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!

MR Welch Recaps D&D's Entire History Off the Top of His Head

 

Gaming Hope Springs Eternal...

Me imagining I'm Conan brooding about roleplaying...

Yes, I actually do sometimes wonder why I keep shouting into this blog void. Thanks for theoretically asking, theoretical reader! 

Maybe I'm just stubborn. Maybe I have some instinct to never release my death grip on my desire to roleplay. Maybe this desire is some vestigial defense mechanism left over from my sometimes-garbage childhood, when books and roleplaying were escapes from abuse. Maybe this never-ending obsession with roleplaying is unhealthy, a crutch, something I should relinquish.

Maybe I will, someday. But not today. Not for the foreseeable future. Granted, I'm pretty myopic (a classic nerd trait) so my foresight is pretty limited, especially without my glasses. 

I've been soldiering on, keeping this here blog (is blogging dead? I'm sure my Gen Z kids don't even know what it is...) alive for...some reason. Maybe the reason is merely one effort to stave off thinking about the inevitability of death. Isn't that part of life? To defer thinking about mortality for as long as possible? 

I'm really not that nihilistic, though, I swear. Sure, I'm struggling with depression, but most of us seem to be in this current reality, amirite? When I feel overwhelmed by the sadness, I wander down to my basement lair (yes, not being ironic) and peruse my roleplaying bookshelf. As usual, I'm assaulted by simultaneous happiness and gloom (that's life, also). The implication of those rows of books never loses the bittersweetness: here is all the material for more than a lifetime of gaming wonderment, which I'm not doing. 

In case you haven't noticed (or even care, oh theoretical reader), I've been mostly posting images for years. I've been posting gaming art that inspires me to...well, to keep dreaming of gaming on a regular basis. Shit, I'd take even a semi-regular basis at this point in my existence. 

You may have also (theoretically!) noticed the number of posts since 2017 have been in the 40's. Since 2017, I've made the number of posts match my age. Clever, eh? Nope. No, it's not. But anyway, since I'm an English major and math is like occult magic to me, I decided years ago to match my age until I actually (maybe someday) post more blogs organically than my age in a given year. Alas, once again, this was not that year. 

SO, expect the usual annual barrage of end-of-year image posts, folks! I gotta hit 46 this time around! 

I started this blog over a decade ago because I...well, I got excited about roleplaying again. I wanted to add my voice to the chorus of the OSR, in whatever way materialized. But I've always been a scattered one (thanks, mental illness, much appreciated). And like most other efforts in my life, I gave it a lukewarm, half-hearted try. But perhaps I'll tell myself once again that there is honor in the trying. Maybe I'll let myself still believe that, too. 

So, I'll continue to consider myself a patron of gaming, and continue to spend money on supporting roleplaying Kickstarters and buying roleplaying books online and at the FLGS that still exists not far from my house (go eff yourself, COVID, and fight on, FLGS!). I'll keep adding to the growing collection of roleplaying books I'll probably never use to actually, you know, roleplay.

Perhaps dreams are enough to sustain me. At least for another year. Someday, the dreams may run out. After that...I'm not sure what I'll do. I dare not think about it. So I'll continue to be like the protagonist of The Raven, and continue to ponder, weak and weary, over all of my quaint and curious volumes of forgotten roleplaying lore. Until some dark bird finally tells me nevermore (okay, maybe I just stepped over the line of trite and maudlin emo territory but...there it is...)

Well, thanks for theoretically reading! I hope the new year is more conducive to roleplaying, even if it's just in our minds. 

End-of-Week Elmore (9/27/19): The Fall of Istar

Article: How Dragonlance Launched My Lifelong Love of Fantasy

Good Dragonlance love article. Amen, brother Jeremy! It launched me into fantasy too!

End-of-Week Parkinson (6/21/19): The Lady and the Lizard

Score at the Vintage Store: Endless Quest Books!

So the male offspring and I went to The House of Fun in Oaklyn, NJ yesterday. It had been a while since we'd been there, and I've written before about their stash of D&D and other tabletop gaming material.

As the boy, as usual, drooled over the wall-to-wall press of old and new action figures and other stuff, I headed for the book shelves in the back. There was the usual stockpile of games including D&D modules and particularly a lot of Ravenloft stuff. 

But lo and behold, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a small selection of random Endless Quest books! I also spotted something I'd never heard of: a Sagard the Barbarian adventure book. According to the Wiki entry, St. Gygax collaborated with Flint Dille, screenwriter for Transformers: The Movie and game designer/writer for games like Dead to Rights.

I figured I should grab a couple of the books for nostalgia's sake (you know how that goes). The store owner said they were $8 a pop, so I settled on two:

I was particularly glad to snag a copy of Return to Brookmere, being a fan of the cover illo by Larry Elmore. The interior art by Tim Truman is no slouch either (his stuff has a definite similarity to Elmore's work...perhaps that's why they were teamed up for this book?):

I picked up the other book, Duel of the Masters, mostly because of the artists: Clyde Caldwell for the cover and the late, great Keith Parkinson for the interior illos. I've honestly never seen anything done in black and white by Parkinson. I've always associated him with the incredible cover art he's done for gaming books and novels. 

Anyway, I'm happy with these small scores! Have you picked up anything you're excited about that has fueled some nostalgia?

Have I mentioned that I love Robotech?

Awww yeah! My childhood self would have crapped himself at this sight!

 

Note: If you can relate to this post, please comment below! I'd love to hear stories of your own Robotech nostalgia!

 

When I was a young teen, there was no Internet, no Netflix, no DVR. Heck, there were no DVD players. I guess there was laser disc. But there were VCRs. However, those things were clunky and not easy to program. And even if you programmed the damn thing, someone else in the house was going to mess things up. Because, you know, you're a kid. People don't respect your right to see your friggin' shows.

 

No, when I was a mere lad, there was none of the futuristic entertainment technology we take for granted today. Therefore, all TV was pretty much "appointment TV." Meaning, you got in front of that tube, or you didn't. And if you didn't, you missed that show you so desperately wanted to see. Too bad, so sad. Here's a tiny violin, playing just for you.

 

I'm about to get all "back in my day" right about now. Seriously, the kids these days (heh, I actually wrote that) don't know what it's like to be at the whim of the TV overlords. Nowadays, TV is all about "on-demand," of course. Now, we are the new rulers of our entertainment destiny.

 

But that's not what I had as a kid. Nope. As a kid, I had to book it home after school to catch the shows I loved.

 

One of those shows was Robotech. I loved the hell out of that show as a kid. I discovered the series at a tender young age, somewhere in the mid-80s. Robotech was something "new" back in the day. It was called "Japanimation" at the time, not anime. Wow, that sounds weird now. And maybe racist?

 

Anyway, there were only two times of day that Robotech came on back then. During the week, one channel showed it at 6 AM and 3 PM. Kid-me thought 6 AM was an ungodly time when no decent, sane person should be awake. And, school got out at 3 PM. You see my dilemma?

 

So, that school bell would ring, and I would force my chubby body to run as much as possible across town so that I could catch as much of the show as I could. I remember running through freezing cold, slipping on ice in my haste. I remember running through sweltering heat, until I arrived at home, chest heaving like a bellows and sweat pouring off of me.

 

I usually caught about 20 minutes of the show on a good day. But those were precious moments that made a huge impact on the burgeoning sci-fi fan in me.

 

On those rare serendipitous occasions when I actually got an episode on tape, I watched the hell out of it. Over and over, in awe of the sci-fi action, the giant robots battling, and the soap opera of the relationships between the characters. I mean, the show had a race of space giants that were as entranced as I was by the thought of kissing a girl. How could I not relate? How could I not love this show?

 

As time went on, as things happen, my interests moved on to other shows. I became absorbed with other pastimes, such as roleplaying of course. But my love of Robotech remained, lingering within me, and manifesting in an abiding passion for giant robots and space opera.

 

I even tried, once, to combine my love of roleplaying with Robotech. I bought a couple of the Robotech roleplaying books pumped out by Palladium...but never played the game. One of my big roleplaying regrets.

 

Recently, Robotech has made a resurgence in my mind. And, of course, I turned to the miracles of modern connectivity, and quickly found a certain 20-disc set. I bought it for a song. A gateway to hours upon hours of Robotech goodness that I never could have imagined as a kid!

 

 

I'm about to embark once again on a voyage into a space epic, one that will no doubt take me through time AND space. I give a nod to kid-me, to let him know that it's time to come home and enjoy one of his favorite shows in a way he never could. On his own terms, finally.

 

Come with me, young man. We have places to go, giant robots to pilot, and space ladies to woo!

Me and Roleplaying: 2014 and Beyond...

Hail and well met, fellow adventurers! Here we are, on the threshold of a new year of crisis and opportunity! May we all rise to the blessed challenges that the universe lays before us, for challenges are blessings, and they help make us more than we were before!

I love the RPG blogosphere, the whole cacophonous lot of you! Every single one of your blogs are a light that keeps the flame of roleplaying alive! Whether you have a regular game (be it face-to-face or virtual), or are dreaming of gaming days past or future, you are keeping the spirit alive. And I salute you for your efforts, however humble or grand. Thanks to all of you for your continuing inspiration. For that's what you have been, are, and will be for me.

No, this isn't a farewell post from me. I'm just changing my focus for my free time in 2014. I'm working on a dream, folks. Wish me all the best you can spare. I'm bound and determined to change the career aspect of my life. I'm going to focus all the will, energy, determination, and ambition I have in this body into the effort.

So my available time for the hobby will be limited, but it will burn no less brighter for it. Indeed, I expect the inner fire for roleplaying will only burn hotter. I'm looking forward to my return to roleplaying when the time is right, just as it was right about three years ago. I always have believed that hope springs eternal. It is this faith that has driven me most of my life. Without it, I'm not sure where I'd be today.

At any rate, this is an RPG blog, eh? So, what do I foresee for me in the way of gaming in the new year?

Well, there will be no doubt some evenings where I will actually find myself at the game table once more. I've laid the foundations for several good groups of gamers that have promised to have chairs open for me. Most likely I will be a player, as I probably won't have the time to prep to be a GM.

I see the coming year as a time of much-needed reflection on my roleplaying career. This reflection will include some much-needed delvings into the old rule sets that have been calling out to me. I'm feeling like I have a lot of assumptions when it comes to my gaming past. Assumptions scare me. To me, they reek of hubris. You assume you know all there is to know about something, and that's when bad things happen.

Yes, I need to do some long-overdue exploration of my roleplaying past. Since I jumped head-first back into roleplaying in 2010, I've pretty much never looked back. But that neglect of my RPG past has most likely given birth to this burning desire to read and use some of the old books.

One of the big assumptions I've harbored is that I know all I need to know about the older versions of D&D and AD&D. But I'm really feeling drawn to, of all things, 2nd Edition AD&D at the moment. At the very least, I think I need to do a good read of this version of the game over the next year. If only to exorcise the demanding, nagging feeling that I need to explore it again. But actually, I expect to see that old game with my older man's eyes, and see what I get out of it this time around. That's a reunion I've foolishly avoided. I think it's going to be a good thing, for me to revisit the version of the game that took up much of my early roleplaying life.

Heck, if I have time, I might just go back and revisit St. Gygax's masterwork, 1st Edition AD&D...the version that I played the most back in the day. I expect to be rewarded by that journey as well.

As I do my re-exploration of the above, I hope to have time for posting some musings here.

As I've said before on this blog, I love Castles & Crusades, and it really is my preferred version of AD&D, but nostalgia DEMANDS that I go back and take a look at the real deal again. Whether this becomes good nostalgia or bad, limiting nostalgia is really up to me, and what I do with the feeling.

 

I also hope to do some reviews of new games and such as I read them, and perhaps contribute some gaming material here and there. We'll see. 

 

The X factor of 2014 is the 40th anniversary of D&D and the release of the next iteration. From what I've seen of D&D Next via the playtest materials, I'm not really interested in using those rules. But what a milestone! I'm excited to see what comes...er, next!

So, this is not goodbye. I will be reading all of your words, contributing when I can, and enjoying every minute of it! I wish you all a wonderful new year of roleplaying goodness! Please have much happy gaming, as well as general happiness and prosperity (both of the wallet and the soul!) Until we meet again on the road to adventure, I wish you all the best!

The Call of a New Adventure in 2014

 

Yes, I’m a fool for nostalgia. I just try not to let it drag me down. 

 

So, I’m full of nostalgia when it comes to roleplaying. Overflowing with it, bursting at the seams, etcetera. And over the last few years of my personal roleplaying renaissance, I’ve let my nostalgia fuel a return to the hobby that I thought I’d left behind for good. You see, as the years of my last hiatus rolled by, the urge to game swelled like a rising tide. Until I could deny the urge to roleplay no longer.

So round about 2010, I answered the call to adventure. I went out into the wilds of the internet and then the real world to roleplay once more. And I’ve had a lot of fun in the last few years, met some really cool fellow gamers, and have delved back into roleplaying with abandon.

And I’ve come to a new conclusion in the last week or so: perhaps my current desire to set actual play aside again for the time being is actually a result of the roleplaying I’ve done over the last few years.

Sounds paradoxical, eh? Well, perhaps not. Because there's a new call to adventure that has come over me.

You see, since early in 2013 I’ve felt another urge welling up within: to change my career path forever, to finally find work that is infinitely more fulfilling. I’ve been ramping up in anticipation of massive action in 2014 to change my career.

And I think that my successful return to roleplaying has given me faith that I can delve back into other aspirations I had as a younger man, and give life to them as well. So, this urge to change careers, to do something that helps my fellow human beings more directly rather than just slave to make some executives rich, is a dream from my past that is demanding to be brought forth into fruition. And I aim to unleash it.

I am going to become my own boss. I’m going to become an entrepreneur. I’m not sure yet what form that will take exactly, but I have some plans. All I know is, roleplaying has taught me how to dream again. It has reminded me that I need to let my dreams run free, and to not wallow in the rampant negativity that modern global society worships.

I will definitely not be leaving roleplaying for good this year, the 40^th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. Hells no! But it just so happens that I can no longer deny another incessant call from deep within me. I’m just going to be focusing a tremendous amount of energy and focus on attaining my new career goal.

This isn’t to say that I’m leaving this blog to sit stagnant either. Rather, I will work to keep it alive, with worthwhile posts. And I am sure I will also get some roleplaying in here and there, but just not on as consistent a basis as I have for the last few years.

Anyway, folks, that’s where I am for now. I’m probably going to post one more time (tomorrow) before the year is over. Until then, please send me positive vibes (as I will be doing for you), and I look forward to continue to participate in our little RPG blogosphere community in 2014! Happy gaming, one and all!

Review: Gygax Magazine #1

As regular readers of this blog probably know, I believe there are two different kinds of nostalgia: the kind that can enrich one’s enjoyment of the present, and the kind that can cause one to linger on the past and thus neglect the present (and strip away enjoyment of the now). Perhaps, to refine this concept a bit, one can take nostalgia and do either of these things with it. “Good” nostalgia can spur a dynamic present, such as when fond memories of one’s roleplaying youth spur on successful roleplaying now. “Bad” nostalgia, on the other hand, can cause one’s present roleplaying efforts to falter, if one continually considers their present roleplaying efforts to be inferior to their past activities in the hobby.

Gygax Magazine #1 created a flood of nostalgia for me. It was immediate upon looking at the cover, and only increased as I flipped through the issue. My very first thought was, “Here is Dragon Magazine reborn!” There were ads throughout that reminded me of what I saw in the old Dragon, which had enticed me to learn more about games beyond D&D, expanding my knowledge of gaming options. Seeing an “Ecology of…” article made me smile. The layout of the articles, the illustrations that accompanied articles, and comics such as Phil & Dixie were a sight for these sore, older eyes. It was definitely like seeing long-lost friends.

A side-by-side comparison with an issue of Dragon.

 

One is from 1993 and one is from 2013.

BUT, let's move beyond the nostalgia. Let's set those feelings aside, and consider Gygax Magazine #1 on its own merits, as a stand-alone product.

It seems to me that the publishers (which include Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. and Luke Gygax) are trying to assert a certain "pedigree" by using the name "Gygax" for the magazine title, as well as using the initials "TSR." So to me they are trying very hard to make that association with the old days of D&D. Which I don't think is a bad thing, but I can see how some might consider this to be too much in the realm of "standing on the shoulders of giants."

I won't go into an exhaustive review of all the articles, but rather give you impressions of the ones I found most interesting:

"The cosmology of role-playing games" by James Carpio was a fun exploration of the RPG universe, with D&D being the big bang, of course. An interesting analogy, at the very least.

"DMing for your toddler" by Cory Doctorow made me smile and reconsider introducing my kids (five and seven) to roleplaying much sooner than I've planned!

"The Gygax family storyteller" by Ernest Gary Gygax Jr. was a nice glimpse into the life of the co-creator of D&D.

The "Gnatdamp" piece by the inestimable Michael Curtis was the biggest treat! I really enjoy his work across the board, and I can't wait to subject players to this village! ;-)

"An AGE of great inventions" by Rodrigo García Carmona was of particular interest to me because I've started a Dragon Age RPG campaign, so any material for use with the AGE System is welcome!

There were some editorial issues here and there. Some articles didn’t have the square mark that was placed at the end of other articles, leading to some confusion as to when a particular article had ended. I felt like this was a particular problem for Tim Kask’s "Still playing after all these years" fond-memories article, which seemed to finish rather abruptly, as well as Lakofka's "Leomund's Secure Shelter" piece.

The ending of "Keeping magic magical" by Dennis Sustare was, well, awkward:

"And if you design a magic that is compelling and new, perhaps some publisher will say, “That looks great. Let me print and sell that for you!”

It seems like they didn't know how to end the article, and slapped on a rather saccharine declaration.

The placement of games in James Carpio's RPG cosmology was a bit off. For instance, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG should have been further out, in the 2012 area.

But these are relatively small quibbles.

I realize that my review is coming a bit late to the issue #1 party, and that a second issue has been released. But I wanted to join my voice to the review chorus, being one of the many who loved Dragon. I wish the modern era could support a monthly print gaming magazine the likes of Dragon, but alas I do not think that is to be. But I praise the people behind Gygax Magazine for their efforts, even if we only get four issues a year and not nearly as many pages.

Speaking of issue #2, here's the contents:

 

I think I still see some pure nostalgia pieces in there, but that's to be expected. I would expect to see such offerings become fairly non-existent as the issues come and go.

How the creators of the magazine are using their nostalgia is, to me, still up for debate. If they’re taking the initial issues to pay homage to Dragon as well as the early days of the hobby, I respect that. I think if they hadn’t paid respect to the past, they would have taken considerable flak for that. To bear the name Gygax, I think, must have seemed like a mandate of sorts for them to create a bridge to the past. Not to mention the fact that “cashing in” on the nostalgia of older readers would have been a foolish business decision, in I believe that’s a marketing tactic as old as the proverbial hills: make someone reflect on their younger days, which most of us also consider “better” days.

How we long-time gamers choose to use nostalgia is up to us. Let's see how the folks behind Gygax Magazine choose to use it going forward. I'm hoping it's for the good.

Who will weep for lost Grognardia?

Okay, perhaps the title of this post strays into the territory of histrionics, but bear with me. It's been about eight months since James Maliszewski made his last post on his blog, Grognardia. And I'm feeling nostalgic for the days when James' posts were a regular part of my RPG blog-reading experience.

Perhaps the very damp summer we've experienced here on the East Coast of the US has me in more of a maudlin mood than usual. For whatever reason, I find myself once again missing the "old days" of Grognardia. By old days, I personally mean the two years between mid-2010 and mid-2012 (i.e. when I was reading it). As it was for many folks, Grognardia was one of the first OSR blogs that I came across, when I decided to search the web for the current state of roleplaying affairs in the world.

Look, I wouldn't describe myself as being someone who worshipped the man. It was more his content that kept me reading, rather than any deep interest in James as an "OSR superstar." I didn't return to the hobby in order to join a cult of personality. I was looking for kindred spirits. I was looking for those who, like me, were either coming back to gaming as adults, or those who had never left the hobby (the latter being sources of extreme inspiration for me, and perhaps some jealousy!).

Above all, I miss the enthusiasm and flow of interesting ideas that used to emanate from Grognardia. When James used to put out tidbits about his home campaign, before Dwimmermount became a commodity, I used to eat up the details eagerly. I really liked the creativity that James was showing, and it was an inspiration for me, as someone who was coming back to the hobby. There was a genuine feeling of dynamism to what James was doing back in the day.

But I think that some bloggers don't survive these attempts to become game designers/publishers. Some are cut out for it, some aren't. There's ample evidence of the "failing or failed amateur game designer," as outlined in regularly-scheduled detail at Tenkar's Tavern and other blogs. I blame those failures mostly on the dreaded stretch goals, but that's another blog post...

I'm thinking that James might have been able to handle the game designer burden, but it seems his life circumstances got in the way. Or perhaps, even if he didn't have issues with his father's health or whatever, he might not have been able to deliver on his projects. Who knows? I don't fault him for being emotional over his life issues, but in this digital age there are plenty of ways to reach out to the world at large, especially when it comes to business associates, even from the depths of grief. But, who am I to judge?

At any rate, I suppose my feelings are part of a normal "grieving" process, right? I mean, I don't claim to know the future, and it's very possible that James will return someday to the blog. However, that doesn't alleviate the memories of the Grognardia-that-was.

Anyone out there want to share their own memories of Grognardia? 

Thanks, Gary...

End-of-Week Elmore (6/14/13)

"Oh my god! He killed Aleena!" "You bastard!"

 

I think I'm shallow. At least, when it comes to Dungeons & Dragons. Or maybe I'm not.

 

Perhaps I'm just nostalgic. Or maybe I'm not. Or maybe I am, and that's just friggin' fine.

 

You may be wondering what in the world I'm talking about here. Well, I know I've talked on this blog before about a yearning to run some Basic D&D action using the original rule books, specifically the Mentzer version of the game. At the moment, I'm running the Moldvay/Cook/Marsh analogue that is Labyrinth Lord. And while I'm having a good time, there's still something missing.

 

Once again, I'm thinking that I have a nagging, internal insistence that I use the Mentzer-era books I own to run/play Basic D&D. Note: when I talk about my Mentzer books, I'm referring to spiral-bound print-outs of the Basic and Expert books, and my old cherished copy of the Rules Cyclopedia.

 

You know, for a little while I was feeling sorta ashamed to say that my yearning is perhaps born, at least in part, from nostalgia. We all know that the n-word is indeed a dirty word to some members of the OSR community. But you know what? I don't give a damn. Who the hell am I trying to impress? I'm not trying to win a popularity contest here. I'm trying to play some f-ing Dungeons & Dragons (and who plays D&D to be popular, anyway)?

 

Why do I want to use the original rules, Mentzer in particular? Here's why:

• I want to see Elmore's art while I'm flipping through the books (unless I'm using my copy of the Rules Cyclopedia, which means I'll be seeing Terry Dykstra's art, which is also just fine by me). His art is closely tied to my gaming origins, and I get a deep-seated, positive visceral feeling when I see his work. Nostalgia, perhaps, but I don't really care.
• I want to read the game in Mentzer's vernacular, and experience the "archaic" layout (and damn the vaunted streamlined organization of retroclones!). Nostalgia, perhaps, but I don't really care.
• I have the old books (or printed PDF versions, at least) and want to use them.

Ok, so there, alright? Screw it, I want to use the old books and it's probably from some sort of nostalgia as well as a bit of practicality, since I want to use what I own.

The only real reason I'm not running a game with the old books right now is the fact that I'm running games at my FLGS, and the proprietors want people to run games that are in print (and therefore can be purchased from the store). I respect this requirement entirely, but it doesn't mitigate my desire!

I want the "gravitas" and the "warm and fuzzies" that come from playing Classic Dungeons & Dragons with the actual books from days of yore! And I don't care who knows!

End-of-Week Harryhausen! (5/10/13)

Today my end-of-week post is dedicated to the late Ray Harryhausen, at the suggestion of R.J. at Gamers & Grognards. So, in honor of Ray on this impromptu Appreciation Day for him, here goes:

 

Probably not long before I got into D&D, I saw those cool movies that were staples of Saturday afternoon TV. You know the ones I'm talking about. They starred such mythic figures as Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, Perseus, and others. They featured fantastic voyages, heroes roguish or virtuous, vile villains, sword fights, hammy acting, and...the monsters! Oh, the monsters!

 

 

When you're a kid, you don't care about the names of the people that appear on the screen at the beginning of films. You want the adventure to start, and the monsters to come forth! So I didn't know who Ray Harryhausen was as a kid on those long-ago, dream-like Saturday afternoons, that magical time when there's nothing to do but let loose your imagination, and once the movie is over you're going to run out of your house and play until dinnertime.

 

 

I didn't know who Ray was, but I worshipped his work. I also didn't know that I would someday be sitting around a table pretending to fight the skeletons, dragons, animated statues, and the other creatures he brought to life. But when the time did come for me to face down those terrors, just like the heroes on TV, I knew that I'd come home, so to speak. I'd found my hobby!

 

You know, these days everybody's trying to use CGI to make film monsters look more and more real. BUT, to me, the "fake-ness" (for lack of a better term) and "jerky-ness" of the stop-motion creatures Ray created only added to their fantastical nature. I'm not sure if that's just the imagination of the kid I was when I saw his stuff for the first time, filling in the "warts" that come with stop-motion.

 

But the very "limitations" of the special effects actually created a wonderful strangeness and, at least for me, helped with suspension of disbelief. These were mythological creatures, and they looked/moved like it. The nature of the medium lent an air of the magical to the monsters.

 

Well, Ray, I just want to say thanks for being one of the inspirations behind my love for the fantastic! Rest in peace, rest well, and thanks again for the magic.

 

P.S. Does anyone else find it strange that his last big film was Clash of the Titans in '81?!

Happy Friday the 13th (July 2012)!

Watch out for bad things today...such as a terrifying skeletal warrior smashing down your door! That would definitely be unlucky for you...

Above is one of my favorite pieces of D&D artwork by the great Jeff Easley. This is one of those images that conjures up warm fuzzy D&D feelings for me. Ah, takes me back to my gaming days of yore AND makes me yearn for more adventures to come!

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!

Y is for Youth

Yes, perhaps I will stray into the territory of "bad" nostalgia for this post. The type of nostalgia that limits my present life and casts it into shadow instead of flavoring it with sweetness and rejuvenating my passion.

In the first part of my personal testimonial regarding my roleplaying career, I talked about a "golden age" in my gaming life as a teenager. No doubt the majority of gamers have tales of being young and without a heavy burden of responsibility. This lack of responsibilities made it easy to spend copious amounts of time on roleplaying. Marathon sessions that lasted all day and night, whole weekends devoted to reading rulebooks and playing games...I don't think I need to go on, I'm sure you can relate.

I yearn for my youth once again. I know this is probably not an unfamiliar feeling for many of you out there. I was doing alright for a while and not feeling that ache, but all things come and go, eh?

I'm definitely feeling the crunch of adulthood these days. I know, that's a tired old song on this blog, right? But I fear that my blogging aspirations are going to be put to a serious test in the days to come. In particular, I started a blog for my current Labyrinth Lord campaign, Thunder Rift Sagas. However, I'm realizing that I probably won't be able to update that blog as much as I would like, especially when it comes to writing session recaps and adding posts detailing locations and NPCs. I'm not looking forward to that blog stagnating, but I fear it can't be helped.

The majority of my free time is going to have to be spent on work for my current Labyrinth Lord campaign, so I can keep track of occurances in sessions, create scenarios and plot hooks, keep my campaign world as "alive" and "lived in" as possible, etc. This is, and should be, my priority. Actually running/playing in games is my true goal for returning to gaming...not to be a blogger regarding gaming. So in that sense, I am fulfilling my roleplaying goals. And I should be happy about that, and I am.

So I just need to resign myself to the reality of making sacrifices, in order to focus on actually gaming.

Some other thoughts/feelings I'm having:

1) Of late there's also been an urge in me to run a game that is not D&D or closely related to D&D, especially when it comes to mechanics. Here's the short list of candidates:

- Dragon Age RPG
- The One Ring RPG
- Technoir (a cyberpunk RPG)
- Savage Worlds (with potential genres such as cyberpunk or Star Wars)

2) Another part of me would like to be a player more often. One of my Labyrinth Lord players, Bill, runs Savage Worlds on nights when I am not running my campaign. And it's really cool, especially since he's running us through the Solomon Kane setting. But I would also like to play in a D&D-like game now and then, either Castles & Crusades or Labyrinth Lord.

Anyway, just needed to vent. Please let me know if you can relate, and talk to me about your own experiences with conflicts between your "real" life and gaming life.

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...

Early-Afternoon Reflections & Some Gamer ADD

Well, as I near my 100th post, I've been reflecting on the events in my renewed roleplaying career since June of last year. That's when I started this blog. I don't really have time to do a year-in-review post at the moment, but I might do something like that for the actual 100th 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. On the matter of roleplaying, I definitely feel like I need to make my own destiny, so the future will truly only be what I make it. And there's a part of me that is saying "You've been doing this for a year and you only have 100 posts?! Weak!"

I also wanted to report that I am currently suffering Gamer ADD again. This time, of all things, I find myself longing to possess the Mentzer Basic and Expert box sets. I know, I know, there are those out there that are going to start saying that the Moldvay Basic and Cook/Marsh Expert are superior, and that Mentzer's work is a "kiddified" version of D&D. I wish I had copies of all of those sets, so I could compare for myself. QUESTION: can anyone give me a summary of the differences, and the pros and cons of each? I am sure that there has to be such a comparison out there in the blogosphere. Oh, and I'm not sure if I should bring the Holmes thing into the mix...ugh.

I have a copy of the Rules Cyclopedia, so I technically don't need the Mentzer stuff. But I dug up some PDFs of the Mentzer books on the Internet, and I find myself enamored by them. Why? I have to admit that I'm not really sure. It might be pure nostalgia, and not necessarily the good kind. As some of you may know by now, I never really played "regular" D&D. I started out playing Advanced D&D as a kid. I may have been around the D&D books (like the Rules Cyclopedia) but my friends and I never used that other stuff. We were 1E PHB, DMG, and MM all the way.

Maybe the Mentzer stuff appeals on a very shallow level, since they contain a lot of art from Larry Elmore. Elmore was also the primary artist for the early Dragonlance novels, and we all know how I feel about Dragonlance by now.

It's only in recent years that I've payed more attention to the OD&D works. I've stated here before that I didn't really care to learn the difference between Holmes and Moldvay and Mentzer, but it's sort of seeping in through osmosis. Yet I find myself getting more and more curious about those box sets. Maybe it's a seed of gamer puritanism within me. Sure, I could use Labyrinth Lord or Swords & Wizardry or some other retroclone. But there's something about using the original books that somehow appeals.

Oy, it's enough to drive one insane! For now, I need to return a bit to reality and stick to the good gaming I have going on at the moment. Enough with the grass is greener stuff, right?