End-of-Week Elmore (7/25/14)

"Ha HA! My green dragon will defeat your...er...what the heck is THAT?! Is that a beak? And check out those feet! I've heard of a bird dog, but this is ridiculous!"

D&D@40: In the News (7/22/14)

 

New Yorker: Dungeons & Dragons Saved my Life

D&D@40: In the News (7/21/14)

 

BoingBoing: Exclusive look at the new D&D Player's Handbook

End-of-Week Elmore (7/18/14)

White dragons have always been interesting to me. They're just, well...you know..not the typical fire breathing dragons, right? I know that seems like an obvious statement. But seriously, they're very counter-intuitive when it comes to the whole dragon mythos...at least to the lay person not steeped in the lore of D&D monster manuals!

Okay, enough musings on that subject. I've just gotten a bevy of rules with D&D DNA, including 13th Age, Dungeon World, and Dungeonteller. And I have to say, Dungeonteller is, so far, my favorite of the three! I'm working on a review of that game, which I hope to publish soon.

Anyway, have a great weekend, folks!

D&D's 40th Birthday: What are we REALLY celebrating?

Okay, maybe this post is just all self-referential musing. But I wonder how many of you out there feel the same way. There's something I want to put out there for your consideration. This might not be a ground-breaking post in terms of its sentiment or subject matter, but bear with me.

I don't care what edition of the game you play. Hell, I don't care if the Medieval fantasy RPG you're playing is even called D&D or not. We're all still playing D&D, folks.

So, I posit this: what we're really celebrating this year is not the 40th anniversary of the brand name of D&D. We're celebrating the spirit of the game, and all of its uncountable varieties and offspring!

Thanks, Azeem!

Morgan Freeman said it best, I think, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves: "Allah loves wondrous variety!"

Just a note: this sentiment also includes 4th Edition. Speaking of which: congrats on the cancellation of your edition, 4E fans, because you are now a part of the "my favored edition is out of print" clan! Welcome, hail, and well met!

I'm bringing all this up because, well, I bought the new D&D starter set, and downloaded the free Basic rules. And while I think all that 5E stuff is nifty, I have to say that I'm so much more excited about games that don't carry the D&D name, but rather carry the D&D DNA.

Here's the versions of the game that I'm currently drooling over:

• Dungeonteller
• Warriors of the Red Planet
• Dungeon World
• 13th Age

 

I already own Dungeonteller and the Warriors of the Red Planet beta. My copies of Dungeon World and 13th Age are on their way from the great Noble Knight Games.

Of course, I also already own Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Adventurer Conquerer King, Beyond the Wall, Dragon Age RPG, Crypts & Things, Five Ancient Kingdoms, and other permutations of the "world's oldest RPG" of which you no doubt have heard! And all these "clones" sit cheek-by-jowl on my bookshelves with D&D books from all eras of the game. And it's like looking at a glorious family reunion, with many generations gathered into one place.

I'm so happy that D&D has gone forth and multiplied, incubated in the fertile minds of so many fellow enthusiasts!

So, talk back to me, fellow roleplayers! Tell me how you are celebrating D&D's 40th this year, what version(s) of the game you're celebrating with, and any other reflections you care to share!

Long live Dungeons & Dragons, no matter what skin it wears! 

Time to get my a$$ to Mars (with Warriors of the Red Planet)!

 

I love the OGL, man. It continually gives us an ever-growing smorgasbord of D&D variants, such as Warriors of the Red Planet! This is, of course, a sword & planet variant of the rules! Awesome, another bit of useful house rules that I won't have to create myself ;-)

 

This is the softcover beta of the rules you can get from Lulu right now on the cheap. The game's creator - Thomas Denmark of the WotRP, Original Edition Fantasy, and Studio Denmark blogs (and creator of the Dungeoneer game) - has been working on this for a while, and to be honest I had all but given up on this game seeing the light of day (not because of any failing on Mr. Denmark's part, but just because the development was taking so long).

 

But I'm glad I was wrong! I have had some time to read through, and it's pretty cool so far. I hope to have a full review someday, as soon as I can get to it.

 

This thing has me so excited about planetary romance that I had to break out my copy of the gorgeous John Carter of Mars collection illustrated by Thomas Yeates. Hmm, might be time for a re-read!

 

Anyway, I would love to find some time soon to help playtest these beta rules. Yeah, seriously, this has me so excited (as does the Dungeonteller game, which also just hit the streets) that I might need to come out of my current roleplaying hiatus! Stay tuned...

End-of-Week Elmore (7/11/14)

The Search for Free Slurpees goes on...

 

Happy 7/11, folks! Apparently you can get free Slurpees today. Not sure if that appeals to you or not, but there you go. Consider that a public service announcement. Whether your consider it an invitation or a warning is up to you!