Pardon the Interruption

I've got a few more post regarding my return to 2nd Edition AD&D and the Forgotten Realms planned, but preparations for Gen Con 2013 have thrown a serious spanner in the works. I'll pick up the series once I get back from Indy and have a day or three to recover. My apologies to everyone looking forward to me.

The 2013 Gaming Resolutions

Here we are with twelve brand-spankin’ new months ahead of us. Naturally, it’s time to make resolutions for the coming year. I’m going to keep mine short, simple, and realistic so as not to disappoint myself too greatly in 365 days. Therefore, my gaming resolutions for the coming year are:

1) Finish Stonehell 2: I’ve made a great deal of progress on the book in the past several weeks and the three-year-long delay is finally being defeated. I’m finishing up Level 9 at the moment, leaving me with just four more quadrants to complete before the most daunting portion of the book is conquered. I remain hopeful I can debut the book at Gary Con V, but will settle for unleashing it in June at NTRPG Con if things go amiss. Regardless of actual release date, this is the year it escapes into the wild and I can cross it off my “to do” list.

2) Keep writing: Like academia, freelancing is strictly “publish or perish.” My workload in 2012 grew larger and I intend to exceed what I did this year in 2013. I’ve got some scheduled projects already and a few pitches in the air that I’m waiting on responses to. There’s also a post-Stonehell project of my own which I intend to get out there this year. I’ll have more on that in the near future.

3) Broaden the scope of my design work: Most every writer and designer wants to prove their talents are applicable across a wide field and that they’re not limited to a single system or genre. I’m best known for my old school fantasy RPG material, but I want to do more with different games and genres. The game I did for Goblinoid Games that should see print in 2013 is a step in the right direction, but I hunger to do more. This desire will hopefully take me out of my comfort zone, but that’s the only way to grow and to build a reputation for versatility. Hopefully, this is the year I make that break.

4) No more damned miniature buying until I get some figs off the damned worktable: A refrain everyone who dabbles in painting minis is no stranger to. I don’t especially need more figures and I’ve got enough to keep me busy throughout the year. Once the backlog gets hewn away at, then I’ll consider future purchases.

5) Run games: Outside of the convention scene and a few pick-up one-shots this year, I played more than I refereed, and that’s not what I enjoy most about this hobby. I’ve got three campaigns in mind for 2013. One is Pathfinder’s “Kingmaker” Adventure Path, which I started, but never got a chance to finish. The second is Gamma World, a game I often dabble with, but never get off the ground. The third is a playtest campaign for my new project. The “Kingmaker” and Gamma World campaigns are symptomatic of my wish to step away from the dungeon-centric game and get back to the hexcrawl. Once Stonehell 2 is done, I need wide-open spaces and exploration on a geographic scale. I’m itching to world-build, and both those games will give me the opportunity to do so.

That’s it. Although apparently short and simple, those are pretty sizeable goals for the New Year, ones that will occupy a lot of my time. But I’m happiest when I busiest and these five look like the makings of a pretty happy 2013 to me.

Curriculum Vitae (Current as of 2.16.14)

There is now an online index of Fight On! articles assembled by “elf23” from the Original Dungeons & Dragons Discussion forum. It contains a list of all the articles appearing in issues #1-#13 and can be viewed by issue, article, author, and other criteria. If you’ve ever wondered who contributed to what issue or what exactly appears in a magazine you don’t own, go check it out.

That’s the important part of this post and what follows is mere vanity on the part of the author. Upon examining the FO! index, I realized that it’s getting to the point where I don’t necessarily recall all that I’ve written for various projects and publishers. My body of work is not extensive, so I fear it’s my collapsing mental faculties that are to blame for this. To help combat this encroaching decrepitude, I’m listing my current oeuvre for reference and as a reminder to myself. I’ve got more irons in the fire for 2013 and look forward to expanding this list as announcements are made.

Author

"The Fane of St. Toad"

The Dungeon Alphabet (2009)

The Dungeon Alphabet Expanded Third Printing (2012)

Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls

Stonehell Dungeon Supplement One: The Brigand Caves

Stonehell Dungeon Supplement Two: Buried Secrets

Emirikol Was Framed!

The Sea-Queen Escapes!
The Croaking Fane
Frozen in Time
MAJUS RPG
The Tower out of Time
The Old God's Return
Intrigue at the Court of Chaos

The Adventurers’ Almanac (to-be-released)
A Single Small Cut (to-be-released)
The Chained Coffin (to-be-released)
Stonehell 2 (to-be-released)

Co-Author

Realms of Crawling Chaos (random artifact generation tables & eldritch tomes rules)

Magazine Articles

“The Dungeon Alphabet: Part One,” Knockspell #1

“Dungeon Oddities,” Knockspell #2

“Stealing the Histories,” Knockspell #4

“With New Old Eyes,” Silver Gryphon Monthly #4 (January 2009)

“Random Rooms,” Fight On! #4

“A Few for the Road,” Fight On! #5

“A Few for the Road, Part 2” Fight On! #6

"Old School Game Determination," Fight On! #6

“Sites to Seek,” Fight On! #8

“It’s All in the Cards,” Fight On! #12

“In the Shadow of the Catskills" Fight On! #13
"Gnatdamp: Sanctuary in the Swamp." Gygax Magazine #1
"The Wildwyck Gazetteer" Fight On! #14
"Artifacts to impart ancient lore" Gygax Magazine #3 

Contributing Author

Open Game Table: Anthology of Roleplaying Blogs Vol. 1 (“The Commonplace Book”)

Red Planet RPG (revised magic chapter)

Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game (additional spells)

Dungeon Crawl Classics Free RPG Day 2012 (“The Undulating Corruption”)

Fragments 1: The Way of Tree, Shadow & Flame (deities, encounter tables, and rogues’ gallery)

Tales From the Fallen Empire (additional spells & crafting magical items)
The Monster Alphabet (additional entries; to-be-released)

Judge

The One-Page Dungeon Contest (2009)

Mystery Map Adventure Design Competition (2012)

Awards

Three-Castles Award (2011)

Forty Odd Years

Today is the fortieth anniversary of my birth. For two score revolutions around that big ball of fire in the sky, I’ve made my home on this third stone from the Sun. They’ve been a mixed forty years, filled with many pleasures and many sorrows, much like everyone’s life, but the hills usually outnumber the valleys, and it sure beats the alternative.

I have big schemes in mind for the coming year, and if the universe is kind, I’ll see them to fruition and be able to share them with you, the loyal and long-suffering reader who has shared the past five years of my journey here on the Society of Torch, Pole and Rope.

Looking back on the trip, I remain in awe of how different my life is now than it was when I first posted “Saha” back on August 21^st, 2008. I’ve gone from a lapsed gamer to an industry professional. The men and women who I idolized in my youth are now my colleagues, and in some cases, my friends. I get to share my words and my creations not with a handful of friends around the gaming table, but with thousands of people around the world. The bizarre ideas that percolate in my head are no longer granted the breath of life by my ill-trained hands, but by an incredible array of talented artists and cartographers. I get to take this little dog-and-pony show of mine on the road, where I meet fellow gamers, sign autographs for fans who seem genuinely pleased to meet me, and greet people who I hitherto only knew from online correspondence, putting names to faces and sharing some laughs around the dealers’ tables. It’s a strange celebrity, a type that my non-gaming friends and family don’t quite understand, but one I cherish immensely. And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t had the support of you, dear reader. To every one of you who ever bought something with my name slapped on the credits page, who took the time to read my words here, who signed up to play in one of my games, or simply offered a hand in friendship, you have my sincere and utter thanks.

I wish I could celebrate my birthday in true hobbit-fashion, giving you all gifts for coming along on the journey so far with me, but alas, there are too many of you now and doing so would strip my smial bare (worse than even the Sackville-Baggins did poor Bilbo’s). Please accept my thanks and the knowledge that I’m very grateful of your ongoing support, instead.

For those who practice non-hobbit birthday traditions and would like to do something nice to celebrate my slow journey away from the hunter’s fire to that of the clan elders, I’d ask this: Help spread the word and keep me employed! Purchase a copy of my work and give it to a friend. Write a review of Emirikol Was Framed! or the new Dungeon Alphabet. Add the new Stonehell Dungeon Google+ page to your circles. Pre-order one of my upcoming adventures from Goodman Games. Even a kind word to a friend about something I’ve penned would mean a lot to me. I’ve gone far in these past forty years, but if I’m blessed, my journey’s far from over and I hope there’s still some life in these seven-league boots of mine. With your on-going support, I intend to keep walking this professional path and sharing my dreams (and nightmares) with others.

-Mike

The “Jennisodes” Podcast is Now Live

My interview with Jennifer Steen for “Jennisodes” is now up. In it, we discuss an array of topics ranging from how I got into this bizarre hobby, the body of my work, Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, The Dungeon Alphabet, Fight On! magazine, this blog, and, of course, “Of Unknown Provenance.” You can listen to my dulcet tones by clicking on this link.

Let’s Talk “Of Unknown Provenance”

I had a revelation this week: I suck at self-promotion. I’ll talk your ear off about whatever cool widget or book that’s coming down the pike that has my attention, but when it comes to plugging my own work, I need a PR guy. A media assassin. Harry Allen, I gotta ask him.

This satori luckily coincided with the fact that I did an interview for Jennisodes to help plug “Of Unknown Provenance” and the rest of my upcoming projects. I’ll provide a helpful link once it goes live, but, in the meantime, let’s take a closer look at “Of Unknown Provenance” and the madness behind the method. Maybe once you see what’s going on in my head, you might be willing to help turn it from a flight of phantastical whimsy to an actual dead tree thing.

First of all: provenance. It’s not a word that gets tossed around a lot, so a definition is in order. In short, provenance is the chain of ownership behind an item. In the art, archival, and collecting worlds, knowing the provenance of something is extremely invaluable when determining its worth. Was that painting owned by a dear friend of the artist? Was is purchased through legitimate channels or did it just appear one day on the market without documented ownership? Establishing a clear provenance is very important in legitimate dealings and collecting, so already you have an idea that this adventure concerns people, places, and things not at all concerned with how they got their paws on the items in question.

When James approached me to participate on the project, his orders were pretty loose. In fact, they boiled down to “do whatever the hell you want if it’s cool.” Now, that’s a constraint I can work with! So with that direction in mind, I started brainstorming. Do a dungeon crawl? No thanks, been doing too much of that with Stonehell and I need to expand my horizons. Hex crawl? Extraplanar adventures across time and space? Again, not really that exciting for me at the moment.

The hackneyed old phrase in writing is “Write what you know.” As some of you are aware, I’m an archivist by trade when not churning out RPG books and it’s a career and institution that doesn’t get a lot of play. I think that outside of the Nick Cage “National Treasure” film, I can’t recall the last time either archivists or archives got a fair shake in popular entertainment. And so, I decided to correct that.

Archives, like museums, are repositories of items and documents with “intrinsic historical value.” They’re places to stash stuff you want to preserve, but don’t necessarily want to lock away forever. A place to keep the grubby hands of the everyman away the good stuff and let those qualified to handle and appreciate it do so under controlled conditions. As John Constantine once said about the British Museum, “It’s where they keep the loot.”

As we all know, loot and adventurers go together like gin and tonic, so the concept of introducing such a store house—combined with my own experience in the trade—seemed like a natural fit. Riffing off that idea, I started thinking about the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the GURPS supplement Warehouse 23, and the Sci-fi series Warehouse 13. What red-blooded, greedy adventurer wouldn’t want a chance at prying open some of those crates and seeing what might be worth taking? OK, I think we’re on to something here.

James Raggi has also been charting a different course for Lamentation of the Flame Princess as of late, setting-wise. From my view, he’s been moving away from your standard pseudo-medieval fantasy setting and looking towards the 15^th and 16^th centuries, a time when rampant imperialism and the subjugation of anyone unfortunate enough to live in an area possessing value to those empires was commonplace. That tied into the concept of a storehouse of esoteric loot. After all, once the caretakers of such cultural artifacts have been exterminated, who’s left to keep their “quirks” under control? Best to stick those things somewhere safe until somebody can puzzle that out. I’ll also now break a cardinal rule of writing and design that states you should always obscure your sources by saying that Blue Oyster Cult’s Imaginos album, specifically “Magna of Illusion” plays an important role in defining my course for “Of Unknown Provenance.”

Those of you familiar with my Stonehell know that I’m very big on modular design, and not what one usually means when referring to “game modules.” I enjoy telling a big story, but I also realize that not everyone wants to listen to the whole tale, preferring only to take the chapters that interest them instead. “Of Unknown Provenance” will reflect that same design philosophy.  To accommodate that goal, I found myself drifting back to the old horror/sci-fi anthologies of my youth: Tales from the Dark Side, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories, Friday the 13^th: the Series, and even Freddy’s Nightmares. “Of Unknown Provenance” is an homage to those shows, featuring a central adventure “plot” (for lack of a better word) comprised of several smaller vignettes that twine together to give the players multiple views of what’s happening at the Night Archive. So, if you’re the referee and have no interest in the big picture, there’s going to be lots to loot from this adventure. I’ll even provide the dotted lines for you to cut along when you take out your mental scissors.

I’m still not settled on an “appropriate for PCs of levesl X through X” for the adventure and won’t be until the fingers hit the keys and start exploring the Archive, but likely this one’s going to end up in the “PC sweet spot” of 6^th-8^th level.

You can hear me talk some more about “Of Unknown Provenance” once the Jennisodes podcast goes live, but in the meanwhile, I hope I’ve given you all a little peek at what to expect from the adventure. If this helps you decide you want to make “Of Unknown Provenance” a reality, hop over to IndieGoGo and make a contribution. My thanks go out to everyone who’s already contributed based solely on my name and the thumbnail description I provided. Hopefully you and the rest of the gaming world will get a crack at the Night Archive and discovering why it’s the uncertain things that make life so interesting.

Rainy Night in the Garret

Here's what I come home to a night. Nothing fancy, but it keeps the rain off my while I write.

Now, with furnishings (and it really is that small)

The Reading & Writing (non-RPG material) Nook

Where I toil away on Stonehell 2 for you fine folks.

Oh, That’s Right: I Have a Blog

Forgive the dearth of posts here for the last two weeks. As you might imagine, things are very hectic around these parts as I settle into a new life and new job. Despite the distractions, I’m still busy at work on various gaming-related projects and even managed to finish up a short one today. With a few moments to spare before I consider heading off to the Land of Nod (not the blog or fanzine, but the metaphorical place of dreams), I thought I’d bring you all up to speed on things.

I’ve finally managed to unpack and get settled into the new apartment. Unfortunately, without much time between accepting the position and my first day of work, I didn’t have a lot of lead time to find a place to live. The result is that I’m living in a much smaller space than I had hoped. It’s not a studio or what they laughing call an “efficiency apartment” (read: “motel room without the conveniences of an actual motel”), but it is a bit cramped, especially for the archivist and gamer whose library is one of the reasons people usually only help me move once.

The upside is that the place does have its charm. It was originally a large barn built in the 1880s that’s since been renovated and diced up into apartments. I have lots of old exposed wood beams and floors, as well as a pair of stained glass windows that look into the bedroom and what I’m calling the “reading and writing nook.” I can see the Wallkill River and its cataracts from my window and aside from the Mysterious Thing with Heavy Feet that Lives Overhead, my fellow residents are friendly, yet discreet. Being on the second floor, my place also comes delightfully equipped with a Superhero Emergency Escape Hatch, which is a fire exit leading to a shaft containing a ladder running down to the ground floor, located directly off of my bedroom. I’m contemplating starting a life of crime just so I can utilize it when the S.W.A.T. team starts breaking down the front door. When time allows, I’ll post some pictures of my new headquarters and you’re all invited to drop by for a delve into Stonehell the next time you’re in the neighborhood.

Speaking of Stonehell, work continues on the sequel and my determination to finish it and get it out by year’s end remains unabated. My work schedule and the whole process of relocating and unpacking have cut into the time I’d like to be writing the manuscript, but I’ve taken to getting up an hour early to get some design work accomplished before I start my day. I’m currently working on a quadrant on the 7^th level called “The Welchers’ Halls” for reasons that will become apparent once you see what lies to the south of this section.

Those of you who contributed to the “Help Mike Relocate to the Wilderness Where He Belongs” Fund will all receive a special mention when the book comes out, as promised. I’m really dumbfounded by the contributions some of you made and am in awe that you were willing to part with your hard-earned cash to help out some guy who writes about monsters, magic, and other dubious pursuits, one many of you have never even met. Those funds were a real life-saver this week when I was hit with some unexpected bills above and beyond the astronomical cost of renting a Penske truck and filling that beast with gas. The alternator went on my car and I got hit with another $100+ bill for another repair. Without that extra money, I’d be scared spitless regarding how I would survive until my first paycheck clears. So although I’ve already thanked you all in email, let me do so again: “Thank you, thank you, thank you very much!”

With such limited space to live in, I had to leave the majority of my gaming collection in storage back on Long Island, but I’m trying to view that as a feature, not a bug. Aside from the B/X books, Stonehell I, and the Labyrinth Lord rulebook, I just have my 1^st edition (2^nd printing) Call of Cthulhu boxed set and my complete run of Wraith: The Oblivion (which got loaded onto the truck when I wasn’t looking). Call of Cthulhu is really , well “calling” to me right now, and I’m very tempted to make that the next campaign I run once I find my place here and a new gaming group. If I were to do so, I’d take the “Out of the Box” approach, using just the materials provided in the boxed set and pretending nothing else was ever written for the game. That idea really has my head whirling with possibilities.

The other reason that Call of Cthulhu is enticing me is that I’m now living in the real Wildwyck County. The series I’m writing for Fight On! is based on the landscape, history, and my own experiences in Ulster County as an undergraduate. Now that I’m an actual resident of Wildwyck, I’m hoping to tap into the rich history and atmosphere that pervades the country just outside my front door and make that series even better. I’m planning on watching the full moon rise tonight and brainstorm.

I made the initial efforts to locate a gaming group this week, joining a local Meetup group based in the area, but I’m not sure how that’s going to pan out just yet. So again, if you’re one of my readers and want the dubious honor of having me at your table, feel free to contact me at the email listed to the right. Unfortunately, my internet connection is less than efficient, meaning I won’t have the option of participating in FLAILSNAILS games for the foreseeable future, making me even more determined to find a local face-to-face group as understanding and tolerant of my penchant for weirdness as my last one.

Before I go, I want to remind you all once again that even though my postings may be reduced, my participation in the hobby is not. Some of you lucky bastards have already gotten their hands on Goodman Games’ new Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and you’ll notice my name in that book’s credits. I did some of the spells for it and there’s one I’m most proud off. A No-Prize goes to the first one to guess which spell that is. Goblinoid Games will be releasing another game I designed using the Action Table System to Labyrinth Lord Society members in the near future and I hope you card-carrying members download it, give it a whirl, and let me know what you think. I charted a course into Bat Country when writing it and I hope that comes through in the final product.

In still other design news, I’m one of the contributing authors to The Secret Fire’s next supplement, Fragment I: The Way of Tree, Shadow & Flame. One of my co-designers on that book is an up-and-coming young lad who I think has a lot of potential, and I’m sure you’ll be hearing the name” Eddie Greenwood” again in the future.

Lastly, a reminder that I’ll be down in Texas for NTRPGCon to run a few DCC games (“Emirikol Must Die!,” a convention variant of my forthcoming Emirikol Was Framed! adventure from Goodman Games, as well as a converted (and possibly perverted) version of my first OSR release, “The Fane of St. Toad.” One of those sessions may have a secret special guest, but I’m not telling who or when. There’s also talk of Tim Kask and I doing a workshop on “Gonzo Gaming” with other guests, but that’s still being hashed out as far as I know. After getting to know and play with Tim at Gary Con, doing a seminar with him would be a great pleasure. One that would only be eclipsed if Dan Proctor and I win this year’s Three Castles Award for Realms of Crawling Chaos.

Oh, one more thing: this year’s Goodman Games’ Free RPG Day release features two adventures and another special treat. Those adventures were written by the most excellent Harley Stroh and I. My home group had a blast playtesting my contribution, even if things didn’t turn out so well for one of the PCs.

OK, I’m done. Off to howl at the moon a bit before bed. Thank you all again for the well-wishes, support (both verbal, financial, and professional), and camaraderie you’ve provided me since I first dipped my toe into both the OSR and the industry. I couldn’t have done it without you.

So Long For Now

Tomorrow, I begin the move to my new place and new job. In just five days, I've found a job, apartment, packed up part of my life, and made arrangements to move the rest of it. I also got a chance to see friends I've not seen in years and spend time others I can't wait to see more of.

As hectic as this has all been (and not to mention a little scary), you people have made this so much easier with your kind words of support and even more outstanding contributions to help defray the moving expenses (Holy crap! Have you seen what it costs to rent a truck for a one-way move of 150 miles, lately?). I am in your debt, both emotionally and financially, and will attempt to repay both in the months ahead.

Despite the fact that I'm moving onto a new phase in my life, the old one hasn't ended entirely. This week I've been privy to some very exciting news from two of my publishers and I can't wait until I get the OK to break silence and let you know what's going on behind the impenetrable DM's screen of OSR publishing. Really, really cool stuff.

So, until life calms down and my PC is hooked up to the internet again, so long and thanks again. You folks are amazing.

Best,

Mike

End of One Era, Dawn of Another

Life certainly has been interesting around these parts, lately. We can plot and scheme and dream, but the universe usually has other plans for us. Sometimes its designs are for the worse, but every now and then, life surprises you and puts you in places and facing directions you never saw coming.

When this blog began more than three years ago, I certainly didn’t expect that it would be the key to my becoming a professional game designer and writer. It began as a lark, a way to blow off steam and indulge in creativity during a trying time in my life. Then the Dungeon Alphabet took off and there’s been no looking back since.

Unfortunately, as many of you know, making a living as a full-time designer is not an easy task. I’ve spent the last couple of years living a hand-to-mouth existence on what should be supplementary income, but due to other factors had become my primary one. The creative benefits, the modicum of fame, and the occasional fan email, greeting at a convention, or supportive comment on this here blog were all priceless rewards, but not quite so pecuniary. While my design work was going well, my professional career as an archivist has been going nowhere for the past two years.

About six months ago, I sat down and took a long, hard look at my future. After much soul-searching, I decided that drastic steps were necessary to ensure my professional and personal development in the decades I (hopefully) have left on the third stone from the sun. The cost of living on Long Island is getting higher and higher with each passing year, and being situated in a place that is not only close to Manhattan, but home to two universities offering Library Science degrees, competition for employment is tough—especially given the state of the economy. It became very clear that I’d have to relocate if I wanted any chance at jump-starting my archival career and returning to the profession that I love just as much as game design (and is far more lucrative).

Having made up my mind, I gave myself a three-month timeline to locate a job, find a new place, and get myself re-established in another portion of New York State. I anticipated doing a lot of grunt labor and volunteer work to make ends meet and build a reputation within the library and archival community in the area for my first year, but was hopeful to reap the benefits of those labors after 12 months. Seems like a pretty sound plan, neh?

That’s when life decided to step in and accelerate my timeline…rather abruptly.

Yesterday, I interviewed for and was offered a three-month consulting archivist position in Peekskill, NY. Totally unexpectedly, I found myself back in my chosen profession and with some income promised me in the months ahead. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the position starts on Monday, requiring me to completely uproot my life and relocate 150 miles from home, all while knowing that if everything goes completely wrong, I’ll be unemployed again in twelve weeks. I don’t even have an apartment lined up yet. Stressful and completely unforeseen? Yes, very much so, thanks for asking. Nevertheless, I’m excited and hopeful for the future, more so than I’ve been in awhile.

“That’s great news, Mike,” you may be asking, “but what about me, your loyal reader and fan?”

Obviously, my main focus is going to be getting my career back on track and my future stabilized. That means that this blog is largely going to be neglected in the weeks and months ahead (I’m not even sure when I’ll have internet access again). This doesn’t mean, however, that I’m leaving the field of game design behind for good. With my daylight hours occupied by the new job, my design time will be restricted to the evenings before bed and on the weekends (provided a part-time job doesn’t appear swiftly). Despite this reduction in hours, I intend to keep working on the Stonehell sequel until it is finished and released. My lack of acquaintances in the area and no cable largely guarantees that project will see more progress in the weeks ahead.

Also, I’ve built up quite a backlog of projects that are completed and just vying for a position on various release schedules. I suspect that between this year and the next, some of you may become quite sick of seeing my name on various gaming supplements. There’s no danger of me fading off the design radar for good despite my new responsibilities. I’ll also still be attending NTRPGCon and expect to re-new my friendships with those of you I’ve already met and make some new ones as well.

My change of location also means that I’m going to have to say goodbye to the two or three gaming groups I participate in here on Long Island, but their loss may be another’s gain. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be looking to join or form a group in Ulster County, NY. If you’re currently playing there and would like to add some new blood to your group, you can contact me via the email listed there to the right. I’m really looking to get out of the sword-and-sorcery fantasy scene for awhile (I get enough of that doing design work). It’s my intention to get a Call of Cthulhu campaign running (which ties in nicely with my new job) and to continue playtesting my October Country material, which is going to be my next big design project once Stonehell 2 is done and out.

You’ll also notice that I’ve added a “Donate” button on this blog over there on the right. Money’s going to be tight in the months ahead while I’m rebuilding my entire life upstate and every little bit helps. If life is treating you well and you’ve ever gotten some use or entertainment out of this blog or anything else I’ve had a hand in, please consider throwing a dollar or two into the kitty. I’ll be taking down that button in a few months once I’ve got me feet back firmly on the ground and the future is more clear, but in the meantime, a little extra cash for gas, tolls, and moving expenses really helps a lot. Contributors will be named (if they so wish) in a special "Thank You" section of Stonehell Dungeon 2.

The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope will rise again at some point, so don’t kick it off your blog rolls just yet. This isn’t goodbye, just so long for now. Thank you all for your steady support and readership, and may your 2012 be just as interesting as mine is turning out to be (I mean that in a good way).

Off to I-Con XXXI

I'm getting ready to head up to Stony Brook for I-Con XXI. I don't think this one's going to be a full three-day extravaganza for me (still burned out from Gary Con and I'm out of town on Sunday), but if you do see me either today or tomorrow, be sure to say "Hi!" I'll be in the gaming ballroom most of tonight and part of tomorrow. If you have something you want signed, I'm more than happy to do so. If you want to take a swing at me, I ask for a $20+ fee.

Convention Schedule or How to See the Elusive Mike in the Wild

Most years, it’s a good convention season if I can hie myself to my local Sci-fi/Fantasy convention for a day or two of pick-up games and maybe an industry panel or three. This season, I’m really stepping out: hopping on planes, staying at new hotels, and doing battle with the ever-present threat of “the Convention Crud.” I’m gleefully looking forward to meeting many people whose only acquaintance has so far been via email or a pixilated face on Goggle+. Here’s where I’m going to be for certain in the months ahead:

March 22^nd-25^th: GaryCon IV in Lake Geneva, WI – This marks not only my first GaryCon, but my inaugural trip to the RPG motherland. I’ve rambled around the country a few times, but somehow always missed Wisconsin. I’ll be attending mostly as a “civilian,” playing whatever games I can and getting to know my fellow old school games both past and present, but I’ll have a few Stonehell books, a T-shirt or two, and I’m up to run some Stonehell in open gaming sessions. Please feel free to introduce yourself!

March 30^th- April 1^st: I-CON XXXI in Stony Brook, NY – My local con. I’ve been attending on and off since at least I-CON VIII (where Gary signed my Players Handbook). More geared to the sci-fi and fantasy scene than gaming, I nevertheless always manage to sit in on a game or two and meet fellow designers in the industry. It’s going to be hard to beat last year’s con, which saw me playing OD&D with Frank Mentzer (see my mapping efforts at 6:10) and talking a lot about the OSR, but I’m looking forward to gaming with some of the guests of honor this year. Say “Hi!” if you see me loitering or rescue me if I’m under attack by the cosplay hordes for making wise-ass comments.

June 7^th – 10^th: NTRPG Con in Dallas, TX – My attendance to this year’s con was completely unexpected, but I’ll be going courtesy of Goodman Games to demo some Dungeon Crawl Classics and to promote a new book or two. My flight is booked, my room reserved, and my registration paid. Now I just have to nail down what I’m running and when, and let the NTRPG Con folks know.

GenCon is most likely off the table of possibilities for this year, but some rumblings have been made to get me there in 2013 and I remain hopeful this comes to fruition. I’ve also had a request to come down to Dragon*Con, but through entirely informal channels unaffiliated with the convention organizers. Maybe one year, but it’s unlikely I’ll get down to Atlanta in 2012.

White Box to the Rescue!

Sunday morning, I woke up with the feeling that someone snuck up on me while I slept and poured a gallon of quick-dry cement into my head. I awoke feeling completely uninspired, not the best way to start the day when you’re facing your regular Sunday gaming group in a few hours. I had intended to whip something up for my play test game sometime between Saturday and Sunday morning, but never got around to it. I’m sure many referees know the feeling. And when even my morning constitutional failed to get the blood flowing and the creative juices juicing, I wasn’t looking forward to the game.

Getting ready to leave the house, I contemplated my options. I could grab my Labyrinth Lord book and Stonehell and adjudicate another delve through my homebrewed megadungeon, but I wasn’t up to dealing with all the baggage that Stonehell has accumulated with my regular group. I could snatch Zombies!!! off the bookcase and turn the day into a board game session, but having spent Saturday night doing that already, the idea didn’t have much luster. Finally, at wits’ end, I grabbed my OD&D White Box set and tossed it into my backpack.

With a half-hour drive ahead of me, I started quickly patching together a few ideas for what to do with White Box. About half-way to the game site, Ronnie James Dio started telling me about a rainbow in the dark over the radio and I was getting into the D&D vibe. A few ideas percolated up from my reptile brain, and I pulled into the driveway with a fuzzy grasp of a new dungeon in mind.

We were down a player, but one of my regular player’s wife and another mutual friend were at the house, preparing to head out to do some shopping. I pitched the idea of doing an OD&D game and not only was my usual players up for it, but so were the two ladies. It seems that White Box can trump a shopping trip if presented with the right degree of enthusiasm!

A half-hour later, index cards had become character sheets, a few minis rustled up for marching order, and the five-strong party entered the Gloomcroft, a series of ancient halls dug under the mountains by the giant ancestors of the kobold race. In the four-hour session, chambers were explored, monsters fought, killer pollywogs outwitted, puzzles solved, and a new word (“widdershins”) was learned. One of the PCs was slain by a stirge-crow mashup monster, but the party exited the dungeon with a few gold coins, a jeweled holy symbol, and a magical cloak. Much fun was had by all and everyone is raring for another trip into the dungeon as soon as schedules allow.

The session reminded me of two things that I truly love around the gaming table. The first is a mixed gender group of players. As we all know, men and women think differently, our thoughts colored by our experiences, upbringing, and genetics. After almost two years of an all-male gaming group, which is actually a bit of an anomaly for me, having three men and two women at the table was a great pleasure. At the risk of feeding into stereotypes, the ladies used brainpower, taking clues from the campaign world to think around problems rather than booting in the door and hewing down everything the party encountered. The guys were awestruck on a couple of occasions by the questions being asked and the useful information those query revealed. I think everyone’s play experience was improved by having a mixed group and some valuable lessons learned in the process.

The second pleasure was having players relatively free of the expectations and preconceived notions that long-time players fall prey to. One of the ladies had some experience with RPGs through her husband, but the other had played in just a single session of Vampire: The Masquerade. With White Box D&D, a lack of experience with RPGs is beneficial. The novice players didn’t feel constrained by what was written on their character sheets—or rather what wasn’t scribed on them. Experienced players sometime fall into the trap where if they don’t have a skill or a feat or a power that says explicitly that “You can do X” they can’t try it at all. Novice players seem free of such constraints and that makes for a perfect fit for bare bones OD&D.

I’m looking forward to the next time I can break out White Box and play. I hope this spur-of-the-moment group has more adventures together and that we get the opportunity to build upon this world I threw together at the last minute. Many mysteries presented themselves yesterday and the freedom I experienced running White Box is very, very alluring. There are few better ways to spend a chilly Sunday afternoon than with simple rules, a few dice, and good friends.

The Search for Plastic Toys from Our Youth

There seems to be something in the air of late. Old gamers are casting about for clues regarding the plastic fantasy toys they played with or heard about in their youth. Dan Proctors is looking for some and A Field Guide to Doomsday has had a childhood memory identified. It seems I’m no different, because I’ve had an itch that refuses to be scratched for some days now and I’m appealing to you for help.

Back in the 1980s, I had a playset of plastic figures roughly equal to scale in army men. I think they might have come with a vinyl play-mat, but I cannot be certain. The set was a mix of different fantasy creatures, with each cast in a single color. Now, from what I can recall, one of the figures was the spitting image of a shambling mound, complete with carrot nose. There was also a “magma man” figure that seemed to be living fire and molded in appropriately red plastic. There may or may not have been a dragon figure and other plastic landscaping pieces such as trees and rocks and perhaps a dragon’s den. I certain that this isn’t some fever dream remembered as truth and that I did in fact own this and perhaps other sets of the same ilk.

Does this strike anyone as familiar at all?

EDIT: Whoops! After looking for days and posting this, I stumbled upon a clue. I guess it was the lava man who looked like the shambling mound!

EDIT AGAIN: Nevermind. Answered my own question.

Change is Good

No, this isn’t a post about the just-announced and forthcoming version of Dungeon & Dragons (but we’ll get to that in a moment). This is about looking forward to 2012 and new directions in the year to come—which may be important on the off-chance the Mayans knew something we don’t.

Last year, I announced that this blog would be coming to an end. I felt that I had taken the Society as far as it could go based on my original purpose of chronicling my return to the gaming fold and wishing to contribute something to this nebulous thing we call the Old School Renaissance (or whatever OSR stands for this week). In some ways, I still believe that. I’ve done what I set out to do and succeeded beyond my wildest expectations.

Since its inception, this blog and the material produced for it allowed me to establish a presence hitherto undreamt of—by me anyway— in the gaming community and the industry that supports us. I don’t think anyone can dispute that The Dungeon Alphabet and Stonehell Dungeon remain examples of some of the better works created by this movement. The Dungeon Alphabet was especially well-received and is one of the few works that achieved success outside of the OSR, drawing praise from not only grognards but folks who entered this hobby in more recent years. That continues to blow my mind.

Having done what I set out to do, my choices were to either start anew or shut down. My workload made me more inclined to the latter. But with the start of the New Year, my attitude has changed. I’m hacking away at the “To Be Done” list, and although I expect it will fill up again (at least I’m praying it will), I think I’ll be able to dedicate some more time to this blog o’ mine. The Society has been around for more than three years now and maintains a steady readership. And while it doesn’t have the number of fans some older and more prolific blogs have, SoTPR is still in the upper echelon of old school blogs. It seems as shame to throw away all that hard work now.

So what to do? First off, it’s high time this place got a revamp. In the weeks ahead I will be playing with the design a bit to come up with something new, but still legible. I’ll be editing and updating my links section and playing with ideas for a nifty new banner up top (I remain one of the few elder statesmen of blognards who has never gone beyond a text header). It’ll likely be a hack job since the visual arts is not my forte, but I’ll endeavor to keep it classy and discrete.

Secondly, I’m going to fold my side blog Secret Antiquities into this one. The premise of having a secondary blog for material not directly relating to fantasy gaming was sound, but the end result was two blogs I ignored and not much progress made on either. Seeing as we’re all gamers, I don’t think anyone will mind too much if I post the occasional design ideas for a system other than D&D and its various clones. Unless my readership starts abandoning the joint in droves, expect to see some reposting of things from Secret Antiquities here as I integrate both blogs into one.

Thirdly, and I know I’ve stated it before, 2012 will be the year the Stonehell sequel is finally released. The fact that it is so far behind tears me up more than I’d like to admit and since my name is synonymous with that dungeon, I feel its failure to see the light of day reflects poorly on me. To correct this, I’m committed to producing one new quadrant of Stonehell a week. While that might mean it takes all year to complete the manuscript, slow progress trumps no progress.

Lastly, although connected to the above, 2012 will see me at GaryCon IV. I intend to try and play as much as I can, but I will be bringing Stonehell with me to Lake Geneva, hopefully with brand new material to test drive. There are no official Stonehell sessions on the schedule, but if you corner me, I’ll gladly run it during the open gaming portions of the con. I’ll even allow your FLAILSNAILERS to bring your PCs for a visit if that’s cool with how things work in FLAILSNAIL-land. As always, Stonehell’s Save Your Ass T-shirts will be honored, so grab one now and edge out your competition for loot.

More projects and plans will be announced as they develop, but I think the above is going to keep me busy for awhile.

OK, with that out of the way, let me say my piece on the 5^th edition which isn’t the 5^th edition of D&D. In all honesty, I was completely indifferent about the announcement. That surprised me a little, but it’s the truth. There’s no gnashing of teeth or rending of raiment here. The game will come, I’ll check it out, and if it’s fun and captures my interest, I’ll play it from time to time. I’ve no expectations that it will heal the great edition rift or create the greatest version of the game ever. I might run it or I might not. I signed up to get a look at the beta version once it’s released, but I suspect that will be the extent of my involvement. I’m certainly not going to attempt to steer its direction. It will be whatever Mike and Monte design within the boundaries laid down by management. I wish them the best and hope Wizards comes out with an entertaining diversion that attracts more gamers to the fold. After all, more tabletop gamers are good in the grand scheme of things.

I don’t expect to give much coverage to the game here so this may very well be the last words I say on the game until it is released. Others will certainly be following its development with close scrutiny. I’ll say this though: “5E” looks really, really strange when seen written out to my eyes. I must be getting older.

New Horizons

I am without a doubt undergoing a sea change in my gaming preferences. I’ve lost all enthusiasm for level-based fantasy games in the last few months and I now realize that I’ve hit my saturation point. This doesn’t mean I’m done with them for good, but it will be some time before I’m running D&D in any of its myriad forms again. Playing the game is fine; running it is another story.

This also doesn’t mean that I’m finished with writing for them either. In fact, I just finished up my work for another level-based fantasy game and have another contribution in that vein on my schedule. However, when it comes to my personal life, it’s time to change things up.

The downside of this realization is that Stonehell is effectively in stasis for the foreseeable future. I hate to do it, but my lack of interest in writing dungeon adventures is blatantly obvious when I look over what I’ve written so far. I have high expectations for the sequel and I’m not meeting them. I’ll come back and write the second book once I can get excited about the dungeon again. My apologies to those of you who’ve been looking forward to the sequel, but I’m not going to take the sleazy route of writing a piece of shit and asking you for your money for it.

“OK, Mike, if that’s how you feel, what’s next?” I’m glad you ask.

Unless something gets changed (which is entirely possible), the next issue of Fight On! will feature the first of a series of articles I’ve written aimed at “modern” horror and fantasy. I use quotation marks because the default period is the 1920s (all the better to fit classic Call of Cthulhu) rather than the 21^st century. I’m extremely proud of this series, more proud of it than anything I’ve done for my own enjoyment in some time. The article features a map (a glimpse of which is below)done by cartographer Ravi Shankar who I met over at the Cartographer’s Guild. Ravi does some excellent work and I encourage you to check out his portfolio—especially if you’re looking for a good cartographer.

The series details a quaint little portion of upstate New York located in the Hudson Valley region. In real life, the Hudson Valley has a great deal of folklore attached to it. One finds stories of everything from headless horsemen to Bigfoot to UFOs. After I’m done with it, there will be even more weird goings-on reported. The purpose of the series is to present a sandbox setting in which referees can place their own historical horror games. Tired of Arkham? Come visit Wildwyck County. If I do my job correctly though, the place can be used for more than just Call of Cthulhu. It’d make an excellent Colonial Gothic campaign if you roll the clock back or a World of Darkness setting if you advance the timeline ahead. One could even remove all the serial numbers and turn it into a fantasy-based campaign using Lamentations of the Flame Princess or Realms of Crawling Chaos.

The series has personal connections for me, which is one of the reasons it has me so excited. Wildwyck County is based on real life portions of New York State where I had many happy experiences. The chance to return to that place (even in a fictionalized and highly spookified form) is a great pleasure. In fact, it’s even inspired me to return there in real life for a few days to engage in some R&R&R (rest and relaxation and research). I plan on taking some photos to use in future articles to support the artwork I’ve already contributed (chosen, but not created by me, thankfully) for the initial article. 

Connected to the ‘Wyck (as the locals call their home)are the eternal autumnal lands of the October Country. I’ve been rambling about and designing for the October Country for over two years now on the blog Secret Antiquities and it represents my second big project. I’ve got enough material to begin playtesting the setting and I hope to assemble the finished material into a book once I’ve worked the kinks out. If I had to pick a work that I’d consider my magnum opus, the October Country would be it. I call it my Rosetta Stone setting because any story I want to tell—fantasy, horror, intrigue, pulp, or weirdness—can find a home in the October Country. It’s a personal place, but one I hope has enough common touchstones to be universal.

I’m not sure how I’ll handle that setting in the future. I’d like to see it in print, but I’m not certain I want to go down the road of self-publishing again. I’ve gotten lazy and like it when all I have to do is string the words together and let somebody else worry about the art, the editing, the layout, etc. Unfortunately, I’m hesitant to relinquish ownership of the material, so self-publishing may be the only course. But that’s all carts far, far in front of horses for now.

This brings me to my last concern: the future of this blog. My original plan was to keep it up until I released the Stonehell sequel and then quietly retire it. Now, with the sequel on hold for the foreseeable future, I’m at a loss at what to do. I have no interest in writing more about fantasy games like D&D here for now, but this blog draws a lot of traffic and has a robust following. Do I mothball the blog until I come back around to level-based fantasy games again or do I repurpose it to reflect my new interests? And if I do that, what happens to Secret Antiquities? Frankly, I don’t know.

That’s my future, folks. One which may or may not be of interest to you, but I thought you deserved a heads up as to where I’m headed. Things have been very, very quiet here as of late and this is the reason why. I hope this glimpse at where I’m going and my future plans sparks some interest and you hang around here or follow me where I’m going, but I understand if you’re more comfortable remaining where I’ve been. It’s all good either way.

Question Authority—Especially if that Authority is Me

I’ve noticed something about my own players and several others that I’ve shared a table with over the last two years, a phenomenon that I’ve not been able to deduce the whys and wherefores of. It might be a strictly local trend, one that doesn’t occur elsewhere, but it could also be indicative of the way the game has changed after the release of the 3rd edition. Maybe you’ve seen this happen too.

My players don’t ask a lot of questions in-game. This is completely alien to me because that’s all I ever do when I’m playing. Maybe it’s because I’m a referee or a designer or simply because I play these games to temporarily lose myself in the fantasy we create and becoming invested in the shared world makes it easier to do so. Most of my players, however, and others that I’ve gamed with are seemingly content to lay back and assume a completely submissive role in the play experience. Unfortunately, this can be fatal to their characters.

Here’s a recent example: I was running a quick filler game using the material I created for my Out of the Box campaign. It got off to a good start with the players going to the tavern and one making an inquiry about any recent goings on in the area. The barkeep revealed that some settlers had been attacked on the road recently, and had been kidnapped by forces unknown. I was happy. The guys were interacting with the campaign world at large, which was a big step forward for some of them. But then old habits kicked in.

They learned that the local temple couldn’t provide any healing potions, but heard a rumor that a witch in the woods might be able to. Rather than ask any more questions, they figured they’d just stumble around in the woods for a while and run into her. Things got worse after they decided to leave the safety of the keep and go dungeon-crawling. There were three options on a map that a local had, all of which were merely names on a paper. The party picked one at random and headed for it, not even pausing to see if anyone knew anything about the site they had chosen. As it turned out, the dungeon they picked was scaled for 3rd level characters and the expedition resulted in a massacre.

The same tendency occurs during the actual adventure. In my Stonehell game, the PCs occasionally encountered phenomenon or items that they didn’t recognize. Occasionally a player might ask something like, “Does my magic-user know anything about this?” or “As a dwarf do I recognize that?” When I answer “No,” they seem to take that as “No and you never will.” The thought of seeking out an NPC expert doesn’t even occur to them.

Compare this to my approach in the Labyrinth Lord game I’m participating it. We were running through the Village of Hommlet and the party, after learning of the Moathouse, decided to head out there and loot it. Immediately. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I cried. “Let’s see if we can’t learn a thing or two before we go out there.” My magic-user asked around town and learned of the backstory behind the Battle of the Moathouse and talked to a few soldiers who had been there that day. In doing so, he got a rough sketch of the exterior and learned that there was a single known dungeon level underneath the fort. He also got Rufus to kick in some troops and offer up a bounty for exploring the place. Sometimes knowing these little facts and whether you’re bound to run into goblins instead of orcs can save lives, especially fragile, 1st level lives.

After a bad run in with the frogs, my magic-user consulted with the local druid, thinking that if anyone could offer some advice about giant frogs, he’d be the guy. This lead to us getting a magic orb that created a cloud of monstrous flies and helped draw off some of the big batrachians in our path.

Maybe I’m just an exemplary player or perhaps reading all those “advice to the players” articles in Dragon back in the day stuck in my brain. Whatever the case, I’m just not seeing this trend in the gamers I’ve been playing with and I’m wondering why. Is it merely because they are “poor” players or is this symptomatic of a larger cause? Have video games that feed the players tidbits of information at predetermined points made gamers more passive? Did including a “Gather Information” skill make players think that the only way to get important information was to make a skill check and when that skill is missing from their plate of options they believe that information is unavailable? Am I a sucky referee who runs a game that provides no impetus for the players to peer beyond the surface? I really don’t know.

This had been on my mind a lot lately, mostly because I’m re-examining what types of games I enjoy running and because of some changes in my regular group. I look at Jeff Rient’s Twenty Questions and part of me wonders if it’s even worth answering them if nobody’s going to make those inquiries in the first place. This also explains my request that folks interested in play testing not “lay back and think of England” but get excited and get involved. A great deal of my lack of enthusiasm for continuing to run Labyrinth Lord comes from this absence of investment in the shared world we’re supposed to be creating around the table.

I’m not trying to be harsh or rude to my players, but it’s something that I have noticed in the year and a half we’ve been together. Not from all of them, but enough that it affects me and my own interest in running a game. And with my plan to introduce a new setting/game that I consider to be my most personal and immersive campaign ever, these concerns make me think that this is not the right time or group to do so.

Am I alone in noticing this trend in gamers, especially younger ones? Is this a singular phenomenon or has this affected your own games as well? I’d really like to diagnose this affliction and see what might be done to address it.

Three Years and Then Some

On August 21st at 4:05 PM, the Society of Torch, Pole and Rope achieved three years of existence in the blogosphere, which, while not being a Herculean task is nevertheless no small potatoes in longevity when it comes to the intertubes. Other blogs have risen and fell since I started posting these scribblings and I’m proud to have been up and around when things started to really get rolling in the OSR. The question that now stands before me is “What does the future hold?”

I’ve stated that I believe this will be the final year for this blog and my recent hiatus confirms that belief. I simply lack the interest to pursue this project much further. I’ve been blessed with a modicum of success and the things that I would once write about for this blog I now scribe for publication. As reasons to stop a blog go, that’s not a bad one. I’m keenly aware that there hasn’t been a lot of useful material produced by the Society in quite some time and that the signal-to-noise ratio is at the worst its ever been. Could I turn it around? Yes, but I don’t really care to.

As you can gather from the title of this blog, I started it with the intention to chronicle my return to the hobby by means of the classic dungeon crawl. My initial plan was to blog about my creating a megadungeon and getting a regular game going again; a plan that succeeded past my wildest imaginations. But alas, the megadungeon doesn’t have the luster it once had and my thoughts are going to places beyond the old Saturday night dungeon crawl. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not condemning it or the dungeon, but after three years of eating the same meal, one desires to sample other repasts. Add in the fact that most of the paid work I’m doing relates to fantasy and/or the dungeon, and I think you can understand my desire to do other things for recreation.

This doesn’t mean that I’m abandoning Stonehell Dungeon. I’m still working on it (unfortunately as slow as ever) and progress accumulates in between other, shorter projects. I will nevertheless be ecstatic when the second book is complete and I can close the Stonehell chapter of my life for a while. I’ll return to it after a well-deserved rest so long as people are interested.

Once I’ve written the final words for the Society, I plan to leave it up for an unspecified duration. I have no plans to burn the place to the ground as I walk out the door, but neither do I intend for it to remain up for whatever passes as eternity in the ether. At some point it will come down, but with plenty of warning—like a year’s worth—so don’t sweat it.

I remain interested in blogging, but I’m not certain if time and energy will allow for it in the future. Once Stonehell is out of the way and I can concentrate on other pursuits with more focus, we will see how things go. I have some cool stuff coming out and another project being discussed at the moment which might scratch an itch that I’ve been having. I’m cheerful about the future, even if the blog isn’t part of it.

This is not goodbye yet, but it is coming in the months ahead. It’s been fun, challenging, annoying, surprising, and enlightening, and I’m glad you all stuck around for so long. It is greatly appreciated by a guy who considers himself very, very lucky. I hope that even after I leave the Society behind that you’ll follow my efforts and hard work in whatever other forms they next appear.

Thank you all so very much,

Michael

BÖC-Hurricane Party Video Mix

If you never hear from me again, I was swept out to sea.

Mike’s Mid-Week Gaming Tour

For those of you in the greater New York and Long Island area looking to log some gaming time before the weekend, you’ve got two options to not only do so, but to do so with me.

Tomorrow night, I’ll be running D&D Gamma World as a place-holder in between the last D&D Encounters campaign and the next one. The regular DM is out-of-town for the next two weeks and I volunteered to run the only 4E-related game I own to keep the home fires burning until he gets back. So, if you want to give the latest incarnation of Gamma World a whirl and have free time between 7PM and 9PM this Wednesday, drop by Brother Grim Games and Collectibles in Selden, NY. I’ll have pre-gens ready to go.

Secondly, I’ll be attending the Gamerati Tour 2011 stop at The Compleat Strategist this Thursday in NYC. It’s been at least ten years since I stepped into the Compleat Strategist and I’m looking forward to pressing the flesh and playing some new games. The tour stop runs from 3PM to 7PM and you can get more information either here or at the Mule Abides.

I hope to see some of you there!