End-of-Week Elmore: Halloween Edition (10/31/14)

 

Happy Halloween, wonderful people! I hope you're having an exquisitely creepy day. It's always bittersweet on Halloween for me, because while I love the day it is also the herald of my favorite month's end. Ah well, endings make things all the sweeter, no? I took off from work this year, and I'm drinking Halloween down to the dregs, savoring it until the last drop.

 

My one wish would be to have the chance to do some gaming this weekend. I recall the days of my gaming youth when we would have our Halloween-themed sessions. They were always hilariously campy affairs, with liberal use of vampires and werewolves.

 

So, are you roleplaying this weekend? Let me know, I'm always ready to live vicariously through you good folks!

I Looked at the 5th Edition D&D Books, and I Liked It

 

So I was in Barnes & Noble today, and I picked up the 5E Player's Handbook. And as I flipped through it, I really liked what I saw. Really, the full-page illustrations took me back to the D&D 2nd Edition books, man. Seriously. And I liked the style of the art as well.

 

Is any of this heretical? I dunno, and don't care really. My current divorce from the gaming world, both online and in the flesh, has really done something unexpected to my gamer's heart: it's opened it even more than it ever was before. It's been great to get away from the navel-gazing and echo chambers and edition-shaming. I'm not pointing fingers at the community, mind you. Just those that perpetuate the true nerdery of this or ANY hobby.

 

To me, being a nerd about something (gaming, comics, soap operas, fantasy sports, watching sports, cars, etc.) is about being a snob about something. To ridicule others who don't see your hobby the way you see it. Those that don't participate with your level of micro-management and elitism. Nerdery is really about taking the fun out of something.

 

Anyway, sheesh, I didn't want to get on the soap box on my first time back to the blog in some time. I just want to say that I'm celebrating the latest incarnation of D&D. I'm thinking it will be a good idea for me to buy the books. Damn, I almost forgot I bought the Starter Set all the way back in early July! Might need to crack that bad boy open again, take a gander again.

 

Then again, reading RPG stuff these days is tantamount to torture! I need to get some gaming on, even if I'm just a player. I would love to see the new D&D in actual action!

 

Hope you're all well out there, and gaming happily!

End-of-Week Gary Gianni (9/26/14)

No Elmore this week, because I'm finally getting around to finishing the Solomon Kane stories I've been putting off. Thus, the illo above. Rock on, Puritan adventurer! Gary Gianni has rendered you in glorious form!

End-of-Week Elmore (9/19/14)

Back by popular demand!

Thanks to those of you who reached out after my post yesterday, it really meant a lot to hear from you, to tell me that you missed me blogging.

However, don't expect a return to any big posts for the foreseeable future. But for now, I think I can at least get back to the Elmore art posts, for a start.

In more, probably depressing (at least to me) RPG news, I haven't yet picked up any of the 5E books. I do have the Starter Box with the downloaded Basic Rules tucked safely inside, though. I just know that I won't have time to read and digest the new books in a satisfying way, not at the moment.

Oh well. Someday...

Anyway, kids, have a great weekend and I'll see you out on the blogosphere!

Wherefore Art Thou, Oh RPG Blogger?

Well, I've finally gone and done it. I became one of those RPG bloggers who drops off the face of the earth one day, and just stops posting with no explanation.

 

I apologize to one and all...or at least, to those who may actually care!

 

I could make a joke about how everyone's been SO devastated about my absence. But perhaps some of you miss me?

 

Hey, someone emailed me to ask if I can add a print function to my blog! To that emailer I say "please be patient, I'm working on it"!

 

Anyway, without boring you, here's the short story: I've finally reached a critical mass of insanity in life that, as scary as it sounds, I lost complete track of the blogosphere and in particular my own blog. For once, I was totally unable to think about the blog for a few weeks.

 

As I said, scary. It's scary because I don't like the implications. In other words, my life circumstances finally pushed thoughts of roleplaying (which are usually on my mind at some point during the day) to totally subconscious levels.

 

I just don't like that idea.

 

But I've made my life this busy, and I really have no regrets. I'm happy with what I've been doing in life other than roleplaying. But there's still something that pains me about the whole thing.

 

Okay, enough self pity. What's my point, eh? Well, here it is: I'm officially stating that I'm going on an indefinite hiatus. It really sucks to write that, but there you have it.

 

Alright, I've got to run, but for the time being know that I may not be writing here for the time being, but I'm indeed reading what all you wonderful folks are writing.

 

Until we cross paths again, happy gaming to all!

End-of-Week Elmore (8/8/14)

Ahoy, mates! Been sailing the seas of life of late, which (broken record time) has left me with little time (more like NO time) for anything gaming-related. Again, that's a fate of my own design, and I'm not whining about it. Well, maybe a little. Damn my dreams and aspirations for stealing my RPG time!

 

Ahem. Anyway. The family and I will soon be heading off to a nearby mountainous region, where there is also a body of water to sail upon. So the illo above is therefore very pertinent. And pert. Those elven pirate wenches, am I right?

 

Here's to you, fellow gamers! I hope you're sailing on your own high tide of happiness! Until I see the cut of your jib again, may the winds always be in your favor!

End-of-Week...Elmore? (8/1/14)

Welcome to August, fellow gamers! Ah, the Internet. It holds such potential, and such treasures! And yet, our fickle virtual collective consciousness often spits up some deception, does it not?

 

Case in point: on my weekly search for End-of-Week Elmore fodder, I was given the image above as part of my seeking. Hmmm, we see Flint, Tasselhoff, and Tika of Dragonlance fame. Of that there's no doubt. And being Dragonlance, one would think that Elmore, the veritable master of Dragonlance art, would be the creator here.

 

But do not be fooled, folks! Anyone trained in the art of Elmore will see this is not his work! Methinks it be the work of a certain Fred Fields! I have to be honest, Fred is probably my least favorite of the "2nd Edition AD&D era" of artists. Back in those days, I greatly preferred the work of Elmore (obviously), Keith Parkinson, Clyde Caldwell, and Jeff Easley.

Fred Field's spot in last place seems to be a sentiment shared by others, actually.

Not that Mr. Field's work is bad. Indeed, his techniques and talent seem equal to those of the other "Fantastic Five" mentioned above. His work, to me,  just lacked...something...and that something is what the other major artists of that era seemed to have in higher doses...if that makes any sense.

What do you think about the major artists of the 2E AD&D era? Who is your favorite? Whose work is less inspiring to you?