Pics from Wednesday Night C&C

Well, the old timer (me) decided to try his hand again at downloading some pics from his cellphone's camera. I know how to do it, but I don't do it often enough. I snapped a couple of photos last Wednesday night at the weekly game I'm in at All Things Fun.  Here's a shot of the table, including C&C Castle Keeper's screen, a map of the City State of the Invincible Overlord, and a can of Dr. Pepper, the official drink of C&C.

Here's a shot of my copy of the C&C PHB, and my character sheet and dice:

This Wednesday night I debut my Dragonlance campaign! Can't wait!

Down the OSR blog rabbit hole...

In January, I was pondering/"complaining about" the wide range (perhaps too wide) of RPG options out there for us old-school types. Well, today I am wondering if there are too many blogs! Well, perhaps I'm not thinking that there are too many. Perhaps I am just wishing that I had enough time to fully explore our little corner of the blogosphere. I wish I could read all of the blogs that I encounter to their fullest extent. The winding maze of blogs could  almost be considered a type of megadungeon, if one wants to look at it that way. It's definitely an adventure, and a daunting quest indeed!

For example, today I was reading one of the first blogs I ever encountered: Paladin in Citadel. And I went against my better judgment and glanced at the site's blogroll. And I was like Alice, tripping and falling down the rabbit hole. I found a blog called The Chronicles of Ganth that I am finding very interesting. Also during my wanderings I found a blog called Tales from the Tower. I'm having a lot of fun reading the actual-play recaps there.

But every new blog I find leads me ever deeper,  thanks to their blogrolls...it gets to the point that I have to just step away from the laptop before I venture too far into the depths...

Giving thanks on a Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to all, especially those who are serving in the military or served in the past. I can't imagine what that sacrifice of time away from home and family would be like, let alone the giving up of one's life for the greater good. We are in debt to those who have fought for us, no matter what we may think about the conflicts into which they were thrust. We always support the troops.

I usually take this weekend to contemplate my life at the moment and my current circumstances. I am giving thanks for my wonderful wife and kids, and the fact that I have a job, even if sometimes said job stresses me out! I am also thankful for having some time to roleplay! I've had some pretty good luck when it comes to finding a new group to game with, since my old friends and I don't get together nearly as much as we would like.

It's also a good time to show my appreciation to all of the great bloggers I've met over the last year. Thanks for all the great conversation, debate, advice, and for providing your unique perspectives on the hobby. You've been the network I never had when I was roleplaying as a young teenager. I think a resolution of mine for the coming year will be to go to a big convention if I am able. I would love one to come to Philadelphia sometime soon! I don't think I can make it to Gencon or one of the other big gaming staples, but something local to me would be nice. Bottom line, I would love to keep expanding my network of local gamers.

So I give thanks for my life and liberty, and for roleplaying as well and all my fellow gamers out there. I just need to work on being this thankful every day of the year, and not just on three-day holiday weekends!

A quick check-in from the daily grind's front lines

Salutations, fellow gamers! I've been inundated with work this week, and as you can see posting has been slow. I've been at the new job for about two months, and now that I'm getting into the swing of things I'm being handed more work. And one of my coworkers just went out on maternity leave, so that adds to the pile on my plate as well. Stupid adult responsibility.

But all that hasn't stopped my gaming efforts! Had another great Invincible Overlord session at All Things Fun! last night. Wednesday nights are now officially the best night of the week! I can't get into the nitty gritty details of the session, but at the end of the night our characters were pushing a huge chest of gold in a "Viking" funeral boat on wheels back to our base of operations. We took the gold and the boat from a necromancer that we slew. He was running a sort of medieval funeral parlor, of course.

I also wanted to point out something I observed: I sometimes take a moment to eavesdrop on the other games going on around us (ATF hosts some other gaming groups on Wednesday nights, and it gets quite noisy). I believe we are sandwiched by two D&D 4E games. And when I listen to those games, I usually hear them talking about looking up spell effects, or a rule. In general, it sounds like they're doing a lot less actual roleplaying than us. And I don't think any other table sounds like they're having nearly as much fun as ours!

Anyway, next Wednesday night I debut my Dragonlance campaign, and I'll alternate Wednesdays with Rich, who is running the Invincible Overlord game. I can't wait to get back behind the screen! Wish me luck. Gotta run, but until next time, happy gaming!

Are YOU with D&D?

Hi all. I haven't been able to post over the last few days due to work and family. I am becoming much busier by the day at my new job, so that unfortunately means that my blogging during the day will be slowing down/sporadic. I have to sacrifice something in favor of spending time to actually game/prepare to game. As always, I do what I can when I can. Anyway, enough of all that. On to the real topic of this post:

Has anyone read the "I'm with D&D" post over at The Other Side blog? Take a look if you haven't, and let me know your thoughts. What is your stance on the many editions of D&D? Are you an egalitarian, or a staunch partisan? I for one have a "play and let play" stance on things for the most part. Any kind of D&D is D&D, alright! What's most important to me is that people are actually playing! Now, does that mean I love the 4E incarnation? No. I am not a huge fan of editions 2 through 4 of D&D, actually. And I have just truly started to delve into OD&D, and find some issues with that venerable beast as well. Give me 1E any day! But if people are as passionate about other versions, so be it. Who am I to tell them what should be their game of choice? I could write posts that go on about what I find offensive about a particular edition, but always with the caveat of "this is my opinion." If you love it, play it.

I've been called "mealy" for my opinions. So be it. Mealy I may be, but at least I'm not a "flaming" uber-nerd who's sole purpose is to extend one's ire for a D&D edition to actually attacking those who play said edition. That's a level of meta-dorkness to which I will not descend.

Currently, I am playing using Castles & Crusades, which has been dubbed a 1E/3.5E hybrid. But I am also increasingly interested in Labyrinth Lord, a clone of Moldvay/Cook/Marsh B/X. I see C&C as a means to do more "story-driven" roleplaying, whereas LL to me would be used at my table for a more "traditional" version of D&D that focuses on the sandbox-y, dungeon crawl "slay and loot" approach. I know some of you are groaning right now at my mention of story in conjunction with D&D. I might need to do a separate post on my thoughts regarding the use of certain editions depending on what style of game you want to run. This post may also include my thoughts on playing strong archetypes versus more "individualized" characters, etc. I may have to rethink my stance on other editions, and accept that each has their merit based on what style of play you seek to foster.

D&D-related Videos and Flash Mobs

A few blogs have recently posted the following videos, and I found them amusing, so I decided to repost them here for your consideration:





All of this made me remember the following:



Then there's this goodness surrounding someone calling himself the Dungeon Bastard. Here's his PSA video:



I have to admit that these unfortunately made me think of all those videos of people dancing to the horrendous "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night" song by the Black Eyed Peas. It also made me think of flash mob videos for some reason. And that got me thinking...so here's a thought and a question:

I feel like there needs to be a D&D "flash mob" phenomenon, where people spontaneously start playing D&D in public places. What do you all think of that?

Reflections on the Occasion of My 100th Post

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

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

Year in Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Purpose and Refocus

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

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

The Future

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

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

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

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