasn't changed. There's just something primal about using the d6, you know? Maybe stemming from my board game days (I played a ton of Risk back in the day, among other games). Does anyone else out there love the d6?

 

I have to say something right now: I think I'm more excited about Dungeonteller than I am for D&D 5E. I'm friggin' serious about that. More and more, as time goes by, I'm looking for a rule set that doesn't tax my particular brain. I need simple rules, but with a simplicity that carries within it the flexibility to have a lot of nuance. Yeah, that's a good term for what I like: nuanced simplicity.

 

At this stage in my life, I can't be the kid who had time to sit around and ponder all manner of arcane rules for a game. It was cool to be able to do so when I was a teen, don't get me wrong. I don't fault those who have the time and brain power to do that sort of thing. But that sort of rules erudition is not in the cards for me right now.

 

I want rules that get out of the way of the game, you know? I know that other people can keep more complex rules straight in their heads, and more power to them! But as for me, I only have so much capacity in the old noggin.

 

Anyway, DUNGEONTELLER! The full game is slated for release by the end of the month. I CANNOT WAIT! Seriously, the game is also stated as being for "new gamers." So, by that logic, it's not just for kids! I have to tell you, I would run this for adults any day! Seriously.

 

At the very least, it's much more likely I would run games using Dungeonteller than D&D 5E at this point in my life! How's that for an endorsement?

 

Keep your eyes peeled for this one, folks!

My Official Free RPG Day 2014 Report

Steve Chenault a.k.a. The Troll Lord behind the screen and in action!

 

How was MY Free RPG Day 2014?

 

Awesome.

 

Why? Because this wasn't your average day of just picking up free stuff and playing in a couple one-shot games.

 

THE Troll Lord of Troll Lord Games was in the house at All Things Fun in West Berlin, New Jersey this weekend! Steve Chenault ran a session of the company's flagship game Castles & Crusades on Saturday night!

 

I'm considering Saturday night a convention, folks, and I don't care what you think! The last time I had the great pleasure of gaming with the Troll Lord was back in March 2011, for the TrollCon East event. Any time I'm gaming with the Trolls, it's a convention!

 

At the table Saturday was a collection of the ATF regulars (some who I've gamed with for a long time on Wednesday nights) and some folks who were new to C&C (and who, I think, aren't regular roleplayers at the store). There were about a dozen players in all.

 

 

Steve let me use my half-elf paladin Drance, and I found myself a part of a fairly well-rounded party that consisted of a druid, an elven ranger, a halfling rogue, a dwarven cleric, a gnome illusionist (I'll give that one a pass, but *blech*), and another paladin besides myself, just to name a few of the participants.

 

Steve was in his usual gregarious form. He's always entertaining and challenging, and his love for the art and hobby of roleplaying is palpable. You can always tell that he loves the game and is having as much fun as his players.

 

Note the requisite stash of Dr. Pepper on the table! A Troll RPG staple!

The session culminated in the party facing a strange dragon-type creature that could turn you to stone with its breath weapon, and could spread its wings to reveal a scintillating pattern of light. If you looked at the light, you were immediately caught in a charm that made you feel all warm and fuzzy about the dragon!

We fought valiantly against the beast, and several of us were devoured by the thing, and Steve described their demise with his usual flair for description and gory details! Drance the half-elf paladin fought well that night, especially when the helmeted head of one of his fallen comrades was momentarily stuck in the throat of the dragon-thing!

However, ultimately, we were getting our butts handed to us, and we decided to flee. The dragon-thing managed to escape, but we dealt it a blow it would never forget!
 

As for the swag, what free stuff did I grab? The DCC RPG/Xcrawl offering, and Mr. Raggi's The Doom Cave of the Crystal-Headed Children (which is apparently a big "eff you" to people who protested his Free RPG Day 2013 offering, Better Than Any Man). I was surprised I was able to get my hands on anything, as I didn't make it to the store until about 7:30 PM. Those two were the last two freebies sitting on the table, so I snatched them up.

 

I'm a bit bummed that I couldn't get ahold of a copy of The Godsfall quick start rules, though I figured that would be hard to get since there was only one copy per box given to retailers. I'm really intrigued about the Godsfall RPG, and can't wait for a better look at the system and the world. 

 

But, all that aside, it was a great time! Thanks to Steve and fellow Troll Tim Burns for coming out to the East Coast once again, and bringing along some good gaming memories!

 

Five Ancient Kingdoms in my hands!

A thousand thanks to Jonathan Becker for sending me a copy of his new game, Five Ancient Kingdoms! All praise to you, effendi! Congrats again to you for your accomplishment! It's a nice little package, with three books and those cool dice! Feast your eyes!

 

 

In the near future I hope to write up a more detailed exploration/review of the game. Hopefully it won't take me a thousand and one nights ;-)

Thanks, Gary...

Farewell, Mr. Vance

I wanted to add my voice to the growing chorus of bloggers who are mourning the passing of Jack Vance.

 

Like some of my fellow RPG bloggers, I've come late in life to an appreciation of Vance's fiction and the seminal role they played in many aspects of the D&D game (I won't repeat them here, as you probably know those influences he had on the game). Though, like everyone else who played 1E AD&D, I was exposed to the vaunted Appendix N list, as a youth I didn't really have access to the more obscure tomes it referenced. What was readily available were the D&D novels, in particular the Dragonlance novels. As I've said before, those were my first real foray into fantasy fiction, for better or worse (I'm personally fine with my path to fantasy fiction, but I'm sure some readers are shaking their head in pity right now).

 

But with age comes wisdom, as well as money, the ability to drive to a bookstore, and also the ability to scour the Internet for old editions of books. Yes, over time, I came to discover the books that Gygax set forth in Appendix N, and added many to my personal home library. Sadly, I haven't read all of them as of yet. I'm quite easily distracted, you see, and my library is home to everything from the latest escapist offerings of new authors to the old tales of the founding masters of the genre.

 

But, I'm committed to changing my reading schedule to finally, for good and all, complete my reading of the works of Vance and other members of the old guard (Leiber, Moorcock, Le Guin, etc). It sometimes takes a passing like this to remind one of the need to focus on the priorities, you know? So, I'm starting up again with my reading of The Dying Earth. I've started reading my Science Fiction Book Club edition in the past but stopped due to my short attention span (and not for any lack of enjoyment on my part when it came to Vance's writing).

 

Farewell, Mr. Vance. As you sail into the beyond, I hope the sound of our thoughts and prayers speed your passage into eternity. You showed us the worlds you dreamed, and thus inspired countless other dreams, many of which no doubt manifested themselves in other fictional works as well as a good number of game tables.

Fantasy Authors Play 1E at ConFusion

I hope everyone reading this - including those outside the US - has a great Thanksgiving weekend! You don't have to be a US citizen to give thanks, right? Anyway, I stumbled upon the video above, so I decided to share. You'll see authors like Joe Abercrombie, Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfuss, and others playing 1st Edition D&D! It's edited down to a half-hour video (apparently they played for about three hours or so) but it's pretty entertaining. Below is another video of the authors talking about RPGs. Enjoy.

Mr. Curtis Goes to South Jersey

The requisite table of various and sundry gaming goodies!

So I've finally found the time to get pics off my new phone and write this post! On Sunday November 4th, I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Curtis, the man behind the Society of Torch, Pole and Rope blog and the creator of OSR staples such as Stonehell Dungeon and the Dungeon Alphabet. Despite the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, he drove many hours from New York to New Jersey, South Jersey to be exact (we Jerseyites consider North and South Jersey to be almost separate realms, but that's a discussion for another time).

When I arrived at the incredible All Things Fun in West Berlin, I had a chance to talk to Michael about gaming, the OSR, and the havoc of Sandy before a couple other gamers arrived: Rich of Circle of Dar Janix fame, and Mike from Swords of Legend. Once these fine fellows joined us, we got down to the business of gaming!

The calm before the proverbial gaming storm...

Michael gave us the following choice: he could run us through his Emirikol was Framed! DCC RPG module, or he could run us through one of two unpublished modules. My fellows and I leaped at the chance to playtest something for him! So Michael handed out some 1st-level DCC characters (we decided to take two each) and gave us a quick overview of the system before starting the session. 

I think he's trying to scare me with his GM screen (the "evil" dice bag is mine)...

I thought it was rather hilarious that one of my character's Lucky Rolls (part of the DCC RPG character creation process) was "Conceived on Horseback." I thought such a feat of agility on the part of the character's parents would confer some sort of bonus for the offspring, but alas that is not the case.

My two characters' sheets and associated spell page print-outs.

I don't want to give away anything about the module we playtested, but suffice to say it definitely had a strong old-school feel, with what I thought was a nod to at least one Basic D&D module from back in the day. I'll leave it at that.

I picked up a copy of the revised Dungeon Alphabet signed by the author himself, as well as some other swag that Michael brought along. Bottom line: it was cool to finally meet a prominent member of the old-school RPG community to talk about gaming and get down to some actual play!

This should have at least given me a Dex bonus, thanks to very agile parents...

'Nuff said.

Michael Curtis coming to my neck of the proverbial woods...

That's right, folks! Michael Curtis, of Stonehell Dungeon and Dungeon Alphabet fame, is coming to the awesome All Things Fun! store on Sunday, November 4th! Go here (Michael's blog) and here (the All Things Fun! event page) for more details.

I have to say I'm really excited for a number of reasons. Of course I'm probably preaching to the choir here, and I'm sure you know who he is already. But anyway, Michael is a prominent figure in the old-school gaming scene because of the body of work he's produced. It looks like he'll be running a game session to take players through one of his latest creations, the DCC RPG module "Emirikol Was Framed!"

I can't wait to meet one of the people behind the old-school movement, and maybe have time to chat about the OSR, his upcoming projects, etc. And I also cannot wait to finally play DCC RPG! You know what this means?! I GET TO USE THOSE FUNKY ZOCCHI DICE I BOUGHT! Nice!

This should really be a fun time. Ok, I'll stop with the gushing now. If you can make it, I would love to meet anyone who's been reading my blog. Thanks to the incredible proprietors of All Things Fun!, Ed and Dina Evans, for setting up this event! It should be a great time! I'm planning on taking some photos and blogging about the event afterwards.

Numenera and The Kickstarter Blues

 

(First, apologies. I had no intention of my last post being the only thing from me for over a week. I know the world must have stopped turning without me ;-)

 

So I did it. I put in a pledge for Monte Cook's Numenera RPG Kickstarter. Anyone else chip in for this bad boy? The project garnered over $500,000 for the love of Gygax! I'm pretty excited, it seems like a really cool project and I'm glad to have made my own humble monetary contribution. And, as Monty said in a video that he made after the end of the Kickstarter to thank the backers, (I'm paraphrasing here) the amount that was raised and the number of backers (well over 4,000) show that the rumors of the death of RPGs is greatly exaggerated.

 

However, amid the anticipation, I am sort of upset with the Kickstarter process. Why? Well, originally I pledged $60, but then decided to change my pledge to $50 for several reasons that I won't go into. Anyway, the Kickstarter ended and I received a message that there was a problem with my transaction. I am using a prepaid card with just under $60 on it. Well, I thought that wouldn't be a problem since I changed the pledge to $50. However, Amazon Payments, the service that is the Kickstarter default, didn't seem to get the memo. They're still trying to charge me for the original $60 pledge.

 

Has anyone run into this problem? I've tried to contact Kickstarter, Amazon, and Monte himself. No responses as of yet. I know what you might say: just change the payment to another card, right? Well, I'd much rather use up this prepaid card I have on hand. The rest of my budget is really tight...yes, even for $10. This is because of all the other RPG purchases I've made of late.

 

Advice in this matter is welcome, folks.

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!

TrollCon East in Words and Pictures!

So, I'm taking a break from my job hunting (doing pretty well so far...got my updated resume together and I'm putting my networking skills into overdrive!), and I've downloaded some photos from my cellphone that I took at TrollCon East the other night.

Here's a shot of the mountain of C&C stuff the Trolls brought with them (every time I see this one I imagine a choir of angels singing):


Yes, that is indeed a fat stack of Castle Keeper Guides at the top of that pyramid of awesomeness!

The next pic is a shot of the Troll Lord himself, Steve Chenault, serving as Castle Keeper at the head of the table! You can see he improvised a CK screen! I feel like in this shot Steve's saying "I'm coming for you next!" to a hapless player!

Actually, that can't be farther from the truth! Steve ran a great game on Saturday night (the night I attended the Con), and he was the epitome of the cool gamemaster! It really was a great experience to meet him and his fellow Troll, Tim Burns. Steve was outgoing and hilarious, and he never tired of talking to all of us about C&C as well as other stuff, such as how much he loves the Dogfights show on the History Channel, and how Arkansas and New Jersey share a connection because both states are the targets of a lot of jokes!

All in all, Steve and Tim were so down to earth. I could really tell they were so passionate about their game system, and roleplaying in general. The fact that they came all the way out to New Jersey for this relatively small Con is a testament to their dedication and appreciation of the people who love their system. I have to say, they've won me over! I was dabbling in the system before, but now I'm officially a C&C convert!

You can read the Troll's blog post here for a wrap up of the Con, as well as some some images. I'm in this particular photo (I'm all the way to the left of the shot, the guy with the dark hair in the green sweatshirt).

Anyway, once I get back on my feet with a new job, I'll definitely be converting my current campaign to C&C!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lovecraft!

Howard Philips Lovecraft was born on August 20th, 1890. I discovered his weird writings as a teenager and have been hooked ever since. I have a few of the Del Rey reprints of his stories in my personal library. Every year around Halloween it's a ritual for me, taking those books off the shelf and delving into them. I read them on the train to work or in a park, and as the words shift my reality into the strange, I look about at those around me and wonder if we're all just scurrying insects under the poised crushing thumb of some unknowable terror...

I think I might have to check out The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft sometime soon! Ron Howard was heard sometime last year, I think, talking about adapting this comic series into a movie.

And then there's word that Guillermo del Toro is doing a big screen treatment of "At the Mountains of Madness." However it happens, I hope Lovecraft does finally get a good film that introduces him to a wider audience. Cthulhu knows there's been a plethora of terrible B movies created from his work.

So take a moment today and check out the H.P. Lovecraft Archive, which is probaby the best website about Lovecraft that I've come across. Let's celebrate the man who is one of the inspirations for James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG, which I'll be running soon!

Thanks Mr. Lovecraft!

Who are you, Matt Finch?

It's late, I'm tired as hell, and yet I can't tear myself away from the gaming world this weekend.

I've been wondering just who the legendary Matt Finch is! I've listened to a podcast interview with him, his Swords & Wizardry game was the first retro-clone I encountered, he had a hand in the creation of OSRIC, he's listed in the acknowledgements of Labyrinth Lord, and his name is in the editorial credits in my Castles & Crusades Player's Handbook. It's like wherever there's old school D&D gaming, he's there! I'm not saying this is a bad thing. I just feel like I want to know more about him, simply because I see his name all over the place! I've done searches on the Web and checked out the Mythmere Games page but I can't seem to find any info on him, and he doesn't seem to have a blog.

Do I sound like a stalker?

Anyway, just wondering if Mr. Finch has a presence anywhere on the Web. Does anyone know where he can be found? At the very least, I'd like to give him a virtual handshake!

Alright, enough stupidity for one day...good night, and good gaming!